Ten Vehicles that are Shorter in Length than my 1979 Ford Thunderbird

14 Oct 2017

It’s no secret that many American cars that came from the ‘70s were oversized, not to mention overweight. Worse yet, after the oil crisis in 1973 many of these land yachts were severely underpowered. However, they truly earned their “boat” nicknames with long lengths, heavy body on frame designs, and soft suspension. This all added up to giving one of the smoothest rides possible.

Now when I say that the Thunderbird is a long car, it’s still hard to envision it as longer than some of the vehicles in this post. Regardless, this vehicle that Ford marketed as a “personal luxury sports car” is truly a two parking spot vehicle at 18’ 1.7” / 5,529 mm

Hummer H1 - 15' 4.5" / 4,684 mm

When people think overly large vehicles, one of the first things to come into mind is a Hummer. This isn’t just any Hummer though, this is the full size H1. Based closely on the Humvee military vehicle, it’s a huge chunk of American SUV. Even so, it is dwarfed by the Thunderbird’s length by almost three feet.

1962 Lincoln Continental - 17' 9" / 5,410 mm

One of the most iconic heyday American sedans, the ‘60s Continental was famous for it’s “suicide rear doors” that opened forward. Even with four doors, it loses out to the Thunderbird by almost half of a foot.

Ford Crown Victoria - 17' 8" / 5,385 mm

Widely recognized in North America as the go-to police car, the second generation Crown Victoria was also the last body on frame car built. Even though they stopped being sold in 2011, many are still being put to work as both police cars and taxis due to a massive size and staunch reliability. However, even the CV falls victim to the Thunderbird’s length by half of a foot.

Rolls-Royce Ghost - 17' 8.6" / 5,400 mm

The longest car currently for sale by one of the most prestigious luxury car brands in the world, the Ghost is truly massive for a modern car. Even with four doors pushing out it’s length, it just can’t match up to the over five inches longer Thunderbird.

Cadillac Escalade - 16' 10.5" / 5,143 mm

One of the most popular full size luxury SUVs in North America, the Escalade falls surprisingly short in length. Over a foot shorter than my coupe, it’s definitely prone to length envy.

1996 Ford Explorer - 15' 10.7" / 4,844 mm

Both creating and dominating the full size SUV market in the ‘90s, the Explorer was a large vehicle. With a half ton frame and a 5.0 302 V8, it’s size was not to be trifled with. However, even the longest version, the four door model is not enough to even closely rival the two foot longer Thunderbird.

Audi A8 L - 17' 3.4" / 5,268 mm

The largest Audi sedan currently for sale, and the long wheelbase version at that. Even so, it is nearly a whole foot shorter than the Thunderbird. This surprises me, coming from a luxury sedan with a base price of over $100,000.

Ford F-150 - 17' 5.3" / 5,316 mm

Some of the largest and most common personal vehicles on the road are full size pickup trucks. Many companies even use them as work trucks, instead of their pricier heavy duty variations. The F series is the longest pickup of the big three with a regular cap and medium length box, yet even so it’s shorter than my Thunderbird by over half of a foot.

1997 Lincoln Mark VIII - 17' 3.2" / 5,263 mm

For a ‘90s coupe, there’s no denying that this car carries a presence in size. Add to that the 4V 4.6 aluminum engine under the hood shared with the Mustang Cobra, and they are certainly capable cars. It still falls short of Thunderbird size by almost a foot, though.

2009 Ford Focus Sport - 14' 7" / 4,445 mm

Wait, this isn’t a long vehicle. Why is it in this list? My daily driver is the tenth vehicle in this list, to show what a normal modern sedan measures out to. This is neither a large nor overly small car, but more of a mediumish average size compared to most other modern cars on the road. The Thunderbird is a whopping three and a half feet longer than the Focus, which is probably longer than the hood on the Focus.

In conclusion, it’s hard to match the size of ‘70s American cars, even if they are only two door coupes. Do you own a car that is longer than my Thunderbird? If so, let me know in the comments! Photos would be awesome as well.
Shout out to Jakob for the conversions.

Comments

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LoL, it probably is.

Yea, things are huge. My dad used to tell me about back in the day when his father had ‘78 LTD Landau. Talk about full size!

Oh yeah, the LTD is pretty much the same thing in a sedan. Don’t know which is longer, though.

I had a Mark V Lincoln Continental 4-Door, and it was 21 and a half feet long. It’s basically a luxury version of your car, and a 4-Door. Same engine too

But the Mark V was a coupe only, and based on the same body style as mine.

Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman ;) Only 6240mm long, even the ‘short’ wheelbase version is a bit longer than the T-Bird it’s 5540mm long

LoL, limousines are a seperate category.

Remember it’s not about length, it’s about how you use it 😉

LoL, that’s what all the guys with small… cars, say.

Now I kind of want a Lincoln Mark VIII, random, but the cars on this list are pretty cool. It would be nice to have a super long land yacht then a small Honda CRX or something.