Why Did Ford Keep Ruining the Thunderbird?

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We're talking about the Ford Thunderbird. By the end of this episode, you're going to be looking at 10th Gen SCs on Brake Trailer all day. These are some cool cars. There's some really not cool cars in this episode as well. But it's an interesting story. And I can't believe it's been 20 years since the Thunderbird died in 2005. It's pretty crazy. Let's get right into it.

Here's following World War II. Automotive designers found influence in the vehicles that propelled the Allies to victory. And while fighter plans gave us tail fins and jet aids in Signia, automakers would also borrow from the civilian rides that young American soldiers swooned over on the streets of England, Germany, and Italy.

In March or average autos, there was something that hardly roamed the road state side. Sports cars. As post-war occupations took root, servicemen got their hands on Jaguars, MGs, pre-war Bugatti's, and the like. They loved how lightweight, nimble, and fast these tiny two-seaters were. When their tours were up, some servicemen even brought them home. It didn't take long for domestic automakers to take note of the sports car craze. While several limited run options were offered domestically in the late 40s and early 50s,

Trevor Lay led the legacy automakers into the sports car market with the debut of their Corvette in 1953. The fiberglass roadsters sent forward executive scrambling for a rebuttal.

And to their surprise, a small group of Ford engineers and designers had already spent more than a year toiling away on a secret project. What they had come up with would not only combat the Corvette, but also shape and reshape the automotive landscape for the next 50 years.

In the past, gas, it's a tale of adaptation and experimentation, with a vehicle that at time struggled to find an identity and created a class all of its own. It's time to get to know the Ford Thunderbird.

Welcome to the show, everybody. I am your host, Nolan Sykes, joined as always by Bart Bidling-Mire across the table.

I have you to be here. Thank you for having me. You're welcome, Bart.

You should say joined as often, because I don't think I was here last week.

And joining us sparsely joining us, joining us peppered throughout this series is Jimmy Hilton. Happy to be here. Happy to be peppered in.

It fits because he's spicy. I like salt. I like salt on salty salty, too. He salted it.

Jimmy, what are you ordering for lunch today? It's family style. So I will be, you know, putting a little meat in the noodles.

I'll never forget when you ordered butter noodles at Cheesecake Factory.

A lot of people have told me about that moment. That it is a pivotal moment.

You've come a long way, though. No, I have definitely really opened my eyes to the Parmesan on your buttered noodles.

Yeah, was that before you were you? Yeah, that was before. Okay. Yeah.

You should change you in that way. That's good. And then you guys soon will be joined in marrow to marital bliss.

And then we'll be. Yeah. I'm so excited. You should be. I'm stoked. It's good. Good time.

You should be. Being married is cool. Yeah. It's fun. Get married.

Everybody get married. Everybody do what's right for what feels right for you.

That's what I was going to say. Marriage fits me well. The tropes of my wife.

She doesn't let me do the thing. That doesn't really fly to me. It's fine. It's good.

It's been nice. I've been having to take care of her after surgery. It feels good to take care of someone.

Anyway, Ford Thunderbird, Jimmy. Weird one. Yeah. Weird one. Yeah. I mean, it's like a Palm Springs car.

It is a Palm Springs. Well, it depends. The early ones. No, the new ones.

Like it's just very like pink. I mean, like it's pink. They're outrate. I don't know.

If I go to Palm Springs, I'm going to see one. You probably will see one. Yeah. I feel like every time I go to Palm Springs.

And they are. They that first gen what did have a lot of like coral colors. Very pastel. Yeah. I've rented one. That was like a sky.

Remember that one. Kind of Thunderbird. Yeah. Leaked oil everywhere. Did it. I feel like it did.

I don't know. And then the later ones, the 60s ones. I have like the pointy noses. I love those. Those are very cool.

And then yeah, like later on when they're like in the 80s and 90s. Yeah. That's when it gets a little weird.

That's when you get into the Phil Soulier territory. Yes. Director Phil here at Donut.

And then you get the 2000s retro reboot. Right. That Hallie Berry drove in die another day.

I don't remember that. I remember her being in it. I don't remember that she drove. So she drove. That was her car.

That is like such a PT cruiser car. Like it's in the same kind of ballpark where it's like trying to be classic.

The retro future. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to see someone make one of those like really sick. Just slam it on its nuts.

