There was a period in the 1990s through the 2000s when automakers and the buying public were obsessed with everything retro. The past was cool again, and car buyers had a buffet of vehicles to choose from the Plymouth Prowler to the S197 Ford Mustang. Many of these cars enjoyed strong sales, but one left out in the cold was the 2002 through 2005 Ford Thunderbird, the final Thunderbird. Comparatively few people bought the latest T-bird before Ford took it out back and shot it, never bringing the nameplate back again. It’s a shame, because not only did the last Thunderbird do retro right, but it would be a great design to have today when old is cool again.
Welcome to a new series we’re calling Car Redemption! We love cars here and we think some cars just aren’t getting their fair shake. So, each week, one Autopian writer will try to make the case to redeem a vehicle. You already saw Jason loving all over the Volkswagen New Beetle.
The final Ford Thunderbird has a reputation among enthusiasts as a “Boomer” car and a machine that’s not sporty enough, too cheap feeling, and just a two-door rebody of the Lincoln LS that’s too big. It’s not hard to find someone complaining about the last T-birds and their interiors, price tag, and just two seats. The wild part is that a lot of this comes after the fact. When the 2002 Ford Thunderbird was new, the press showered it with praise. Motor Trend even crowned the Thunderbird as its 2002 Car of the Year.
While the 11th-generation Ford Thunderbird may not have been the hot rod some are expecting, I think it’s worth another look today.
The final Ford Thunderbird was arguably one of the last of a dying class of vehicle. Decades ago, Americans used to be allured by the idea of a personal luxury coupe. These were vehicles that were small on seat count and huge on power and luxury. Forget the kids, this is a car for you and your spouse to hit the town in.
This story is important because the Ford Thunderbird was one of the vehicles to help popularize the segment in the first place. Even though Ford no longer sells the Thunderbird, it’s proud enough of the vehicle’s heritage to host a retrospective on its corporate site.
The Original Thunderbird Was Ford’s Rival For The Corvette
In Ford’s recounting of the tale, the company says it began a project to create what it called a “true Ford sports car” due to launch for the 1955 model year. This project launched in 1953 in response to the attention garnered by Chevrolet’s Corvette. America was falling in love with sports cars, and the Blue Oval wasn’t about to let General Motors have all of the fun.
Henry Ford II pinched former General Motors executive Louis D. Crusoe for the new vehicle. Crusoe then joined forces with George Walker and Ford chief designer Frank Hershey to bring the vehicle into reality. As Ford writes, they had to follow strict demands:
The initial guidelines called for a two-passenger, canvas-topped open car that would make maximum use of standard production components. The design objectives included a weight of 2,525 pounds, an Interceptor V-8 engine, a balanced weight distribution, acceleration better than the competition, and a top speed of more than 100 miles per hour. The new Ford sports car also was to retain Ford product characteristics and identification to the extent necessary for a ready association with the standard production car.
While the production of the car was nearing completion, Ford had a problem—they lacked a name for their new sports car. 5,000 names for the vehicle were suggested including Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout, and Savile. These names were unimpressive to the team working on the sports car. Crusoe offered a $250 suit to anyone who could do better. Ford stylist Alden Giberson stepped up to the challenge and recommended the name that the team would go with—Thunderbird.
Even though the Thunderbird was developed in response to the Corvette, it would tack toward luxury rather than pure sports car thrill. This was made clear when the Thunderbird made its first public appearance on February 20, 1954 during Detroit’s first post-World War II auto show. Ford decided that instead of creating a direct competitor to the Corvette, its car would remain a powerful and sporty vehicle, but catering to the luxury buyer. It’s been debated about whether Ford invented the personal luxury car, but at any rate it was a niche back then.
Ford understates just how popular the Thunderbird was. The company received 3,500 orders within the first ten days and the vehicle beat sales expectations in its first year by moving 16,155 units. Right out of the gate, the Thunderbird destroyed the Chevy Corvette on the sales floor four to one despite its more luxurious configuration and between $2,695 and $4,000 price.
