Nancy Sinatra Thunderbird (and boots!)

There hasn’t been any new Thunderbird news in many years, and there may not be for many years more, so we thought that Thunderbird fans would appreciate this video.

“I gotta get outta this town“!

This was the opening song for her 1967 television special “Movin’ with Nancy”, featuring rat pack members Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. (with whom she shared a spontaneous on-air inter-racial kiss, predating the more famous one in an episode of Star Trek), dancer and choreographer David Winters (of West Side Story), and long time writer/collaborator Lee Hazelwood.

The video features a period Thunderbird, one of the last truly small ‘birds, customized in a dark red and non-factory racing wheels. Appropriate for Nancy, provocative and sporty, yet classy.

And be sure to look for the cameo in the video below with The Chairman Himself, aka “Daddy”. Always good to see, and hear, him!

1968 Thunderbird, personal luxury on the large side

There are 40 or 50 car blogs that we read on a regular basis. Some speak to brands that are of interest to us, and some speak to performance driving. Over the past few years we have also become interested in classic cars, and are looking to restore an interesting classic from years gone by.

One blog caught our attention last week with a posting about the 1967-1969 4-door Thunderbirds. We’ve never owned a Thunderbird, although we’ve driven a few late-model examples and have a collection of books in our library about the history of the car. What we didn’t remember is that the 4-door Thunderbird from those years featured suicide doors. If you’re not familiar with the term, it means the rear doors open forward… so if you happen to fall out you’d be run over by the rear wheels. Mid-60s Lincoln Continentals also featured these types of doors.

Amongst various blogs covering old cars is one named Car Lust. It’s a great read. A range of topics for car enthusiasts are covered here by several authors, although the recurring theme is old cars. Their posting last week about 4-door Thunderbirds  was timely because we’d just looked at a 1968 2-door Thunderbird from the same years.

The 2-door Thunderbird is a large car, huge by modern standards. If you’ve owned a classic 60s-era Mustang and a classic Cougar (as we did), then you know how much larger the 69/70-era Cougar was. When we moved from our own ’67 Mustang coupe to our ’70 Cougar XR-7, we went from a 183.6″ long 2900 pound car to a 196.1″ ~3300 pound car. That’s a huge difference, and it was most noticeable when maneuvering thru parking lots (nevermind handling). The 2-door Thunderbird has a 209.4″ wheelbase and, thanks to a full frame design, has a weight of about 4600 pounds. It’s exponentially worse. Yikes!

We found the following example by the side of the road, for sale by its owner, in December 2010. It’s in agood shape and would make a great restoration project. We briefly thought about buying it, perhaps as a flip, although we frankly don’t have the room for it and it deserves an owner who will restore it to the state of originality it deserves.

We think this car must have been in the beginning of a restoration, because the body seems to have been primed with flat black paint. As you can see, everything is present and accounted for, from the landau bars on the vinyl roof to all 4 hubcaps and all the lights. Only the trim strips below the door are missing. This would make a great candidate for restoration. Better yet, after a quick check, the body appears to be free of any rust holes, along with the inner fenderwells. That would be very rare indeed. 

The front has some Cougar DNA with the hidden headlights. They probably work: after days parked, they are not sagging or half-open. It’s an easy fix if they don’t, we remember fixing the headlamp doors on our ’70 Cougar XR-7.  

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Thunderbird 55th Anniversary – but will there be another?

This weekend’s 55th anniversary of the Thunderbird raises the inevitable question “what’s next?”.  2 years ago, a lowly salesman at a Ford dealer in Georgia started an unsubstantiated rumor by claiming to a potential customer that there would be a new Thunderbird produced for the 2012 model year. The rumor swept the Internet, but was quickly realized as bunk.

It’s obviously impossible for Ford to produce a new Thunderbird for 2012 – and it’s also undesirable at this point in time. Several things determine this, the first of which is the financial condition of Ford itself. Remember that while money is being made again, the debt of tens of billions of dollars remains to be paid. This prevents investment in a product that would inherently sell in low numbers. Or, does it?