Yeah. Well, the SKFs on it. Yes. Many American manufacturers faced unprecedented challenges

during and after World War II. But for the blue oval, the era was especially turbulent.

In 1943, Edsel Ford, who had served as president of the Ford Motor Company since 1919, died unexpectedly.

Forcing his aging father, Henry Ford, to re-assume the role. But the job was beyond Henry's capacity.

His mental acuity had faded in recent years and his erratic decisions and unwarranted mistrust of his team cast serious doubts

on his ability to lead during critical wartime production. Oh, man. That must suck to have someone in charge

who's got fading mental capacities, making random decisions that you can't really explain.

Making bombers and Ford didn't make tanks. Do they make tanks? I think that was General Motors.

Yes, I feel you, Bart. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. Henry Ford, the guy who loved eating weeds around his house.

This isn't Henry Ford that out is. It is. Hank the Duce. Henry Ford, the second was in the 60s.

Okay. So this is OG Henry Ford. Well, don't call it a comeback. I mean, it wasn't.

In response, Edsel's son, Henry Ford, the second was called home from the Navy and named as vice president

at just 25 years old, vice president of Fomoko. Right. He's in the Navy. He's in the Navy at 25.

And they're like, hey, can you come back? That's how we need your captains of industry to come back home.

It's pretty crazy that they're that rich that they could be like, you know how I know we're in a war.

Yeah. Pull them out, but we need this guy to run Ford. Pretty crazy.

This was a crash course in industrial leadership. Just a few weeks after the end of the war,

he took over as president and CEO. Oh, they didn't pull him out of the war.

It was 43. I got it. So they brought him in Italy by that time. They're training him up. Yeah.

And at the end of the war, he takes. Right. Yeah. His nickname is Hank the Duce.

Upon his arrival at Ford, the Duce implemented a significant shake up in its leadership.

Hank was aware of his inexperience and recruited seasoned executives like Ernst Breach from General Motors

and brought in a team of bright young veterans from the Air Force known as the Wiz Kids,

which included future Ford president Robert McNamara.

Amid all these shifts, and as we mentioned at the top of the episode, MGs Jaguars and other European sports cars

began appearing on American roads, often brought home by returning servicemen.

Others turned to hot rotting and specially builders like Curtis, Ronco and Cunningham

debuted their own limited run roadsters to rival these imports.

In 1949, Crosley introduced the hot shot, the first mass-produced American sports car.

That same year, most major automakers launched their first all-new post-war designs.

Ford's low-slung shoebox style earned praise while GM and Chrysler stuck with more bulbous looks.

I go into car dealerships. You got any bulbous cars here?

I don't want any of you think if it's not bulbous. If it ain't bulbous, no.

No deal. No deal. Heels off. Still, GM led by Harley Earle set enduring trends

like tail fins first seen on 1948 Cadillacs and element designed by Frank Hershey.

Earle also pioneered concept cars like the Buick Y-Job.

And most importantly, championed the idea of a domestic sports car for GM.

When Hershey later joined Ford in the early 50s, he brought that inspiration with him.

We have a industry in flux at this time. There's a new kind of world order.

America hasn't, you know, aside from Pearl Harbor, we weren't really affected in the same way at all.

Our infrastructure is intact.

Yes, completely intact. That's our economy is completely intact and ready to just be thriving.

And we deal.

And we've got all these new roads. We've got all the new tech.

That's true. So we're just primed for a middle class explosion.

Say a people with expendable income to purchase cars like this Crosley hot shot.

That is so cool. What?

I wanted to say cute. But it's cool too.

It's like, don't they have one of those at the Peterson?

I don't think I've seen one of those in person.

That thing is so hilarious, dude.

I want to buy that and then just put a bit to Catalina island.

Just drive it. Yeah, that's good. It does. It's very, it's golf cart in proportions.

Yeah, dude, throw a freaking rotary in there.

Whoa, 12.

Yeah, dude, make like 600 horsepower with a turbo.

Call up Rob Dom. Call up Rob Dom.

Robby, baby. I got your next project for you.

Robby, baby. I saw Rob earlier this year.

Very nice guy. I want to meet him.

Talk to him about Miatas and Mazdas.

That'd be cool.

He's a cool guy.

We'll be right back after these messages.

Now back to the show.

