One of them is up for auction and it still has the amazing car phone and television
The Ford $F Thunderbird used to be a desirable American luxury two-door coupe back in its heyday, and in 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 stores, and they were eventually sold to actual customers.
Unfortunately this example was repainted and doesn’t showcase the Apollo’s special blue metallic color, but with 75,000 miles on the odometer, at least it maintained the dark blue vinyl Landau roof that has classy gold S-bars on the B-pillar. This Apollo might not be in pristine condition, but it was peak Lyndon B. Johnson–era prestige, and it’s even being sold with the original press release.
The Thunderbird Apollo distinguishes itself from other, more pedestrian 1967 T-Birds with upgrades like that blue Landau top, woodgrain interior accents, hilarious looking rear-seat reading lamps, fold-down rear trays, and a large center console that showcases a precariously mounted beige radio phone for front seat passengers and a television for rear seat passengers. In reading the included original press release for the Apollo, Ford claims that the car’s 428-cubic-inch V8 produced 345 horsepower routed through a three-speed automatic transmission, so unlike a lot 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 accessory switches. The rear seats cocoon occupants in plush blue leather seats, and the Apollo’s reading lamps look like a hilarious afterthought, but are also somehow mid-century modern chic. The car phone is integrated with all the subtlety of a bat to the face, but showcasing such advanced tech must have been cool back then. The 9-inch TV screen looks like it belongs in Nixon’s Presidential Limousine, but it actually suits the Apollo’s weirdly prioritized back seats quite well, too.
An luxury coupe that puts emphasis the rear seats is a strange choice in my opinion; if Ford wanted people to sit in the back it should have given the Apollo more rear seat room and maybe an extra set of doors. Judging by the photos in the auction ad, back seat room looks pretty slim. Maybe this is an Abercrombie brand value — after all, in 2006 the brand’s then-CEO Mike Jeffries said it was an exclusionary brand, so maybe this was Abercrombie’s way of excluding people with long legs.
If you want to be the next owner of this super rare special edition American luxury coupe, there are still several days left on its Bring A Trailer auction. Owning a Thunderbird Apollo not only means you’ve got a car with one of the coolest names in automotive history, but it’s a snapshot of American luxury from the late ‘60s and just weird enough to spark some fun conversations at car shows — or dreadful ones, depending on your persuasion.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