The Thunderbird would meander through various configurations over the next 42 years. The second-generation Thunderbird got rear seats while the third-generation model looked like a bullet piercing through the air. In the late 1960s, the Thunderbird even became less personal and larger and more luxurious. Later generations of the Thunderbird would see the car’s size decrease, the design square up, and the technology get better.
The original end of the road for the Thunderbird was the vehicle’s tenth generation, which launched in 1988 for the 1989 model year. The new Thunderbird, which departed from the Fox platform to the MN12 platform, was a technological tour de force. Vehicles riding on this platform, including the Thunderbird, Lincoln Mark VIII, and the Mercury Cougar all benefited from four-wheel independent suspension. If you wanted a rear-wheel-drive American car with an independent suspension, your choice was a Corvette or a Ford product. Thunderbirds were available with four wheel disc brakes, an anti-lock braking system, a limited-slip differential, and more.
Unfortunately, the tenth-generation car came in hundreds of pounds overweight and $900 per car more than desired. Even worse was the fact that the new car didn’t deliver the expected power, either. Sales weren’t that bad, with Ford moving 960,624 units between 1989 and 1997. However, Ford considered the Thunderbird a failure. The personal luxury car bowed out briefly while Ford worked on a new version.
Ford Goes Retro
According to Automotive News, development on the 11th generation Thunderbird began before its predecessor even ended production.
The new Thunderbird was created under the leadership of automotive legend Jack Telnack. His Ford portfolio, which spanned 39 years, is a stunning one and includes working on the designs for the Fiesta, the 1979 Mustang, the 1983 Thunderbird, the 1986 Taurus, the 1996 Ka, and the 1997 F-150. The 2002 Thunderbird would be one of the last projects he worked on and according to Automotive News, developing the Thunderbird took so long that it was his longest project. Telnack retired in 1997, years before the Thunderbird would even enter production.
According to Automotive News, Ford wanted the new Thunderbird to go back to its two-seat roots. Thus, the very first Thunderbirds became the clear inspiration for the design team. Automotive News described how the neo-Thunderbird came to be:
Telnack set up a competition among studios in Italy, England, Germany, California and Dearborn. He brought a 1955 and a 1957 Thunderbird to Dearborn, but before sketching began, he told each designer to wash the cars.
“I told them, I want you to rub your hands over the surfaces, understand the shapes, the forms that build the character lines, really get into it,” he said. “You learn more by washing a car than standing there and looking at it. It gets in your blood after a while.”
In the end, the Dearborn studio won, and the 1955 Thunderbird became the inspiration for the 2002 car. “If you look at the ’55 in side elevations, you will notice that the car starts high in the front, reaching the high point over the front wheel and then tapers to the rear. Guess what? So does the new one.”
Telnack passed the torch to J Mays before leaving, and his team spent more time carving out the fine details. Mays’ team honed in on smaller parts such as interior fabrics, trim pieces, scoops, wheel openings, and the taillights. While the 1955 Thunderbird was the vehicle’s overall inspiration, the taillights are supposed to be a nod to the 1961 model.
Underneath the metal was the Ford DEW98 platform, which meant its siblings were the Lincoln LS and the Jaguar S-type. MotorWeek notes that while the Thunderbird looked fresh, it robbed the corporate parts bin for two-thirds of its parts. Still, that platform gave the T-bird a promising start:
The structural rigidity lost to its topless nostalgia, is somewhat compensated for by the addition of three sturdy X-braces mounted to the underside of the car. And, for the most part, they work well. Cowl shake is barely perceptible, and it’s not until you encounter really rough going that the T-Bird begins to feel a little squishy. Contributing to this T-Bird’s smooth and quiet ride is the generous 107.2 inch wheelbase, and a nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution front to back.
