Every time I see a picture of one of these early-to-mid-1970s Thunderbirds, I’m struck by how absurdly long they are. Like this 1974 one here. That’s a two-door car, and I’m pretty sure there are buses in operation in the world right now that aren’t as long as this thing was. These land yachts were dramatic machines, and I think so much of that drama is just the drama of holy shit, that thing is long. So what if we quickly de-longify one of these?
For whatever reason, that’s the idea I couldn’t get out of my head, which is why and how we ended up here:
Wow. I don’t exactly dislike it, but you do lose the drama when you lose the length, that’s proven now. You know what it reminds me of? One of these:
A Leata Cabaleo! The only Chevrolet Chevette-based luxury car! Still loved by ones and ones of people!
I’m not exactly sure what point we’ve proven here just now, but we did it. Length=drama? Is that it? Length=presence? Is that the shortcut we’ve all been seeking? As a short person, does this mean I’m kinda screwed? Because for people, height is equivalent to length, isn’t it?
Man, now I’m more confused than when I started.
I thought there was an AMC Pacer hiding under there
’76 AMC Pacer Commercial (1975) – YouTube
Jesus, thanks a lot Torchinsky.
Now I want a Leata Cabalero.
The shortened one looks like it should have a transverse mounted engine and FWD, then the boot floor could be low due to a lack of diff under there, freeing up space.
I’d totally drive that too.
That shrunken Thunderbird is probably about the same size as a Citroen DS (fun fact! The Citroen’s wheelbase is actually a couple inches longer), so as a fellow efficiently-sized person, I think the lesson is you can still have presence if you’re not pretending to be a big person and just lean into the iconoclasm.
As expected, an abridged T bird looks like a warped Mustang II Ghia.
On a related note I saw a 70s Ranchero which is bizarre looking because the hood and bed are the same length so it looks like a center cab locomotive.
Yup, as soon as I read the headline I thought “like a mustang II?”
That’s what she said.
Damn @Col Lingus had the same idea already.
Put an electronic fan on it instead of the engine driven one, ditch the shroud, and you have room for an inline 8. Or a V-12. Maybe an Allison V-12 or a Rolls Royce Merlin?
I like the cut of your jib, old chap.
If you’re gonna do stupid things, you might as well do awesome stupid things.
I’m surprised Ford didn’t do this very thing and drop it on Pinto running gear. Thunderbird II.