Under Earl's leadership, the European inspired Corvette debuted at the GM

Motorama in New York City on January 17th, 1953.

It sent shockwaves through Detroit and Ford execs fell into a frenzy.

But unbeknownst to them, Hershey, designer George Walker and vice president of Ford's

car and truck division, Lewis Crusoe had been spending their free time taking

stabs at what a Ford sports car may look like for more than a year before the

Corvette's debut.

Within just weeks of the Corvettes unveiling full-size mock-ups of their new car

appeared in the war rooms at Ford.

The team had a tight deadline with a public debut set for February of 1954.

As the day drew near and the prototype neared completion, one thing had yet to be decided,

a moniker or a name.

What are we going to call this thing?

Well, name.

Word.

What do you want to call this thing?

Well, the word, moniker.

Names like the Detroiter run about, civil, and beaver, all earned a second look, but

none properly reflected what they were building.

Yeah, I got that new Ford beaver review.

Got that car you wanted, boss.

Sure, jaguar.

That's a good one.

That's a good animal to name.

That's, what's the great animal?

Powerful, coolger.

Warrior, coolger.

That's a good one.

I mean there's a lot of animals out there Panther the Panther Tiger even platypus would have been good

But beaver anyway Ford was hoping to carve out a brand new niche and an internal contest was held to find the perfect name

Stylus Aiden Giberson's submission got the vote. So they're naming kid. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. His name was Alden Giberson

I was like Aiden. My name and kids Aiden back

It's a guy because it's Giberson or Giberson. That's probably Giberson. It's a school of Giberson

It's probably Giberson. When the doors to the first post-war Detroit Auto Show opened on February 20th

1954 thousands of people streamed into the Michigan State Fairgrounds

While the usual suspects displayed their latest sedans and pickups the Ford display attracted people for a different reason

And all new two-seater emblazoned with the name

Thunderbird

Oh

You need both the bird and the fun. Thank you Jimmy

Journalists hit the wire to give their takes on Ford's newest sports car

But Ford had an interesting response. They claimed it wasn't a sports car at all

But rather a personal luxury vehicle that wrapped performance and grandeur into a neat

3,000 pound package

What a name personal luxury vehicle

So what's the difference between a sports car and personal luxury what sports cars lacked in convenience

They generally made up for in performance the teabird attempted to offer both it had power brakes

Steering and windows plus an automatic transmission sound-deadening a removable hardtop and functional heater radio and other

Accessories it also had a steel body as opposed to the fiberglass Corvette

I'm assuming all of that was optional honestly. I would guess not honestly like this is

That that's what you get. It's the personal luxury car. Yeah. Yeah, and perhaps the most impressive aspect of the whole car sat under the hood

The 292 cubic inch

198 horsepower Y-block V8 featured in the concept shed light on a stark failure of its market foe the Corvette and its second year

1954 the fiberglass sports car still only carried one engine option the blue flame six cylinder that produced a

Paltry 155 horses 198 for the teabird. Yeah, it seems like a lot back then. Yeah in the mid-50s. That's pretty impressive

Darling, they got this thing called the Thunderbird

198 horsepower

The public response to the Thunderbird was overwhelmingly positive earning it a green light for the next model year

Following a few refinements the first production teabirds left the river Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan on September 9th

1954 when sales started on October 22nd some

4,000 people left deposits with their local dealers the Cleveland built Ford V8s found their way into the production model and could be paired with a

3-speed automatic or a 3-speed manual with or without overdrive

The move forced Chevy to take action finally giving the Corvette a V8 for

1955 yet plenty of differences remain between the two cars and in the eyes of consumers the luxury of the Thunderbird far outweigh

the Corvette's performance gains

Sitting at the top of Ford's lineup the new Thunderbird cost $2,944 in 1955 about 35,000 bucks today

Not that I was expecting more even at 40 dollars more than a Corvette Ford couldn't keep them on the lots

Ford smashed its sales goal of 10,000 units selling 16,155 teabirds in 1955

Meanwhile Chevy managed to move only 700 Corvettes

Damn, that's crazy

But it's that was their strategy right to do sites like all right if you're looking at a Corvette

We're gonna make you decide between a car that does one thing

And a car that does everything you're used to and the thing the other car does yeah, yeah, she's

