Biggest Automotive Flops: 1970-71 Ford Thunderbird and Its Infamous "Bird Beak" / "Knudsen Nose"

Remember folks, birds actually do have beaks.

"Thunderbird 1970, with a beak so large, you'd think the 429 V8 ran on nuts and seeds."

That Bunky beak story reminds me of the Brady Bunch movie where everything Mike Brady designed looked exactly like the house 😂😂

A friend of mines father had a 1971 Thunderbird 2 door while I was growing up. I thought it was the coolest car around. The beak was what made it unique.

The 'BEAK' is a take it or leave it thing, but the 429 THUNDERJET was definitely a big hit and rocketship!!

Due to my Uncle Don have an all black 1970 Thunderbird in my youth i've always absolutely loved them.With the 429 Thunderjet engine,from a rolling start it was a rocketship that pushed you back in your seat and it looked amazing.

I kinda liked that snout on em.

I didn't realize how much i needed a history lesson on car design. I ate up every word on these behind the scenes design wars. That rear end of the 71 bird though!!

In readin' the comments it's appears that the majority of us LIKE the Bunkie beak. I'm also a big fan of the '71 Ford thanks to White Lightning.

Family had a '67 fully loaded triple black with the suicide doors. That was one classy T- Bird.

In high school my friend had a 71 Cougar GT, Ive always loved these cars even the "beak"

I must be a weirdo because the 70 T-Bird is my absolute favorite I love the beak nose look as well as the LTD

I must be crazy, because the 1970-71 ‘Bird is my all-time favorite version—and that includes the 1967 4-door Landau my parents owned when I was 10.

The glamour bird body style and detail is so fine and finessed. The suicide doors on the 4 door is so cool and screams understated luxury.

I loved the "Beaked 'Birds".

I bought a 68 4 door when in high school during the late 70s. Best drive-in car ever. A beautiful car.

Personally I think the '70-'71 T Bird (especially the fast back model) was by FAR the best looking Thunderbird ever built and that high-compression 429 was a spectacular engine !

I always loved the beak birds, and I think they look better in certain colors over others. I also liked the '71-'72 LTDs front end, maybe even a bit more. I had a 68 T-Bird which I think looked the best with the two smaller birds on the grill, one on each light door. But overall, I think the beak birds look menacing, and that's what they were designed to do. I'd love to have one. The '69 Grand Prix looks like chrome was on sale that year and Pontiac made the most of it. Ford got it just right with the beak birds!

Adam you brought back a memory with the 1970 Ford Thunderbird. My Uncle had traded in his 68 Coupe DeVille for the 1970 Ford 4-suicide door Thunderbird. His car look exactly like the one you showed-bright blue Irid with a Dark Blue vinyl top. I loved that car’s suicide doors, steering wheel that moved out of the way and huge back seat. The center counsel with the buckets were nice to. I know some people didn’t like the beak but I thought it made the front end

The consequences of no one being able to tell you “no”.