The last Thunderbird was based on Ford’s DEW-98 platfrom, shared with the Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type. The Thunderbird was essentially a 2-door Lincoln LS, sharing everything including it’s V-8 engine and driveline, dashboard, and console. As little Billy Ford jealously chipped away at the plans of Jacques Nasser, cutting nearly all his product plans to pieces (including an all-new rear wheel drive chassis to compete against the BMW 3-series standard), the Thunderbird lost it’s planned V-6, supercharged V-8, 6-speed manual transmission, and handling suspension with Brembo brakes. All of these were discussed in Ford interviews, and the handling/brake package was even discussed in the Thunderbird launch article in Car & Driver magazine.

Thunderbird Reference: DrivingEnthusiast: Ford Thunderbird section

A new Mustang was also intended to use the same DEW-98 platform. However, after several years of cost/benefit and market studies failed to justify use of the platform (studies which somehow missed Nissan’s successful leverage of it’s global rear wheel drive FM platform across several cars and crossovers), the new Mustang became simply a very dumbed-down Lincoln LS. So dumbed-down that after the development process nothing was left except the middle of the floor pan and the fuel system architecture. The short/long-arm front suspension was left behind for cost reasons, as was the IRS. An entirely different and much less expensive IRS was planned and developed for the Mustang, but was dropped suddenly by senior management for political and cost reasons. It is still on the shelf waiting as an option; in late 2005 AutoWeek reported that it could be offered since the solid axle car had an inherently rough ride and jumped over any and all rough pavement.

At the moment, lots of different things are happening inside Ford for driving enthusiasts. Some of the more interesting questions revolve around the future of the Mustang. The Mustang has finally received a revised modular V-8 engine (almost 20 years after the original design was introduced) and a class-leading standard V-6 (after a 36 year string of mediocre 4 cylinders and an ancient V-6 engine that dated back to the early ’60s) but suffers from the limitations of the dime-store chassis and the shear size and weight of the car (granted, much less than the Camaro and Challenger, although a far lighter and smaller replacement for the Camaro is in the planning stages).

So the question today is, could a more sophisticated Mustang platform form the basis for a new Thunderbird? Note the Thunderbird is not a Mustang – it wouldn’t be a “dressed up” Mustang GT, it would be designed for a much higher and more mature demographic. According to Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of Global Marketing, “Each generation of the Thunderbird had a unique personality that ushered in a new generation of breakthroughs in design or technology.” Therefore, a new Thunderbird would optimally require a sophisticated chassis and engine, combining the two into a class-standard driving experience. That leaves out the current Mustang chassis, with it’s stone-age suspension. But with the IRS waiting in the wings, and perhaps some improvement to the front strut suspension, Ford would have half the equation.

The other half could be the Ecoboost V-6, with over 400 horsepower on tap (front-wheel drive versions are currently 355 or 365, but an uprated version exceeding 365 is in the pipeline for the Taurus cop car, and a rear wheel drive version is imminent for the F-150) . The EcoBoost engine would be the optional engine, witha direct-injected 3.7 V-6 as standard. Couple both to an off-the-shelf Getrag 8-speed automatic (already designed for OEM use) and you have the makings of a nicely sophisticated drivetrain. The styling and interior should be left to J Mays again, and this time with a budget for a unique dashboard (in the plans for the last Thunderbird, but cancelled at the last moment). We’ll admit that it is frankly hard to see how he could top the ’50s-based last car, and post-50s Thunderbirds would hardly be a good model for a new car.

Added benefit: cost-sharing with the Mustang. And, perhaps, if it isn’t too late, with a new-generation Australian Falcon. But it may be too late for that. Ideas about a global rear wheel drive platform (previewed in the Interceptor showcar) seem to be yielding to higher priorities inside Ford, and that likely means the Mustang will remain an “orphan” platform, doomed to a limited budget. Adding perhaps 40k Thunderbirds to that equation doesn’t help the cost equation very much, and increases the likelihood that the Mustang will remain on a slightly reworked variant of it’s current platform (which could stand to loose 300 pounds and gain a hatchback).  There may be a missing element in this equation in the Lincoln MKR showcar, built on a hodgepodge of Interceptor and Mustang parts.  But adding that, with sales even less than the Thunderbird, may still not be enough to pay the bills. So in the meantime, there’s nothing to do but wait and watch Ford. If something is under development, it will inevitably be seen on the streets of Dearborn, or on the highways outside of Phoenix. We’ll probably see a Mustang first, and anything else based on it much later.