Solid yeah, that's why the luxury right the luxury exactly the option

I mean, it's interesting because I think today

I mean certainly something we talk about a lot and other people in our car space talk about it's like oh

consumers these days

Just want convenience they want luxury right that's why manufacturers don't make sports cars

Just because like people won't buy them because they want all the convenience, but it's like it's actually happened in the 50s

Yeah, yeah, always like that always you love our treats. Yeah, love our

I love a good sweet treat. We love our sweet treats here Jimmy. Yeah

Ford had a winner on its hands, but they also had a big problem

It cost more to produce the car than they could sell it for in the eyes of Crusoe the VP of the Ford division

It didn't matter this was the brand's halo car it attracted buyers to the showroom for sedans wagons and trucks and away

From general motors and Chrysler products

Crusoe like Hank the doose loved the car. They both added model your touches

Crusoe suggested the iconic port hole window for 1956 to approve visibility

Very aquatic very yeah for I know improve visibility for who yeah for what's the mariners

Um and Henry Ford the second took inspiration from the Lincoln Continental

For the rear mounted spare which addressed an issue he had with the car

The trunk wasn't big enough to carry golf clubs

That was a problem worth solving back in the 1950s and if you can at least fit one club. You're good

One club which one club which one nine iron iron you can putt with that too

Sure, okay, but Robert McNamara working under Crusoe

argued that every unit needed to be profitable on its own

And the two-seat Thunderbird wasn't pulling its weight

He knew customers routinely asked dealers if the car came with a back seat

Some walking away because it was too small he believed this to be the answer to the production cost problem

While the 1957 model was too far along for changes

McNamara's vision soon prevailed the final two-seat baby bird rolled off the line on December 13th

1957 effectively ending any rivalry with the Corvette in truth plans for a larger Thunderbird had been underway since late 1955

When the 58 model debuted it was two feet longer featured a unibody design to retain its low-slung look

And it's seeded for people were people upset at this I doubt it because they've never

They didn't market their car as a sports car. Oh, so they could never so it's not like go back and be like right

Well, it's a sports car. What are you doing right? Oh

Yeah, this second gen Thunderbird. I do not

It's pretty I

Mean it's cool. I would definitely drive that. What year is that that's 58 that looks like an etsyl

It is somewhat etsyl like yeah when those headlights. Yeah, you're right, Jimmy. This is the dark times of forward

The 57 though. I think I rented a 57 to take our engagement picks, but I love those those first gen's man

Serious it's also really funny to think like yeah, it's got a big V8 for the time

But it nothing was like one of the slowest cars ever driven

Of course it's it's a big heavy boat. Yeah, 3,000 pounds though. Not bad. Okay. It was fun though

We took it up to like the top of stunt road nice. It's a good drive. Yeah, it's really fun

Just cruise the long PCH

And that's like the per 55 miles an hour in a car built in the 50s is like the perfect kind of like yeah speed great car

I want to buy one every car you drive you want to buy well Chloe in particular Chloe loved that car

I was like if this is the she have like was she wearing like a long scarf with sunglasses

And her hair she yeah, yeah, her hair was different. She did wrap something around to like protect it because we're taking photos

Yeah, so anyway, yeah, she had the whole 50s. That's how it would have been like dressed up like greasers or anything

I didn't have like 50s look have you seen that guy on TikTok or Instagram Reels who like dresses up as a greaser

No, what do you do so fun? He's just like things. I'm not worried about my car breaking down

And being judged by like others for being this it's so funny. I got to show it to you later. It's it's really funny

The third generation Thunderbird set the stage for the big two-door coups of the 1960s

It didn't just grow in size it packed more power to a 352 cubic inch FE series V8 making 300 horsepower

gave it the muscle to match its extended footprint and made it ideal for cruising the growing American highway system

McNamara's gamble paid off the 1958 Thunderbird earned motor trends car of the year and outsold its predecessor by 16,000 units

The momentum continued in 1959 with a 350 horsepower engine and a vast array of customization options including 19 solid colors

41 two-tone schemes

14 seat material and color combos. Oh, that's that line to divide the chrome line dividing. That's cool

By that's insane by the end of the decade annual sales climbed to nearly 93,000 units cementing the four-seater success

Nice, it seemed that nothing could stop the Thunderbird

But changes soon hit Ford and the Thunderbirds once niche market started to get crowded

As the 61 started rolling off the line the cars champion Robert McNamara became the president of Ford

