The 1972-76 Thunderbird was a virtual clone of the regal Continental Mark IV, but it was priced at thousands less. For luxury car buyers, it was the deal of the century.

The 1972-76 Ford Thunderbird doesn’t have a Rolls-Royce-style grille or a faux spare tire bump on the deck lid like its close corporate cousin, the ’72-’76 Lincoln Continental Mark IV. But in most other ways the T-Bird (red coupe above) and the Mark IV (silver) are surprisingly similar cars.

Both were assembled at Ford’s Wixom, Michigan plant in the northwest suburbs of Detroit; both were available only as two-door coupes, the classic personal-luxury body style. They shared the same 120.4-inch wheelbase chassis, structural black metal, cowl, and greenhouse—and a remarkable similarity in exterior styling. Indeed, from middle distance it can be a little difficult to tell them apart, especially in profile. Yet when the ’72 T-Bird launched on September 4, 1971, it listed at $5,293, nearly $3,400 less than the $8,640 Lincoln. Naturally, the more value-minded buyers of the luxury-car crowd were quick to take notice.

The sixth-generation ’72-’76 production cycle was the largest and most luxurious Thunderbird produced by Ford to date, with any previous sporty flavoring fallen away. Thunderbird fans, who like to give each generation of T-Birds a nickname, have dubbed these models the Big ‘Birds. True, the Thunderbird’s cabin appointments were not quite as lavish as the Mark IV’s, while the list of standard luxury equipment was not nearly as long. In features and price, the Mark IV was still the Ford Motor Company’s king of personal-luxury cars.

One more minor difference, initially at least: The T-Bird’s base engine was the 429 CID V8 while the Mark got the maximum-strength 460 CID V8, but in 1974 the 460 became standard Thunderbird equipment. In many ways, especially in their mechanical underpinnings and general appearance, the Thunderbird and Mark IV were pretty much the same car. When 5-mph DOT bumpers became mandatory in 1974, the resemblance only grew.

A bit surprisingly, perhaps, the remarkable similitude of the Big ‘Bird and the Mark IV didn’t seem to hurt the popularity of either one. Both were strong sellers, with the Thunderbird moving its customary 50,000-60,000 units per year and the Mark IV essentially carrying the Lincoln division at the time with annual volume in the 50,000-70,000 range. We could conclude that Mark IV and T-Bird owners each got what they wanted. Mark IV buyers enjoyed the prestige of a classic standup grille and a spare tire bump, and Thunderbird buyers got the deal of the century.