Plus, in the 1970s GM had defined and was dominating the mid-sized Personal Luxury market with top-selling cars like the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. After all, buyers were clamoring for more “efficiency” and the behemoth ‘Bird of ’72 – ’76 had been a relatively slow seller (the Mark IV actually outsold the cheaper Thunderbird in ’75 and ’76). The Lincoln Mark V received all-new sheet metal but remained on the XXL body-on-frame platform-a stretched and plumped-up version of the mid-sized chassis-that had been introduced for 1972.īut for the Ford Division’s personal luxury flagship coupe, a new approach-though not too “new”-was deemed to be the best solution. So when it came to time to refresh the Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark IV for 1977, product planners decided on two different directions for FoMoCo’s jumbo personal luxury coupes. But super-sized cars were still an enormous Detroit cash cow, and Ford was in no mood to go too far out on a limb.
The Mustang II and Granada/Monarch represented profitable repackaging of new “Style” on proven (i.e. The company had enjoyed enormous success with “fancier” small cars in the wake of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. The resulting car, though a stopgap in many ways, was very well received by the press and the public, becoming the most successful ‘Bird ever.įord Motor Company was clearly hedging their bets for 1977. However, Ford also made a major downsizing play for ’77 by shrinking the size-and price-of the Thunderbird. For the 1977 model year, General Motors was the leader of the movement, with a complete line of downsized full-sized cars. After the 1973 Oil Embargo, a buzzword started sweeping through the American automotive industry: “downsizing.” In this case, “less was more” as downsizing introduced a new generation of more rationally-sized vehicles that offered the benefits of their larger predecessors without the added bulk.
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