The first to hold the position from outside the family since 1906

But it went last he left two months later to become newly elected president John F Kennedy's secretary of defense

Then the competition really came knocking olds will be able to introduce the star fire for 1960 as a direct response to the teabird

And yeah, and Buick followed in 1963 with the Riviera the Thunderbird even found itself in competition with the more expensive Chrysler 300 letter series

Ford's own line also carved in the sales the galaxy offered similar performance and could be had with four doors and so too could the mercury monoray

The personal luxury space became crowded in the mid-1960s

But the Thunderbird nameplate held strong through generational redesigns in 1961 and 64 the latter nearly receiving a front wheel drive layout

What that'd be crazy more room though

That's true as the pony core pony core pony core

That's what that's one of your open tabs

Yeah

As the pony car wars took off in the mid-1960s and a flood of new competition came gnawing at the teabird

Ford struggled to place it in its lineup

Leia Cokka vice president of Ford's car and truck group Leia Cokka had a unique idea

Known for helping to create the Mustang the car that ultimately stole the Thunderbird's sporty image

Ia Cokka had a talent for reading the market when it came to the Thunderbird he believed the public wanted more doors

Ia Cokka's version of the teabird now available as a two-door or a four-door with rear-hinged suicide doors

That's cool. It became an image car. It was less sporty than ever

But it upped the entire Annie on luxury also reduced costs by sharing production with the Lincoln continental mark three when designing the mark three

Ia Cokka told stylus to quote put a Rolls-Royce grill on the Thunderbird whose idea was

This is internet's interesting to me because I would have thought that Lincoln was the one that's like we want to do these doors

Because they're famous for it, but it sounds like it was backwards. Yeah, it was Ia Cokka say

Hey interesting you got this cool car interesting

For the new and large bird designers L David Ash and Bill Boyer cited inspiration

From new Ferraris and Ford cars of the 1950s for the exterior interior stylus retained the previous generations two and two seating arrangements and developed

25 possible material and color choices for buyers to ponder carrying on the custom of offering ample aesthetic options

Engine choices carried over from 1966 with a 390 or

428 cubic inch V8 both available

But either could now be had with a new four barrel carburetor. That's funny

This is probably just chugging around giant motors like two barrels. It's gnarly 428 V8 and a Thunderbird that be sick as hell

The updated Thunderbird also benefited from a marketing scheme produced by clothing retailer

Abercrombie and fish

They commissioned five fully option Thunderbirds

Tacked a polo on the end of the name and each was updated with exciting features such as telephones

TV's reading lamps and more what year is this this is in

66 though built for display and Abercrombie and fit shops each one cost close to

$15,000 up from a base price of $4,603

That's like spending

$145,000 on a $44,000 car today

These significant changes as well as the increasingly competitive field caused Thunderbird sales to drop almost 50%

Between 1969 and 1971

When the time came to reimagine the teabird a tidal wave of leadership change rushed the next generations development

I mean, okay this fifth gen

I don't it's just it's losing me. I don't care for it. I don't care for it. I don't mind it. I like it. I don't mind it

It feels like

The evolution of that front grill is pretty cool and I like that. They're trying to see where they can go with it

It does look more like a galaxy. I'll say I will say it looks very much more like a Lincoln now because they're sharing a lot of components

We'll be right back after these messages

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Now back to the show

As the faults of the fifth gen came into focus Henry Ford the second a.k.a

Hank the doose recruited bunkey nuts and from general motors to become Ford's president in the first quarter of

1968 bunkey nuts him

He started by laying out his vision for Ford's lineup to which many long-standing executives

Disliked. Uh-oh. This political infighting resulted in bunkey only holding in the role until September of 1969

At which point Hank the doose fired him in favor of career Ford man liiah coca liiah coca

I'll go go go despite bunkey's short stint his influence flooded upcoming Ford products during Tom Hanks has bunkey

Including the upsized 1971 Ford Mustang and the 1970 and 71 Thunderbird which featured the infamous

Eagle beak or bunkey beak grill

Well now I got a bunkey beak. Hey, you'll bring out the bunkey beak

Oh, that's a big I gotta see this bunkey beak. That's a beak

The bunkey beak. Oh, that is a bunkey beak. That's a big car. It's kind of lose it now. It just looks like a Chevy

