Parked in Rainier, Oregon, during the 1999 Eagles Car Show, this 1970 Ford Thunderbird Landau Coupe represents a Thunderbird era that is often overlooked in favor of the better-known earlier models. The Ford Thunderbird was introduced in 1955 as a sporty 2-seat convertible, essentially creating the personal luxury car market segment. Over the years, the Thunderbird grew, gaining a rear seat and a fixed hardtop coupe to go with the convertible, but still maintaining its sporty image. Then the Ford Mustang was introduced in 1964, and its incredible success as a more affordable sports car forced the Thunderbird to find a new place in the market. In 1967, Ford redesigned the Thunderbird from a sporty 2+2 coupe or convertible to a large luxury hardtop coupe or a landau with either two or four doors. These were the largest and heaviest Thunderbirds yet, but with Ford's 360-horsepower 429-cubic-inch wedge-head 385 V8 engine, they were also among the fastest, allowing the Thunderbird to retain a bit of sports-car performance. Initially, this generation of Thunderbird featured a blunt nose with the headlights hidden behind a large recessed grille, but in 1970 it was redesigned as shown here, with a beak-like pointed nose and uncovered headlights. This look would only last through 1971, as the Thunderbird was redesigned for 1972, becoming even bigger and heavier, with engines more encumbered by restrictive emissions equipment. Any trace of sportiness vanished, and it would take until 1983 for the Thunderbird to begin to reclaim any semblance of a performance image again.
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