<![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> MUST NOT LOOK....Employer/Landlord will kill me if I buy another car.....These actions are where?

kfdave

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @autotronic: The auction was last weekend, so they're already sold off. Just check the SF Bay Area Craigslist in a couple weeks, however, as the new owners realize that you can't make a car that's been sitting for 15 years drivable again with a simple tune-up- they'll be for sale, cheap.

Murilee Martin

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @Schweppes: I've written twice to Murilee twice and received no response. Can anyone help me track down these rare 4-door 'Birds? Write me direct at richt (a) automotivetraveler dot com.

autotronic

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Aw c'mon, the Beak is the best visual feature of the car. I mean just look at it in that pic of the green car above. There are very few other examples in the automotive world that are as audacious yet still manage to look good. If the rest of the car looked as good I'd own one, but unfortunately the curve to the quarter panel doesn't work with the rest and I find it off-putting enough that I doubt I could ever throw down the cash for one.

Searcher

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @danio3834: The 70-71 Beaky Birds are surprisingly similar to the 67-69 generation. I think the only difference is the sheetmetal in front of the windshield, and the leadsled roof that replaced the regular hardtop.

thatguy01

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @autotronic: If you want more info, try emailing Murilee (his email address is in the masthead).

I'm guessing that the cars are somewhere near Alameda of San Francisco, and seeing as the photos were taken at an auction there's a good chance the cars are already gone (which is really too bad, because most of Murilee's auction and junkyard cars have less rust than my 12 year old daily driver that suffers the indignity of fighting 6 months of salt a year).

Schweppes - Now with more beard

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> One of my friends has a 67 4 door that with the black top and navy blue paint, just screams '60s crime-boss. I absolutely love it and he doesn't give a rip about it. (It was his grandfathers and has 48,000 miles on it)

It drives very nice though the 429 struggles a bit with the gross tonnage. Much more so than even my '76 Chevelle with it's Malaise-o-tastic 140hp 305 V8!

texan01

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> I guess this would be better than collecting ceramic cats in your old age... but not by much.

JoeWoodsprite

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @UDMan:

You forgot all the unfortunate green LTD sedans driven by the Whyte Techtronics security personnel.

ranwhenparked

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> A 1967 4-door T-Bird was the very first car I ever drove; my parents had a black on burgundy '67. It was a stunningly beautiful car, and those suicide doors, how cool is that!

Can anyone tell me more about where these cars are located? And how much he's asking for either of the two 4-door 'Birds pictured? Please write me direct at "richt (a) automotivetraveler dot com" with the details.

Richard Truesdell
Editorial Director, Automotive Traveler
www.automotivetraveler.com

autotronic

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @charles_barrett: James Bond should be gay? I'm not sure what to extrapolate from that data.

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Such glorious excess... I love the four-doors. So strange-looking, and yet so right.

thepassenger

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @BlackIce_GTS: Oh trust me, anybody CAN collect cars. You just have to lower your standards to the point where all your cars together don't really equal one good one.

I could probably have a 'Vette or BMW if I were fiscally responsible and wanted to put up with one set of wheels but I can't do it. So I have a half dozen crappy ones.

It can be done, I can't recommend it. Although the personal satisfaction of having to decide which one to fix, I mean drive, on a daily basis is too good not to share.

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @ZZMarcus: @UDMan:
So what can we conclude from the fact that the two gay henchmen/assassins from "diamonds are Forever" drove a '71 T-Bird, yet neither recognized Mouton Rothschild as a claret...

Mixed-message stereotyping, methinks... ;-)

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Sorry but those things are so goddamn ugly, I had to swat my own fork-wielding hand away to keep from stabbing my eyes out.

snarktastic

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> There is one of these T-birds living under a blue tarp just blocks away from my downtown Detroit office. Every day as I drive by I've been trying to decide whether it is a 2 or 4 door. Looking at the lines for the rear door window in these pics, I think it's a 4 door.

I was hoping as the weather is warming up, that the cover would be coming off. So far, no such luck.

SundaySunday

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Was Kirk Kerkorian there trying to buy them all up?

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Thirty years from now, this guy's grandson's collection of 2001-2002 Pontiac Azteks will be all the rage.

milo_carrera--now with Corrected Politicality

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Back in '74, shortly after I got married, saw an ad for a '69 4-door T-bird at Los Feliz Ford in Glendale - for $1,000. Went down and picked it up. Had to sell it a few months later because I literally couldn't afford the gas (this was the middle of the '74 gas crunch). Still miss the car, though. Suicide doors wuz cool.

karguy427

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> The car is a really nice looking ride if you just ignore the Beak. Chop off the Beak in favor of a more flush fitting grill and it would be one of the sexiest looking coupes of the 70s.

Just that damn Beak! Ahh!

danio3834

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> I guess we found out who actually bought all the Beaked Birds.