It just look. Yeah. Oh

That thing looks like it's gonna dive into the river and pluck out a fish

I know you should have called it to eat a beaver

I

Where the beaver it would be it would be flat. Yeah

Prior to his release, Nudson made it known. He wished to revert the thunderbird to ruin the car forever

I hate this car. I don't like this car at all

He wished to revert the Thunderbird to its sporting routes

Those plans went out the window with his dismissal and with iakoka in charge the Thunderbird was only destined to get bigger

When the 6th gen debuted in 1972 it was the largest Thunderbird ever made

Critics lauded the big bird and public response was very positive

Ford sold more than 50,000 Thunderbirds in 1972 a 60% jump over the previous year

In 1972 see again, yeah, we're always talking. Oh cars are getting bigger

Industries die. This is the biggest Thunderbird ever and it's like the most successful by a huge margin

Yeah, well, it's more successful than the last one. Didn't they sell a hundred

They went in here anyways, but yeah, but yes, a 60% job. They're gonna revamp it. Yeah to make it bigger

And then it's awesome. We love our treats. We love having space. Yeah, you know

Our roads are big. We love that the the beak we love the beak in 1972

Ford also celebrated the production of the one millionth Thunderbird which rolled off the assembly line on June 22nd

Unfortunately for I a cocoa though

The good times

Would not last uh by 1974 the Thunderbird had balloon from an overall length of 214 inches in 1972

To 225 inches in 1974 that's longer than my

ram

That's crazy the latter carried a curb weight of nearly 5,000 pounds

Fully options heavy car and it's gonna be making like 180 horse

This was the biggest bird ever sold and its size would prove

Unsustainable as new federal fuel economy and emission standards went into effect amid the 1970s fuel crisis

By 1975 sales of the oversized and underpowered Thunderbird had fallen to 42,000

To meet the new standards Ford had to put the Thunderbird on a diet the car hit the gym getting

Does imagine cars like

Getting eight inches shorter and 900 pounds lighter what the gyms for you know I get shorter

You enough squats will get shorter doing my short gains

Yeah, eight inches shorter and 900 pounds lighter before making its seventh generation debut for

1977 amid the rising fuel costs mid-size personal luxury was all the rage on the roadway and the tea bird hit the mark

For the first time ever it sold more than 100,000 units in a year in fact

Ford sold more than 250,000 of the cars during each of the three model years of the seventh generation

Crazy how this thing goes in dips it feels like up and down and up and down

I think it's also

Has a lot to do with its competitors and I would you think it's competing both through its two-door and four-door and even through the 70s

But with the competing in Paula

Maybe because it feels like they're making similar moves to what that car was doing up to the 80s and then in

Yeah

The seventh gen featured a detuned 302 v8 which improved fuel economy and helped bolster sales

Ford also continued the tradition of offering many colors and many interior choices with the total of 16 exterior colors

12 matching or contrasting vinyl roofs and 13 colors for the bench or bucket seats dude

We just don't have the same options these days. Yeah, that's so cool. It's literally

You know

I know it's awesome

It seems like it didn't really get too affected too by the gas crisis

Besides that detune engine, right, but that's what 1978. This is

77 yeah 77 yeah

However to get prices down many standard features were removed no longer did the car come with AC

bumper guards color keyed seatbelts or power windows instead buyers could check up to 44 option boxes

Driving the price of the base model up of $5,000 around set around $27,000 today to as much as $12,000 or 64 grand

in today's money so like more than double with all the options

That's pretty gnarly there was this feeling that they had to compete with the German luxury

And that they could do it. It's like you could spend that much money

Or you could spend a lot less and have a car that kind of looks like it as the 80s began another leadership change over at Ford

Disrupted the teabirds development it lost three important advocates including i coca

I love that we're calling it development. Yeah, the deterioration

Who was fired in 1978. There's also vp gene boardenat and hang the deuce who were tired in 1980

Though it's arguable. He kept the hand in the business till his death

All three had influenced the next gen thunderbird but none remained to see it completed

