The 1972 Ford Thunderbird was the first of the 'Big Bird' models. With a curb weight of over 5,000 pounds, these monsters were creatures of their 'bigger is better' time. It's hard to understand what inspired the good people at Ford to turn what had once been a sporty performance runabout into something more along the lines of a limo, but the early seventies were a strange and terrifying time in America.

Taking its design inspiration from the Lincoln Continental, the 1972 Thunderbird had a massive front end, a hugely roomy interior, and hulking, blocky styling. Oddly enough, the gigantic '72 Thunderbird was available only as a two-door model. Still, these big old land-yachts are comfortable to ride in, even if they handle more like a boat than a sportscar.

You'll feel the pinch at the gas pump, though. Gas mileage for the '72 Ford Thunderbird is a wallet-shrinking 8 mpg city, 12 mpg highway (not much better than the original Hummer!) It's hard to imagine why someone would seek out a '72 TBird today, except as an experiment in living history.

The '72 Thunderbird had plenty of power under the hood, though. It shipped standard with a 7.0 liter/429 cubic inch V8 engine, and buyers could upgrade to a 7.5 liter/460 cubic inch V-8 if they needed more horsepower to haul that two-and-a-half tons of steel around the roads.