The Iconic 1971 Ford Thunderbird

A tour of the history of this 1971 Ford Thunderbird. The T-Bird was introduced in 1955 and was designed to be a two-seater luxury car. Only one repaint has been done in its more than 50 years of existence.

You don’t see one of these very often.

It might be enjoyable to simply enjoy a classic car without any frills or even tire smoke. That is the focus of Lou Costabile’s YouTube channel. In addition, the man captures other stunning vehicles, such as this cherry 1971 Ford Thunderbird, in addition to a ton of hot antique performance automobiles. It’s a tremendous joy to learn the history of this one and receive a nice tour because we don’t see many of these around anymore.

This 1971 Thunderbird two-door with a sports roof is almost entirely original and is powered by a superb 429 V8. In its more than 50 years of existence, it has also only received one repaint in the original Gray Gold Metallic paint. That indicates that what you see is exactly how it appeared when it left the factory, perfectly maintaining an automobile icon as if it had been preserved in amber for all these time.

Jim Dunham, the current owner, speaks on camera for Costabile to share his tale. We won’t go into detail because that would defeat the purpose of seeing the footage, but we will say that Jim isn’t the original owner. He’s had this T-Bird since 2015, and he takes great care of it. But before it falls into the hands of someone who doesn’t recognize its actual worth, the man is aware that he needs to quickly find a good home for it.

Today’s youngsters regrettably don’t understand the T-Bird at all. When it was introduced in 1955, the Ford Thunderbird had a chance to seriously challenge the Chevrolet Corvette. Some people still ponder what might have been, but the forces in charge at the Blue Oval chose to focus on the sporty two-seater as a personal luxury vehicle. That explains how it evolved over time to become less athletic and more opulent. Many aficionados still like the T-Bird for what it is, even though some feel less than enthusiastic about it for that reason alone.

To see this gem up close and discover more about its past, watch the video.