Another is the careful tuning of the independent short-long arm suspension found at each corners. Ford engineers targeted what they call a “relaxed ride” by using coil springs with fairly low spring rates. But don’t confuse relaxed with sloppy.
Indeed, our drivers were pleasantly surprised when maneuvering the T-Bird through our low speed slalom course. Body roll for this softly sprung ride was minimal, and the side to side transitions were very controlled, giving the T-Bird a secure and stable feeling. The variable-assist, vehicle speed sensitive rack and pinion steering unit is precise and offers plenty of useful feedback. And the grippy and quiet 17-inch Michelin tires seem a perfect match. Still, in keeping with the original 55- Bird, this head-turning new roadster is more Sunset strip cruiser, rather than road course bruiser.
As Car and Driver notes, the Thunderbird was supposed to have a high-tech interior, but designers felt it didn’t mix. Instead, they went for a design with two-tone and real metal. And as a final nod to the original Thunderbirds, the new one would have a similarly bright color palette.
Power would come from a familiar source, a 3.9-liter Jaguar AJ35 V8, in this case tuned to 252 HP. Sadly, the only transmission option would be a five-speed auto.
Wide Acclaim, Few Sales
The Thunderbird was previewed by a concept (below) in 1999 before going on sale in 2001 for the 2002 model year. The vehicle launched to critical acclaim from journalists. Motor Trend went as far as to nominate the vehicle as its Car of the Year for 2002.
Motor Trend noted that the car was practically a rockstar, getting compliments and looks wherever it went. This was enough to convince the publication that the Thunderbird was destined for fame:
We first got an inkling that Ford might be on to something big with this car six months before Car of the Year testing. We were driving and photographing a new ‘Bird for the road test that would be our July cover story and noted a remarkable phenomenon: The car had public appeal that obliterated all demographic distinctions. Silver-haired gents and their wives came up to us wherever we parked and raved about the car. “Ah, that’s the new Thunderbird. We heard Ford was gonna do that. We had a ’56. Great car. How’s this one drive? Will it really sell for under $40 grand?” And on and on. Clearly, Ford had a design that could tug at mature heartstrings.
But what surprised us was the kids. Tattooed, droopy-drawered teens would kick out of their skateboards to stop and rave. “Wow! Cool car. What is it?” With absolutely no historical context or nostalgic connection, these guys knew in their gut this was something special.
An automobile that gets a rise out of settled grandparents and rebellious grandkids must be on its way to stardom.
Motor Trend continued its nomination by talking up how much it liked the Thunderbird’s excellent exterior and interior design. The publication practically gushed about the brushed aluminum interior trim and the exterior’s neo-retro shape. Motor Trend seemingly forced itself to complain about the Thunderbird’s wheels, which do seem a bit boring compared to the rest of the design. The publication also complained about the seats lacking support.
Multiple reviews noted that the Thunderbird wasn’t a hot rod, but reviewers still enjoyed it. Here’s Motor Trend again:
Stunning performance is not the Thunderbird’s main thing, though seven seconds flat 0-60 requires no apologies. The car stops and turns and sticks with a kind of mature, polished ease that we appreciated. We might prefer a little firmer damping and stiffer spring rates or some adjustability in the suspension, but we wouldn’t want to sacrifice much refinement to sharper handling. We would, however, be happy to see a more sporting bias in the transmission. “Any aggressive driving makes the transmission confused and slow to react,” said Chris Walton. While the ratios in the five-speed automatic accommodate the engine’s torque delivery just fine, the shift quality left us cool. Upshifts were often too syrupy, downshifts could be late and then abrupt, and the detents in the selector were too vague to invite much manual operation. The SelectShift manumatic used in the Lincoln would be a huge improvement.
But those reservations don’t appreciably detract from the Thunderbird’s Fun Factor. “A way-cool cruiser,” enthused Scott Mead. As a transportation device, any two-seat convertible has a natural air of goofing off about it, even when the rest of the car is this sophisticated. So don’t think the smooth ride and draft-free cockpit are cheating somehow. This thing is a kick to run around in.