The result was a compromised product built on the smaller fox platform

The new thunderbird was 17 inches shorter and adopted squared off styling

While the 302 v8 remained available

Ford introduced an even more feeble 4.2 liter v8 that made just

115 horsepower

For the first time ever an inline six was offered as well

The six cylinder delivered up to 26 miles per gallon compared to the v8's 21

But performance lagged and sales plummeted in 1982 just 45412 units

And only 40% carried the 200 cubic inch six cylinder engine

Ugh by the mid 80s the thunderbird hadn't

By the mid 80s the thunderbird had nearly returned to its roots

It was a sporty compact coupe capable of seating for

It also managed to recapture the personal luxury identity it helped define

And even wrote on a footprint similar to the original

But one thing hadn't come full circle

That performance though design worked for the 9th generation model began in 1978

The long lead time was needed to achieve advanced aerodynamics

The result was a rounded sleek arrow coupe

Which was a breath of fresh air compared to the boxy malaise air designs

Under the hood things got really interesting

The 5 also just got done praising the boxy malaise air designs

Pretty heavily

Under yeah under the hood things got really interesting

The 5 liter v8 returned to the bird

And a 3.8 liter v6 could be optioned

But the turbo 4 was what really got people talking

And its debut year of 1983

The 4 banger produced 142 horsepower

12 more than the v8

I did not know that

By 1985 the turbo teabirds horses jumped to 155

The turbo option initially came only with a Borgwarner 5 speed manual transmission