That front end takes a long while to get used to.

danio3834

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Those were some ugly years for T-Birds as they morphed into bloaters that looked like every other bloater.

I, too, am puzzled by someone who had such an extreme jones for these particular birds.

NovaloadMissesPolar

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> As someone who's invested almost a decade in building an imaginary car collection, it's of great comfort to me to see people who've gone a less anorak-y route. Sure, 35 Thunderbirds from the cusp of malaise doesn't exactly equal my nearly 900 cars including nearly every variation of Koenigsegg, Pagani, and V12 Lamborghini; but I'd be pretty damn happy with an SR20 Locust, an E38 750i, and a jack-of-everything-unpaved 80's Toyota pickup.
Car collecting sounds like such an absurdly expensive hobby, but I bet this guy wasn't even a millionare.
I hate this song, but cheers to you anyway, wacko Thunderbird guy:
"Well you could hardly even see him in all of that chrome
The man with a plan and a pocket comb
But every night it carried him home
And I could hear him sayin'

Don't you give me no Buick
Girl you must take my word
If there's a God up in Heaven
He's got a silver Thunderbird
You can keep your El Dorado
Man the foreign car's absurd
Me I wanna go down
In a silver Thunderbird"

BlackIce_GTS

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> By the way, I stand corrected, it was a 1971 T-Bird, and here it is:

UDMan

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> If I had the space, and the time, and the gas money I'd get one...but then again, if I had the space and the time I'd have a Citroen SM, A Volvo P1800, a 58 Fury.....SHEESH!

Mysterious Utility Bento

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Absolutely Gorgeous. Every time I see a 1971 or 1972 T-Bird, that's what I think. I know I'm weird, but I loved these things when they were new, and I still like them, though not really enough to buy one. I still remember the Brown '72 T-Bird used in the Bond Film, Diamonds are Forever, in which Ford supplied almost all the cars, including Jill St. John's Mustang, a certain green Ford Econoline Van, and the Brown T-Bird. This is Jill's Mustang:

UDMan

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> There's a 4-dr Bird (67--69) in Prince's video for "Alphabet Street," and it's mentioned in the song.

thatguy01

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @teargas: COTD

Mad_Science

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @Ben Wojdyla:

I agree. I think the car has some nice lines hidden under all that wonky chrome and vinyl. The white/black one looks pretty clean.

Picarso

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @Ben Wojdyla: seconded; the less is left on these cars the better they look. I'd pay 300 bucks for that first red one!

I've admired these since I saw Diamonds are Forever--Mr Wint and Mr Kidd drive a '71.

ZZMarcus

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> What can I get for this peanut?

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Going for under $2K? You'd spend more on gasoline for it in the first year! But I do love me a suicide door T-bird...

Amscram

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]>

[img.photobucket.com]

And to think my brothers and I have spent the last ten years finding new places to store Dad's '71, turns out there was some dude collecting them by the dozen.

I don't care what the naysayers say, I like these cars. Too bad I can't afford to put gas in it anymore.

Vipper Of Vipp

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @FreeMan: oh, i'm no teenager myself, not by a long shot, but this is one of the cars that started my unhealthy interest in all things automotive.
I got in a big argument with my older brother as to whether there had been a 4 door Thunderbird. When he proved it to me with one of those massive reference books that show every single car, year by year, with how to id them, I was hooked.

abgwin

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> These seem to be the Thunderbirds that time forgot, somewhere between the swinging earlier Birds, and the later ones which were the very epitome of malaise. Other than being the main conveyance of the henchmen in Diamonds Are Forever, I've only seen one (it looks like it's been abandoned at the gas station across the road from work).

Maymar is convinced M.C. Escher engineered his car

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> Eye of Thundera, Give Me Sight Beyond Sight!

SpeedWagon - Needs COTD bailout.

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> ...and worth every penny...

beercheck

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> @abgwin: Now that's something I don't think I've ever seen before. My mind's no longer a teenager (though it likes to play one at the office), but consider it thoroughly blown!

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> I'm trying to imagine who decided that this was the car someone would latch onto.

"I'd just hate to be without a 71 Thunderbird."

thatguy01

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> This summer, Luxury gets PERSONAL!

Comrade Teargaskov

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> You know what's crazy is those 1970 T-birds look awesome after all the trim is stripped off and dropped a couple of inches over a set of torque thrust II's.

Ben Wojdyla

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> i have to admit a morbid fascination with the four door T-bird. those crazy landau bars? suicide rears? wow.

thanks, Mr Iacocca, for blowing my teenage mind when i learned it was all true and not an urban legend.

abgwin

]]> <![CDATA[Forget Barrett-Jackson: Dozens of '70 and '71 Thunderbirds Going For Peanuts]]> I think you need to open your own used car lot, Murilee's Malaise Motors and sell nothing but the finest classic american iron.

Murilee's Malaise Motors, our cars are MMM good.

tulsa

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