I believe Tom hit the nail right on the head - marketing. And speaking of marketing, the 1967 model run was the 4th most successful in Thunderbird history (pre 1977) selling 77,956 units (1960 - 92,843; 1964 - 92,465; 1962 - 78,011) so it WAS very popular at the time. And also a product OF its time. Remember? This was 1967. It was the Jet-Age, so of course the grille looked like an enormous jet intake. To me, that's what's so great about the Thunderbird nameplate - it always reflected the times. Most good, some.... well, I'll leave my opinion to myself. Personally, however (to answer your question about why people dislike the 1967 (and on) model years) I believe was the advent of the Fordor model (which, by the way, sold more units than the convertible in 1964, '65, and '66 combined). I don't know when the "purists" decided this was a bad thing and the 1967 model wasn't worthy of the name Thunderbird, but, come on! If this is true then the 1958 model isn't worthy of the name Thunderbird either! Surely adding a back seat was a far more radical design change than adding two more doors! But I think my favorite explaination for the "dividing line" (so far) has been a guy insisting a 1967 wasn't a Thunderbird because it didn't have a hood scoop. People are so funny...
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