A number of reviews ended on high marks. Motor Trend called the Thunderbird “the most significant new car for 2002” while Car and Driver said it was “the first Thunderbird in a while to deserve its name.” MotorWeek fell in love, saying “we think this T-Bird is the only way to fly.” Meanwhile, up north, Autos.ca said the Thunderbird “will add a considerable amount of prestige to the driveways of those lucky Canadian buyers.”
I think you get my point. Journalists were in love with the Thunderbird. Yet, sales didn’t seem to reflect the praise. Ford sold a grand total of 68,098 Thunderbirds between 2002 and 2005 when it cut the cord. The best sales year was 2002 when 31,368 units went to new homes. Sales halved the next year and continued to fall until Ford had to stop the bleeding.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. Maybe it was the price. This luxury Ford stickered at $35,495 before options. That would be like selling a $62,946 coupe today. Ford set its competition with the Audi TT Quattro, the BMW Z3, the Porsche Boxster, and the Mercedes-Benz SLK.
In a retrospective, Doug DeMuro blamed the Thunderbird’s massive size, two seats, relatively tame power, high price, and plastic interior. To be fair to the Thunderbird, plastic was all over the auto industry in the early 2000s, even at the German brands.
Perhaps a better explanation comes from Jerry Flint of Forbes, who believed Ford didn’t try hard enough to sell it:
Selling a $40,000 car through the Ford channel may have also hurt the Thunderbird, which was far more expensive than its high-volume predecessor. Ford dealers have been successful selling $35,000 to $45,000 trucks but have little experience selling automobiles in the near-luxury price range. If there was a marketing effort by Ford Motor, I wasn’t aware of it. Naturally, sales didn’t meet expectations.
Worth Another Look Today
Whatever the reason, the public didn’t respond to the Thunderbird like it did with the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Volkswagen New Beetle. Still, time heals a lot of wounds and I think the final Thunderbird is worth a look today.
You don’t have to go too far to find an enthusiast who is upset that today’s cars look similar. You also don’t have to go too far to find someone who doesn’t like today’s design trend of giving cars pissed-off faces. I feel like the Thunderbird is nearly the perfect car for today’s jaded enthusiasts.
Here is a V8-powered convertible with a stunning design and rear-wheel-drive. It’s almost the anti-crossover. Sadly, you can’t get a manual transmission, but this is a vehicle I’d be willing to push that aside for. The Thunderbird is the kind of ride you hop into with your love before hitting up the Pacific Coast Highway. And who cares how much it cost new when today, you can get one with well under 100,000 miles for a bit above $10,000 and ones that have seen a lot more of America for under $10,000.
I’ll go as far as to say that we should forget about all of these sharp creases and angry faces and go back to designs like the Thunderbird. Let’s get back to extravagant car design. I’m not saying that Ford should reintroduce the Thunderbird because there’s almost no way a personal luxury coupe would sell in today’s market. But, maybe it’s time to reel things back a little bit.
Either way, it’s a shame that the Thunderbird is seen as such a terrible car. Maybe it’s not the hottest thing from Germany, but the Thunderbird has its place. I think it’s time we gave it another chance, albeit way too many years too late.
(Images: Ford, unless otherwise noted.)
My uncle bought one of these new. He’s a Boomer, so that checks out. Asshole never gave me a ride in it.
God no. These things are ugly, slow and an embarrassment to classic Tbirds.
What am excellenty written article.
A Lincoln Thunderbird could up the cache from a marketing perspective.
Perhaps Lincoln’s foray into the EV space as their take of the Mach E. (Lightning electric reference fits nicely).. which the more I think about it that’s what they should have called the Mustang Mach E.. just the Thunderbird
I actually saw a red one of these Thunderbirds driving down into Atlanta the other week. It definitely had seen better days, and yes that referred to the driver as well. Kind of forgot about it until I saw it, then forgot about it again.
