Perhaps it was the interior that spoiled the car. Unusual for those times, its rear wheels were placed behind the C-pillar and made the car look more advanced than its competitors.
#FORD THUNDERBIRD 1955 DIE CAST PLUS#
A grille on the lower side of the bumper plus two air-intakes right under the hood kept the engine cool. On the hood, it featured the Thunderbird badge and a pair of slim, horizontal headlights. Just by looking at it, it was considered a good competitor for the BMW 6-series. All of a sudden, the T-Bird was the black sheep of the family who didn't get the much-needed lunch-money (advertising), and it didn't get the sales it deserved. The car exceeded its target price and its weight.
#FORD THUNDERBIRD 1955 DIE CAST FULL#
full description and technical specificationsĭesigned to compete against the finest luxury German coupes on the market, the 1989 Ford Thunderbird was an underrated vehicle.Īfter the car was born, there were huge controversies in the Ford Motor Company, which led to the retirement of Anthony Kuchta, the man behind the project. Later on, in 2003, T-Bird received an updated version, which provided 284 hp. It was paired to a standard 5-speed automatic transmission. Since the T-Bird was built as a personal luxury coupe, it featured two seats at the front and a bench in the back, all leather-wrapped.įord chose to fit one engine under the Thunderbird's hood: a 3.9-liter V8 taken from Jaguar. But those didn't look too good next to the green LCD lettering placed on the bottom. A good thing was the new look for the instrument cluster, which featured four semi-circular dials, with red needles on white faces. In the end, it put just the same thing as in most of its other vehicles. The hardtop featured an oval window on the C-pillar, resembling older Thunderbirds.įor the interior, Ford tried for several years to find the materials which would suit best for the car. With a sloped silhouette, which started taller on the front fenders and descended toward the rear, the convertible inspired the old-style design theme, but in a modern interpretation. The retro-design style could have been seen on the front fascia, with its big and round headlights and the flat, chromed grille with square-grid mesh. The design was inspired by the first-generation of the T-Bird.
When it unveiled it, the whole market was enthusiastic, but that enthusiasm didn't last long, and the T-Bird sunk with slow sales. It was based on the same platform as the Jaguar XF or the Lincoln LS.
With its retro-design look and modern features, the 2001 Thunderbird should have been a blast from the past and revive the brand name, but it was a flop.įord launched the eleventh generation of the Thunderbird in 1999 as a 2001 model-year.
0 kommentar(er)
