The Ford Thunderbird is an automobile built in the United States and sold in the North American market. This article covers the fifth generation of Thunderbird, produced between 1977 and 1979. The Thunderbird was a smaller car in this generation, based on the same platform as the discontinued Torino, the LTD II and others. The squarer, sharper styling was popular, and this generation of Thunderbird sold well, helped by a $2,700 drop in price from the previous year.
Compared to the enormous 1972-1976 T-Birds, the car lost 10 in of length and 900 lb of weight, while height and width were essentially unchanged. A substantial part of the weight reduction was in the drivetrain, where a small-block V8 replaced the heavy big-block of previous years.
The standard engine outside California was the Ford 302 engine (302 in³, 5.0 litre), while the larger 351M (5.8 litre) or 400 (6.6 litre) were available as options. In California, the 351M was the only engine available. Although power was definitely down by 1977, the lighter car did compensate.