If I remember my high school days correctly, my shop instructor had an 87 Turbo Thunderbird that was blacked out and done up pretty well. He would bring it in on Fridays and always made sure to park far from the shop doors so we couldn’t sneak out to pour all over it.
I’ve always thought the Thunderbird Super Coupe was it’s problem.
There was this bad ass Thunderbird after many years of mediocrity. There was even talk of an SVE Thunderbird. Expectations were up. Then it was cancelled. When news of the Thunderbird coming back rolled in years later, I suspect a lot of folks remembered the previous one enough to be kinda let down by the Florida-ness of the new one.
It’s not that it was missing a manual. I think it’s funny people thought that was a problem. The Super Coupe wasn’t much of an “enthusiast” car either. Just a really cool cruiser. But it did misunderstand who the buyer was going to be. Ford probably over cooked who it was targeting and should have been happy with the buyers who had just a little more money than Mustang convertible money.
I kinda liked it at the time, and I like it even more now. But that’s kind of a function of the CUV-crazed world we’re in now. How can a RWD V8 coupe not be awesome now?
I always thought these were kinda cool looking but soured by the jag v8 and lack of a stick
I remember when my dad had worked for ford and they had a rough focus and one of these on the showroom, and I was drawn to the retro bird with that and top on it.
Still kinda want one with an ssr and maybe a prowler made to be a howler.
I’ve always, kind of, liked these. When they came out, I was in Chicago, working in Architecture, and thinking about ‘design’ a lot. You would see them rolling around River North. It struck me as being similar to the Z3 ‘clownshoe’ in that they were much better in person, than in photos. On the T-Bird the proportions seemed right. It was smaller, in person, than it looked in photos. That said, am I the only one who thinks that it could use 16″ wheels with a little bit of inward dish to them? The proportions of those always seemed a little off.
I’ll cut against the current and say the Thunderbird has among my favorite wheel selections of any car – always loved the no lugs/ big center cap look
When it came out I was like wow that looks really great, nice refresh of the Thunderbird name from the bloated/diluted cars they became.
But, I was in my late 20s though and to me it had an old guy funk to it, like I could see my grandparents getting it on a whim to drive out to Cape Cod. Also it was expensive, this was in Plymouth Prowler territory, and I had a PT Cruiser budget so wasn’t even in my orbit of thinking I could get one so just kind of dismissed it.
The New Beetle, PT Cruiser, Mini Cooper and Fiat 500 were all very obtainable and very usable retro themed cars, price for entry was reasonable and you could have a cool fun car. The T-bird had a fairly high price for entry, and only 2 seats so not too usable, proving sadly the reason for the bloating/diluting may have been a little justified.
The retro thing is fine for a cheaper, mainstream car. It’s a much harder sell at higher price points and these don’t really look modern. They just look old.
Who said it was terrible? Like the article says, when it was introduced, it was a big deal. You mention the lack of a manual, but is that really the transmission youd want in this kind of car? Also, I don’t think you mentioned that it got the engine upgrade in 2003 to 280hp with variable valve timing etc. That was a pretty decent amount of scoot in its day. I think the styling has held up well. It was retro/ future in just the right amount then, and today it doesn’t look terribly dated. It may not be your style, but it is stylish. They only sold 60ish thousand units? How many did they expect to sell? With all the competition you mentioned, how much of a market was there for semi luxury two seat drop tops? The steep sales drop off is typical for the “it car” of the day, especially sports cars. It looks good, drives well, handles well. What’s to hate?
The lore is that the LS and Thunderbird were supposed to have the 4.6-liter Mod V8, probably the 4-valve version that was in the Mark VIII, SN-95 Cobra, Aviator, etc…but it didn’t clear the suspension when installed from below, an important consideration.