Thunderbird 55th Anniversary celebration in Dearborn

This weekend saw a 55th anniversary event, hosted by Ford at it’s world headquarters in Dearborn: http://www.tbird55.com/. Almost 300 cars attended.

Ford Press Release and images follows:

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FORD THUNDERBIRD OWNERS HEAD TO DEARBORN TO CELEBRATE 55 YEARS OF HISTORY

• The Ford Thunderbird is celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, and owners from across the country are coming together to celebrate the classic car
• More than 300 Thunderbirds will be on display, with owners coming from 30 states and Canada, at Ford World Headquarters from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 26
• The Ford Thunderbird, an American classic, became available to customers on Oct. 22, 1954, and went on to sell more than 4.2 million

DEARBORN, Mich., June 25, 2010 – The Ford Thunderbird is known for its classic design cues and the character of a true American sports car. But it also has 55 years of history to go along with that, and owners across the country are coming together to celebrate.

Nearly 300 Ford Thunderbirds and their owners will be heading to Dearborn, Mich., to honor the 55th anniversary of the classic car with a car show at Ford World Headquarters on Saturday, June 26. Drivers will be coming from more than 30 states, with several coming from Canada.

“The Ford Thunderbird is one of the most iconic products in the history of the automobile,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of Global Marketing. “Each generation of the Thunderbird had a unique personality that ushered in a new generation of breakthroughs in design or technology.”

The car show will kick off at noon and run until 4 p.m., with Thunderbirds from every year of production on display. The event is hosted by The Water Wonderland Thunderbird Club, The American Road Thunderbird Club and The Thunderbird Nest. “We appreciate the passion so many have for the iconic Thunderbird and the Ford brand. The emotional connection that our owners have with Ford has always differentiated us,” Farley added.

Making of a classic
The Ford Thunderbird went on sale Oct. 22, 1954 – starting a legend that would grow with each generation of Thunderbird cars. Since then, the Thunderbird has included classic two-seaters, roadsters, convertibles and four-door models, as well as hardtops and sedans – more than
4.2 million of them.

For restoration information
Visit the Ford restoration parts website at http://www.fordrestorationparts.com/ to find parts for classic Thunderbirds. Select the model in which you’re interested to load a list of suppliers with contact information.

New Ford Thunderbird in 2012? No, Sorry!

Thunderbird fans on the internet are all in a tizzy over a purported plan to introduce a new Thunderbird in 2012.  The rumor started with a car salesman in Marietta, Georgia and has had zero substantiation beyond that. One person on the forums is even claiming to be on his way to the dealer to put down a deposit – 4 years early.

My take: as so often happens with the internet, take this one as nothing more than hopeful thinking (although recently we’ve heard form a certain politician how much mileage can be gotten from ”hope” – and we’ll no doubt see in his future that the actual delivery from such BS adds up to exactly zero).

I’m a Thunderbird fan as much as or more than most people, and the 2002 model below would certainly work well for me. I don’t see how Ford could top this one… or why they would want to. The Thunderbird ”DNA” should be very carefully maintained… cherished… protected. I’d like to see a new one happen someday… but only if the exact combination comes together and is treated seriously. And it’s got to be true to the original heritage. The last one was a great try – I saw the press intro in Detroit and was thrilled by it.

Can Ford top their last try? Should Ford even try to? And if they do attempt to, will they manage to keep it current this time? They sure blew it last time: the Sport Suspension (Brembos, firmer suspension) option detailed in the early press briefings was the first thing to be dropped from the plans, followed by the 6-speed manual and then the supercharged engine. And finally the entire car.

And then there is the financial condition of Ford… beyond lousy. Does Ford need a product that would never sell past 25k units a year (and lucky to do that), or does Ford need to invest in the powertrains that will take it to the end of the decade (the Ecoboost V-6 is for the first part of the decade)?

That’s why we won’t see a new Thunderbird in the next several years.

Come back in 4 years and we’ll see. Or more likely 6 or 8. By then the company will be healthy and able to do such a product, or hopelessly lost.