Yes, at first I thought that it might be a 1970 Thunderbird grille, too . . . but as you noted, the number of bars is wrong and the '70 T-Bird grille is all one piece, including the short left and right side sections. The 1971 T-Bird grille has mixed wide and narrow bars, which the one he's holding does not. The 1972 T-Bird Grille still looks the closest to me . . . if it's a Thunderbird grille at all!