You're so beautiful!

[NJBird]

I just discovered an article in July's HCC (Hemmings Classic Car) magazine by Jim Richardson. Jim lists his top picks for most beautiful cars and Ford's "retro" T-Bird is number eight on his list. Here's what he writes about our Thunderbirds:

"The last car on my list is the 2000 Ford Thunderbird.It's a front-engine, rear-drive convertible that captures the elegant sportiness of the classic T-Birds of the Fifties, but it's not a retro car. The trouble is, it was too expensive for what you got, because it did not have many of the luxury features people had grown to expect. But that doesn't take away from its styling".

Bill

[AZTB]

Re: You're so beautiful!

Can't say as I disagree with his viewpoint.

[David M 7173]

Re: You're so beautiful!

The only thing we do not have is the built in GPS system.

[jerrym3]

Re: You're so beautiful!

For me, a GPS system is not that important, but, I miss all the bells and whistles that my LS has.

It's not that I can't live without them, but, for the money we spent, they should have been included.

I think the writer's statement is absolutely correct.

[Leroy]

Re: You're so beautiful!

I think they really went cheap on the Radio and sound system, other than that I think they did pretty well with what they had to work with. A Turbo and 6 Spd. manual trans would've been a nice option to be more competitive with other Roadsters. Leroy

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[Gobird]

Re: You're so beautiful!

Like I have said in the past. I ordered my 02 and knew what was in it. I bought it for the styling, that's all I needed.

[Ediron]

Re: You're so beautiful!

Styling is great but some of the things I miss are no compass in the mirror,sunvisors that donot swing to the door window,seats could have been a little better cusioned.JMO as a used T-Bird owner who still gets great comments on a car 6 yrs old.

[AZTB]

Re: You're so beautiful!

My wife's new Edge Limited FAR outshines the Bird on specialty items, and it was $11,000 cheaper...yes, I bought both Birds because of styling & nostalgia, but for the bucks, Ford could have stepped up & offered more on this specialty product...

...leather on the '05 is MUCH cheaper to the feel than the '02 ('02's was NUDO leather...'05's feels like NEEDY leather!), lighted vanity mirrors would have been nice, separate memory options for both keys for the driver's seat & steering wheel...just some of the items I can think of they could have offered for the price.

[Bill Brown]

Re: You're so beautiful!

I have always said with the Ford approach that the retros were personal luxury cars it did not have the "right stuff" to call it such. Alot of available bells and whistles were missing. I firmly believe the base price should have been around $30,000-$32,000. Add on the greedy dealers "Market Adjustments" anywhere from $2,000-10,000 which ran most most people out of the showroom empty handed. As the years went by all we had to look forward to was what are the new colors and wheels for the next year. The Ford marketing approach was lacking as well. I think this has been said before but I feel better now.

[SixPac]

Re: You're so beautiful!

Well, at least one positive thing came out of the retro birds and that is TBN.

[LibbaBird799]

Re: You're so beautiful!

YOu got that right Charlie!

[Lindy]

Re: You're so beautiful!

Good to have a positive article, on the Thunderbird. Ford did a superb job at restoring the T-Bird to a two seater for 2002-05. Which was certainly a time era of great competition regarding luxury options in the automobile industry. All of the options in the new T-Bird would have stood-out more if perhaps there were less competition offering so many things. But that's not to say that the '02-'05 does not have all the luxuries a guy could want; and they do; however, I do agree that driver's-side seat-memory would have been a great retro-option! I also agree that the leather in the '02 is a bit more pleasant than the '05. Kudos to Ford Motor Company for making the Thunderbird fun again! It's no wonder that the '02 T-Bird won the Motor Trend "Car of the Year" award!