marking the first non-auto option in a teabird since 1960

With the gauge of success being sales you can say Ford had a winner on its hands

A total of 121,999 teabirds flew the coupe in 1983

Including more than 12,500 turbo variants

I think it's notable too that since the first 2 or 3 gins of Thunderbird

From today if you looked at subsequent generations you'd be like

That's a Thunderbird

I think this is the first generation where you're like

That's a Thunderbird

You know where it's in you know it is a shape of a Thunderbird

Those numbers continued to climb and Ford aimed to capitalize even further

The 9th generation still riding on the Fox platform

Went through a major refresh for 1980 set

I love that it's like every three years

I know

It's crazy

Major refresh for 1987 aesthetically and mechanically

While the updated interior and exterior shined

The addition of an intercooler on the turbo coupe

Gave it the same drivetrain as the Mustang SVL

Oh that's cool

When equipped with the manual transmission

It pushed 190 horsepower

Resulting in an 8 seconds 0-60 and 143 mile per hour top speed

Critics loved it

And Motor Trend named the turbo coupe it's 1987

Car of the year

Dude

I got it

I got to see this car

Would be cool

Oh my god

Build one of these to like a track spec

Pulling out a volcano in it

I actually do

I like these a lot

Yeah

That's cool

And that hood

The way the hood comes down on that is pretty simple too

It's gonna make it probably a good bonding car

What kind of beak is that

That's right it's the beak

It's the beak

A major overhaul arrived just in time for the 1990s

All centered around a single engine option

The S6 overhead valve 3.8 liter V6

Which came in naturally aspirated and supercharged variants

The Thunderbird won Motor Trends car of the year for the third time in 1989

Specifically the super coupe or SC for short

It's rated at 210 horsepower and pushing 12 pounds of boost

The SC could run 0-60 in 7.5 seconds

And hit a top speed of nearly 140 miles per hour

Honestly at that time

For how big this car is

That's pretty impressive

That's impressive

That's cool man

That's neat dude

And you can go neat

Swap out all the Foxbody components too if you wanted

Yeah dude

Now we're talking Jimbo

That's neat

These are cool too

I like these

Yeah

I like these

I can smell the cigarettes over it

That's a rad wood car

Yeah these are cool

These are hard to smell the cigarettes

Like

Pretty good

This is sick dude

Thunderbird SC

All right we all get

Thunderbird SCs

We're all getting probes

We're all getting SCs

We'll be the thunder boys

Yeah dude

Straight up

This iteration of the T-bird

Found particular success in NASCAR in the 1990s

In 1992

Alan Coolwicky drove a Thunderbird

In his championship run

1992

In 1997 Ford also won the NASCAR

Manufacturer's championship

It was a great way to celebrate the end of the Thunderbird

Because after 43 years of continuous production

Ford pulled the plug

That same year

For more than 40 years

The Thunderbird had been

Ford's most malleable model

It could take many forms

Because it's name always reflected

What it's set out to be

Personal luxury

The T-bird could be described as luxurious

Sporty, fun

And a cable

Personal

And occasionally

Fast

When management called it quits

On the iconic nameplate

An uproar ensued

Inside and outside of the blue oval

Ford's upper management listened

And as they watched

Retro-inspired cars

Like the Volkswagen Bug

And Plymouth Prouller rolled down the streets

Ford decided to get a slice of that sweet sweet

Stalls a pie

Almost as soon as the Thunderbird's demise

Was announced

A small team at Ford got together

To spend their evenings trying to save it

A little skunk work's action

The secret mission was reminiscent

Of the original Thunderbird's development

Global VP of design

Jack Telnack

Caught wind of the project

And became a major proponent

Until his retirement

His replacement, Jay Mayes

Famous for reworking the iconic VW Beetle

That it recently hit the streets

Brought his retro experience to the table

And push the plan forward

The end result was a throwback

To the original baby birds of the mid-50s

With a concept debuting

At the 1999 North American

International Auto Show

It generated positive enough response

That Ford's new president, Jack Nasser

Gave it the green light

The retro Thunderbird had a single engine option

A 3.8 liter Jaguar V8

That produced 250 horsepower

Jaguars Ford

It was making Jaguar Taurus

It was not the 3.0 V8

So Jaguar V8

This thing was connected to a 5-speed auto

With a select shift auto-stick option

When sales started for the 2002 model year

It appeared Ford had another winner on its hands

More than 30,000 sold that year

And the T-bird earned its fourth

Motor Trend Car of the Year award

I did not know it won that

That's crazy

It's got to be some kind of record

Ford

Yeah

Ford and a row

Or one model

Unfortunately though, lofty sales goals

Failed to hit their mark

Sales fell by more than 50% in 2003

And all the people who were excited about the car

Had already bought it

Yep

Exactly

And sales continued to drop year over year

It held on through 2005

Marking the 50th anniversary of the Ford Thunderbird

If we could just make it to 50

A proper exclamation point for an iconic model

In its five decades

The Thunderbird reinvented itself time and time again

Taking direct aim at Corvette

And defining style in the 1960s

To sharing assembly lines

With its upscale siblings from Lincoln

And reverting back to its former self

Just in time for its 50th birthday

The Thunderbird always remained true to its roots

As a personal luxury vehicle

While it has been 20 years since the Thunderbird flew

Ford did renew the trademark name in 2021

Could there be another resurrection in the future?

No, they're just keeping the name

Only time will tell

But obviously it's electric

With a name like Thunderbird

It better be

They'll call it the Lightning Bird

Lightning Bird

Only time will tell

But if history teaches us anything

It's that legends

Never die

Whoa

And that's the story of the Thunderbird

Dude, chills

Guys

Kills

Buy your

No, go

Set your Craigslist

Sale area to Palm Springs

10th gen actually is what you want

I feel like I never see these ones too now

The latest ones

The new one

Yeah

I don't see one

That was 20 years ago

The newest

I mean, there's

Not a lot of weird

That was 20 years ago

I know

Jeez

Dude

It's a classic

Dude

Xbox was out then

Original

Wow, the original OG Xbox

Wow

You could go buy a copy of Halo 2 in that car

So that's the Thunderbird

I'm hyped on them now

I'm more hyped on them than the probe

Honestly, the probe

I could

Yeah, I'll be on it

I like this more than the probe

Thank you guys so much

Thanks to our rider this week

Brian Corey

And our primary source for this episode was

Thunderbird 50 years by Alan H. Tast

Follow Bart at BidsBardo

On social media follow Jimmy

At RussellJimmy.jp follow me at NolanJSykes

Big thank you

To our crew as always

We got Audrey, Edgar

And Mark behind the camera there

And thanks to you for listening

As always

We will see you next week

Bye bye

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Why Did Ford Keep Ruining the Thunderbird?

About this episode

Ford Thunderbird

sports car

fiberglass

Chevrolet Corvette

Chrysler PT Cruiser

Jaguar

MG

hot rodding

Crosley Hot Shot

tail fins

concept cars

Buick Y-Job

Pontiac Catalina

rotary

turbo

Rob Dom

Mazda Miatas

personal luxury vehicle

Hyundai Grandeur

Y-block V8

V8 engine

sales goal

halo car

Mercury Mariners

Lincoln Continental

FE series V8

Chrysler 300

Ford Galaxy

Ford Mustang

fuel economy standards

Mustang SVL

Audi S6

retro Thunderbird

Ford Taurus

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