Shared Features: Ford Futura and Ford Thunderbird

One car-buying lesson I've learned is to test-drive a car at freeway speed.  That might not be as important as it was decades ago, but it's a wise task nevertheless.

How did I learn this?  By renting a Ford Fairmont Futura coupé at some point in the early 1980s.  The 1970s and early '80s marked a low point for American cars, and this seemed true for that Futura.  The problem was that its front "floated" at highway speed -- around 60 mph (100 kph).  Why did it do this?  My hypothesis is that the car was engineered for a V-8 motor, but the one I drove had a lighter straight-6 engine, so there was less weight up front.  Needless to say, I was not a fan of that car.

Setting that aside, let's consider its styling.

The Futura was a sporty version of Ford's Fairmont line of compact cars, introduced later in the 1978 model year.  What is interesting is that, unlike other Fairmonts, several styling features were borrowed from the 1977 Ford Thunderbird.  A web source I unfortunately didn't bookmark stated that a compact version of the Thunderbird was considered during the '77's development, and that it became the basis for the Futura and its Mercury equivalent Zephyr Z7.  An image below deals with this.

Gallery

Factory photo of a 1978 Ford Fairmont Futura.  Its signature styling feature is the broad B-pillar.

That thick B-pillar was probably inspired by the 1947 Studebaker Starlight Coupe, here in its Champion version.

Another view.

This version seems to have vinyl swaths on the roof separated by sheetmetal and resulting in the appearance of a Porsche-like "Targa" bar.

Rear-quarter view of a car for sale to be compared to the image below of a 1977 Thunderbird.

The passenger "greenhouse" designs are  quite similar, even to the L-shaped character lines running down the B-pillars and then extending aft a short distance below the fender line.  The Thunderbird is a wider car than the Futura -- about 7.5 inches (190.5 mm) more.  There is no "shoulder" or "catwalk" along the fender line of either car, so it seems that the greenhouses are not identical, though they might share some side stamping in the B-pillar area.  Photo of a car for sale.

An image of full-size model of what seems to be the small Thunderbird mentioned above.  It has a Thunderbird "bird" emblem on the B-pillar.  The body is clearly Fairmont-based, though front overhang is longer than production Futuras.  The louvres abaft of the front wheel opening are similar to those on Thunderbirds.  The Zephyr Z7 also has louvres, but of a different design, and Futuras lack them.  The photo was taken on 3 March 1976 which was about a year and a half before 1977 Thunderbirds were announced.  By that point, the actual Thunderbirds probably would have committed to production, so this photo might have been taken of a model built a few months earlier before final Thunderbird decisions were made.  However, Ford management liked the smaller design enough to commit it to production as Futuras and X7s around the time the photo was taken.

Side view of a "for sale" Futura.  It conforms closely to the 1976 mockup in the previous image.  Even the character lines on the B-pillar and front and rear fenders are the same.  Ditto the quarter window and the angle of the backlight.  Compare these latter two details to the Thunderbird's below.

Side view of a "for sale" 1977 Thunderbird.  Its door and B-pillar are wider than the Futura's and the latter includes an opera window.  Its quarter windows are longer and the slope of the backlight is greater than on the Futura.