Automotive Trends

A Time Machine On Wheels    

     These days people will try anything to turn back Father Time’s clock. Most every city in the country houses a doctor or twelve that will inject you with Botox, suck your fat out through a tube or prescribe pills that promise to firm up sagging skin. These remedies might do the trick for a while, but they are still only temporary. Ford, however, would love to sell you a more permanent solution. They call it the Thunderbird, and it’ll take you back through the years faster than you can say, “I need a facelift”.
     This time machine starts life as a Lincoln LS chassis, albeit a shortened one, which provides the ‘bird with a fairly strong backbone. Over Michigan’s neglected roads there is still more cowl shake than we’d like but on most roads, most of the time, the cockpit is free of annoying quivers and vibrations. All four corners feature vented disc brakes with four channel ABS that haul the car down commendably, though the pedal is softer than we’d prefer. Gorgeous 17” chrome wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot tires do a nice job of holding the 3,800-pound T-bird to the road. It can’t keep up with a Miata in the hairpins, but it isn’t designed to either. If owners do decide to drive more spiritedly, the tight steering, at 2.7 turns lock-to-lock, and standard traction control will help them keep the Thunderbird pointed in the right direction and shiny-side up.
     However, canyon carving certainly isn’t what one buys a Thunderbird for. It is a cruiser. The perfect weekend driver. For 2003 the engine, which is shared with the Lincoln LS sport sedan, received variable cam timing, which boosts power to 280hp at 6,000rpm and 286lb-ft of torque at a usable 4,000rpm. The silky-smooth 3.9-liter all-aluminum V8 pulls strong from 2,000rpm on. Press into the electronically controlled accelerator to pass at 50mph and the 5-speed automatic takes a few more seconds than we’d like to shift down a couple gears, but when it does, 100mph comes up faster than you expected. For those readers who live on numbers, the Thunderbird does 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds. Our test car had the optional Select Shift transmission which lets you slide the shifter into a separate gate and tap up or down for the corresponding shift. It works well, especially when you’re in a corner and don’t want a computer mandated shift to upset the vehicle. It’s something you won’t use everyday, but it is handy in certain circumstances and they only charge $130, so we think it’s money well spent.

      Money less well spent is evident when you open the door. Our fully loaded test car had the optional Saddle Brown interior accent package. For $695 you get Saddle Brown leather seats, gearshift knob, and an insert on the steering wheel. Not a single person who saw the vehicle said they would part with seven hundred hard-earned dollars when the standard black leather looks so much better. The seats themselves are well contoured and covered in high-quality leather, but the bottom cushion is too short to give long legged drivers proper support. Six footers will also be witness to a painful phenomenon when wearing shorts. The metal speaker grille in the door panel tries to occupy the same space as the driver’s left leg. It is clear who wins when you leave the vehicle with a perfectly imprinted pattern of little circles on your leg. We’re being nitpicky though. For the most part, the Thunderbird cabin earns high marks. We especially love the new-for-2003 gauges. The steering wheel is beautiful and power adjustable for tilt and telescope, and when you remove the key to leave the vehicle it motors up and in to better facilitate exit. The standard 6-disc in-dash CD changer coupled with the Audiophile sound system is strong, even with the top down. Also standard, though not very useful during July, are heated seats.

      Something that is useful during July is the standard power operated soft top. Simply release a center-mounted latch and press a rocker switch on the center stack to power the top down in about 10 seconds. A soft vinyl boot is provided to cover the folded top and provide a finished look. When the top is up the boot stores in the fully lined trunk. For a convertible the trunk is relatively generous, providing 6.9 cubic feet of space, but packing for a weeklong getaway would be a challenging ordeal. Inside when the top is up it is almost coupe-like quiet, but headroom is minimal. If you are anymore than six feet tall you’ll get to know the headliner well. And like most convertibles, the top produces blind spots that could hide a ’76 Eldorado. For those of you who want to experience a Thunderbird without the wind in your hair feel, an aluminum hardtop complete with porthole windows is available.
     One thing that is surprising about the Thunderbird, and can’t be said about most convertibles, is that it looks equally good with the top up or down. Even several years after its public debut, the Thunderbird still garners positive remarks from most everyone who sees it. Styling is subjective, but this is a case of retro working—really well.

     The Thunderbird is probably better at its intended purpose than anyone gives it credit for. It is a purpose built cruiser intended for you and your significant other, and as the press kit says, it excels at “relaxed sportiness”. We recommend you take all that money you were going to spend on a tummy tuck or face-lift and send $41,690 to your local Ford dealer. They’ll send you a time machine on wheels.