TOPIC: 1971 Thunderbird Tunnel hull ...race boat ?

Need some help from you fellow vintage boaters ... I found this boat and Im not exactly sure what it is . What I do know from the title is that it is a 1971 Thunderbird with a HIN of T20006 . Part of the story that goes along with this boat ( unconfirmed reports ) is that it was 1 of only a handful that were built like this , suppose to have been built for some type of racing . It has a very small cockpit and only one seat , it has Mercruiser controls and gauges ( no speedo , just a tach ) but unfortunatley the I/O are missing . Looks like it had thru hull exhaust . Its 20 feet long and is a tunnel hull . Any interesting thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated . I think bringing this back from the dead and saving some history would be a good thing . Im not interested in making it a "race boat" but a cool boat to hang out in Wonder lake Illinois or cruise it up and down the Chain o lakes in Fox Lake .

Welcome aboard Ipaintm, glad to have you join us. Have you checked out the Thunderbird section in the library? Some pretty interesting info there, unfortunately most of the factory literature stops in 1969. There are some very knowledgeable folks in the gang here, some pics would be a big help. (We love pics, btw.)

If you have trouble posting pics, there's a thread in the Support section that gives helpful hints on size issues, etc.....

Thanks Mark , thats what Im hoping .... that someone knows something about this boat . Im going to save it regardless , but knowing some history or just having information is always nice . Finding the boat was kind of exciting , then the ART of making the "deal" and finally getting it home is all part of the experience .

Good for you, save that girl.
Keep the pictures coming and good luck. That is going to be sweet.

Mark, What is the current status of the boat? Are you currently restoring the boat back to original?

Your number is not a HIN. "HIN is a 3 digit (letters only -added by seabuddy)Manufacturer Identification Code (MIC)" from the C. G.

i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn226/LakeTrash96/67%20Jones/67-3.jpg Late 1960's. early 70's race boats with small block V-8's and I/O's. I think this is the late Bob Nordskog racing a Ron Jones design in the early 70's.