So in went the gen. 1 Jaguar V8, and an odd 3.9-liter derivative of it that was built in Ford’s Lima, OH plant, rather than the Bridgend, UK plant where the Jaguar ones were built.
Always loved this Thunderbird, it’s the definition of a Sunday afternoon cruiser. Hasn’t ever fit my wants/needs but if I could have a big enough fleet it would likely find a space.
“The wild part is that a lot of this comes after the fact.”
That’s not wild at all. I’d say it almost more common for cars to get praised when released, then criticized in hindsight.
Once the media drives are done.
With respect to the MN12, the rumour was that, despite its weight, the SC was handing the Mustang its fetlocks around the test track in Dearborn. Ford execs said this was a no-go, so they restricted power by putting a kickdown in the exhaust at the resonator.
The problem was that kickdown added backpressure on an engine that was getting boosted and was prone to headgasket issues. Not a good mix.
Supposedly changing the resonator for a less restrictive unit was good for 15-20 hp with no other changes.
While I like the 11th gen OK — sort of, I guess — I never loved it. A stick would have helped, as would a bit more aggression to the look. And more power.
As someone who loves the MN12 T-Bird, this one didn’t really do much for me. But, if it would have come with a 4.6 and a 6-speed, maybe.
The orthodontist’s girlfriend’s car. No style, no class. Turdbird would have been a better name.
Although Thunderturd has a nice ring to it.
I tried to get in a display model at the EAA decades ago. The slant of the windscreen for this 6’2” guy was intolerable. I kept thinking I’m going to get in z as bd gash my skull. Having said that the delightful young woman asked me if I would like to sit in the GT 40 homage. OMG. YES. Fantastic.
I suspect these will get more attractive in about a decade or so, as anyone who remembers where they were in ’62 will be offloading toys, and the values on these drop a little further. Right now, you’re paying Jag XK8 money for something that’s not any better unless that’s your very specific aesthetic (and for now, a back seat that can sort of fit my 4yo is better than no back seat at all).
Although, I like the idea of building these up equivalent to the S-Type R, even if it makes no financial sense.
The biggest problem was the aerodynamics of the design. It softened the look too much and the lack of the trademark tailfins took away a major part of it’s charm. When the market that this was aimed for looked at it, they immediately thought, “MGB” and not Thunderbird. Not a good image.
I did see one of these T-Birds with some aftermarket tailfins on it and it looked so much better.
Dash to Axle ratio is just wrong. RWD sports cars are expected to have longer hoods.
Headlights look like dead eyes combined with the wide mouth to look like a Polar Express salamander.
And I’m sure Jason would agree, the taillights should be more interesting.
It’s a styling mess.
This is basically my thoughts on what’s wrong with the design of this T-bird. If you moved the base of the windshield back to were the doors start it would do wonders for the proportions. And the front of the car is very sad looking and could use a different headlight and grill treatment.
“And the front of the car is very sad looking and could use a different headlight and grill treatment.”
Chip Foose did a minor rework on the front end. He inserted New Beetle headlights that filled most of the cutout, replaced the egg crate grill with something simpler, and moved smaller running/driving lights below the bumper and more inboard. It’s cleaner and sleeker but still looks sad, lost, confused. Maybe some angry eyes stickers on the lights would help. Or maybe it would just look disgusted instead.
Yeah the cab should be a lot more rearward. There’s way too much sheet metal behind the doors. And this is a two seater?
Shame Ford cheapened out the interior by retaining the LS dashboard instead of coming up with the unique dashboard. BMW was smart enough to make the Z8 dashboard an excellent tribute to the original 507.
Indeed, people didn’t seem to complain about Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (R107, R129, R230, and R231) having only two seats and tiny luggage space behind the seats.
RE: Marketing effort
There was product placement in Die Another Day, which is why I will forever associate this car with Halle Berry. She sure made the car look good!
