The Ford Thunderbird was once a fascinating American luxurious two-door coupe again in its heyday, and within the late ‘60s the model got a very special edition that was the peak of luxury. Ford produced just five of these Thunderbird Apollos for the clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch, and one of them is up for auction on Bring A Trailer. These Thunderbirds were built to be displayed in A&F’s flagship retail shops, they usually have been ultimately offered to precise prospects.
Unfortunately this instance was repainted and doesn’t showcase the Apollo’s particular blue metallic coloration, however with 75,000 miles on the odometer, a minimum of it maintained the darkish blue vinyl Landau roof that has stylish gold S-bars on the B-pillar. This Apollo won’t be in pristine situation, however it was peak Lyndon B. Johnson–period status, and it’s even being offered with the unique press launch.
The Thunderbird Apollo distinguishes itself from different, extra pedestrian 1967 T-Birds with upgrades like that blue Landau high, woodgrain inside accents, hilarious trying rear-seat studying lamps, fold-down rear trays, and a big middle console that showcases a precariously mounted beige radio telephone for entrance seat passengers and a tv for rear seat passengers. In studying the included authentic press launch for the Apollo, Ford claims that the automotive’s 428-cubic-inch V8 produced 345 horsepower routed by way of a three-speed automated transmission, so in contrast to lots of wheezy ‘70s Malaise era boats, it could move out of its own way even with all of the added luxury amenities.
The dashboard of the Apollo houses controls for all the new electronic wizardry provided in this special edition car, with a row of big red buttons that look like a Bond car’s accent switches. The rear seats cocoon occupants in plush blue leather-based seats, and the Apollo’s studying lamps appear like a hilarious afterthought, however are additionally in some way mid-century fashionable stylish. The automotive telephone is built-in with all of the subtlety of a bat to the face, however showcasing such superior tech will need to have been cool again then. The 9-inch TV display screen appears prefer it belongs in Nixon’s Presidential Limousine, however it truly fits the Apollo’s weirdly prioritized again seats fairly properly, too.
An luxurious coupe that places emphasis the rear seats is a wierd alternative for my part; if Ford needed folks to sit down within the again it ought to have given the Apollo extra rear seat room and possibly an additional set of doorways. Judging by the photographs within the public sale advert, again seat room appears fairly slim. Maybe that is an Abercrombie model worth — in any case, in 2006 the model’s then-CEO Mike Jeffries mentioned it was an exclusionary model, so possibly this was Abercrombie’s approach of excluding folks with lengthy legs.
If you need to be the following proprietor of this tremendous uncommon particular version American luxurious coupe, there are nonetheless a number of days left on its Bring A Trailer public sale. Owning a Thunderbird Apollo not solely means you’ve obtained a automotive with one of many coolest names in automotive historical past, however it’s a snapshot of American luxurious from the late ‘60s and simply bizarre sufficient to spark some enjoyable conversations at automotive exhibits — or dreadful ones, relying in your persuasion.
Source: jalopnik.com