The subtly sloping rear is admittedly beautiful but cuts away the trunk space already pushed back by the removable soft top. It’s a shame that the Thunderbird was neither here nor there in terms of practicality and sportiness. More so, many V6s of that period delivered better power than the Thunderbird’s poorly 250 horses and even the updated 280 horsepower. What's so bad about the Lincoln sedan, you might wonder? Well, the target customers were nostalgic for the glorious 1950s Thunderbird and weren’t looking to buy a Lincoln with a crappy interior.īut if they must, then why the 2-seat configuration in a car with similar dimensions as the 4-door Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type? You could excuse it for the necessity of retro styling, but it still doesn’t make sense considering that the large body defeats the sporty capabilities of the supposed retro themes. Moving on, sales began dropping very fast as people realized the retro-Thunderbird was essentially a 2-door version of the Lincoln LS sedan, complete with a piss-poor interior, accompanied by an unjustifiable overblown price tag (the equivalent of $63,113 in today's money). The award was a no-brainer back then until we look back just a year earlier to remember that Motor Trend handed same award to the Chrysler PT Cruiser in 2001. Anyway, Motor Trend crowned the 2002 Ford Thunderbird the Car of the Year.
The Blue Oval must be well aware of this fact, which is why it decided to do something different with the resurrected Thunderbird, which seemed a better approach than attempting to compete with Mustang. Thunderbird may not compete with 'Stang these days, but it was already rocking the market before the Mustang showed up in 1964. Why not? This was the coolest sports car of its time, both on this side of the Atlantic and in Europe. Thunderbird returned in 2002 to critical acclaim and enthusiastic reception, both by enthusiasts and the mass public. Three years later, the Beach Boys rock band helped turn Thunderbird into a cultural icon with the lyric, “she’ll have fun, fun, fun ’til her daddy takes the T-Bird away.” The car also snagged a major appearance in the 1973 film “American Graffiti.” Kennedy included 50 Thunderbirds in his inaugural procession in 1961, significantly elevating the car as a cultural symbol. It was during this period that President John F. The 4-seat version arrived in 1958, offering a roomier trunk and bucket seats.
Thunderbird packed an array of creature comforts to complement its performance engine, helping it to remain a formidable force in the sports car segment for many years. It was an immediate hit, putting away more than 14,000 units in its first year of introduction against the Chevrolet Corvette's 700 that year. So, Ford exploited the opportunity and introduced a more ‘thunderous’ V8-powered alternative to the Corvette.
But, the bigger inspiration - so to speak, was GM's Corvette that, though enjoyed plenty of attention from the press and gearheads, was relatively underpowered. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the sleek sports cars of Europe inspired the development of the Thunderbird. Introduced as a 2-seat convertible, Thunderbird eventually came in a variety of body styles, including a 4-seat hardtop coupe, 4-seat convertible, 5-seat convertible and hardtop, 4-door pillared hardtop sedan, 6-passenger hardtop coupe, and 5-passenger pillared coupe.
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