Unfortunately for Ford, that was not enough to make me want a Thunderbird of my own.
I’m just a bit confused by what it’s supposed to be.
It’s not sporty, okay, but it’s not luxurious, ok, but then what is it?
It’s sort of like the 95 Buick Riviera I inherited. It’s giant. The trunk is huge. It’s comfortable. It’s fast enough to get out of it’s own way. It does NOT like being pushed hard. It’s sorta floaty.
If you have to cover a LOT of miles, in comfort, and there are only two people, these cars are pretty great.
But they make cars that can do that AND be fast and be driven sporty. So end of the day, I guess they just sort of fall into this weird spot where they’re not “THE THING” for x/y/z and so they’re just not desirable.
For the record you can find 8th Gen Rivieras in AMAZING condition for under $5000. It’s kind of baffling. I might sell mine, but OTOH, it’s really not worth much at all.
That’s a good comparison for the market it was aimed at. The buyers of these cars remember dealing with the 55 mph speed limit on freeways for years and that suspension technology only started on sportscars in the early eighties. It would take another four to six years to trickle down to the rest of the lineup.
These cars were also intended to cruise on the boulevards and ease down the interstates. Canyon carving was left to corvettes, Lotus Esprits, and Mazda RX-7s.
Your Riviera has it’s own soundtrack that fits it’s mood/style.
Groovin’ down the avenue by The Rascals
I’ve got a name by Jim Croce
It keeps you runnin’ by The Doobie Brothers
And when you’re really truckin’ it sings:
No time by The Guess Who
Listen to the Music by The Doobie Brothers
Hot Legs by Rod Stewart
“…intended to cruise on the boulevards and ease down the interstates.”
To me this T_bird is a comfortable shoe. Just slip in and go. Not everything needs to be about performance, aggression, clutch work and tossing it through corners. After all, how many places can you actually drive like that?
That is a great analogy.
The gen. 8 Riviera is one of those cars I want to love, but the interior makes it difficult. GM really pulled back. You can tell that the designers and product planners came up with something amazing…and then were told to cut 30% out of the cost. I wish the Riviera had gotten half of the love that had been lavished upon its Aurora sibling.
And, yes, it’s a big car. It’s roughly 206” long, which is almost ten inches longer than my S-Class Coupe and only a few inches off of a Rolls-Royce Wraith/Dawn.
I love the exterior design but not the interior, it’s shared with Lincoln LS and for $40K i think the car should have unique interior.
I think that part of the problem was the dealers, many did put big second stickers on them on when introduced. $4-5K wasn’t unheard of and at 10% over sticker that certainly didn’t help move the metal.
I do agree that it is retro done right so much that one is in my fleet. We have had a number of topless vehicles over the years but my Scout Cabtop was what was doing duty for many years. So the wife and I started talking about getting a proper convertible again.
Lots of things were on the table. My previous convertibles were 60’s Buick A an B bodies so the were definitely in the running as were 60’s Cadillacs and the 70’s Buicks and Cadillacs. Certain 60’s Mercurys Fords and of course Continentials.
But the kids are grown so even though I love a full size automobile it isn’t something the wife would want to jump in to drive to the store and I’d rather send her off in something with more safety features and lap belts.
For newer stuff the Mustang was definitely on the table and I had actually considered getting one when I purchased my current daily driver. This time around it didn’t make the cut for a number of reasons, one of which was that it is one the most common convertible on the road today, it is a bit bulky and we stand to inherit an 18 from my MIL. Miata was another consideration but the wife felt is was a bit too small and again a highly common convertible.
So the T-bird was the goldielocks car for us. Not too small and not too big with a nice ride/vs handling balance, minimal cowl shake and possibly most importantly they did an excelent job on the aero such that the top down wind noise is very low.
This is one of those cases where the sum is greater than the parts and despite being a POS in many ways a fun toy. (Avoid the 02 to minimize the POSness).