Thunderbird: An Odyssey in Automotive Design

Lee Iacocca (then president of Ford Motor Company) and the marketing department "felt that bigger was better, and in the days before the oil crises of the mid-1970s, there was no reason to feel otherwise," wrote the longtime director of the Thunderbird design studio, William P. Boyer, in his 1986 book Thunderbird: An Odyssey in Automotive Design. "Lee Iacocca knew that there were no limits to what some people could -- and would -- pay for prestige." As early as 1969, Boyer wrote, Ford's marketing division had concluded that, "the Bird had gained a reputation of being a cut above the other Ford Division cars. It wanted the Thunderbird to stand alone to some extent and appeal to those who, while attracted to the car, were not willing to admit they would drive a Ford. Quite a reversal of strategy from the original 'ruboff value' concept of the early Bird."