 For the second time in as many years, Ford released another spectacular
show car for the 1969 season. The Thunderbird Saturn II was similar in
overall appearance to the 1968 Thunderbird Saturn, but had a completely restyled front end, rear end, and interior. The
high back bucket seats of the 1968 version were replaced by new ones with
a more traditional look, the front fender vents were eliminated, new wheels
appeared, and white sidewall tires replaced the red band tires. Stock 1969
Thunderbird front turn indicator/parking lamp assemblies appeared in the
center of the vertically divided grille.
Ford usually designed its show cars to gauge public reaction as they toured
the country at local auto shows. If a design was especially popular, it
would quite often appear within a couple of years on a production model.
The fastback roofline of the Thunderbird Saturn and Saturn II was quite
popular, and showed up in a somewhat modified form on the 1970 and 1971
Thunderbird production models. |
