When Thunderbird returns to Ford of Canada's lineup this fall, it will be as a pricey 2-seat roadster - $51,550 for the base convertible, or $56,550 with the optional removeable hard-top.
Ford clearly expects this car to be popular with the well-heeled Boomers who lusted after this car in its original '50s incarnation but couldn't afford it then, and the Oakville operation is telling its dealers to take customers' deposits now on the 2000 or so models Canada will get.
According to Robert Girard, Ford of Canada's vice-president of general sales, this action meets a strong demand. "For months now," he says, "our dealers across Canada have been besieged by customers - some with cheques in hand - who want this car."
Though there are lots of people (myself included) who find the new T-Bird design disappointing, Girard and the other folks at Ford are pushing hard on the notion that it's a stunner. A press release from Oakville says the 2002 Thunderbird is "a dramatically designed convertible roadster" that is "a modern memento of an earlier optimistic North American era. Obvious visual cues, rendered with a decidedly modern interpretation, tie it to classic cars of the past."
Girard says, "With elegant curves, big wheels and spirited performance, Thunderbird for 2002 is refined, new-millennium chic with a hint of its fabled '55 panache."
However you view the new Bird's look versus that of its famous predecessor, there's little doubt the new car will be a vastly superior vehicle in all other aspects.
Girard says the new T-Bird will be a "well-balanced roadster that employs a rigid, computer-engineered chassis and a finely-tuned four-wheel independent suspension system employing lightweight materials to reduce unsprung weight and improve response."
Weight distribution on the Thunderbird is "nearly" 50/50, which Steve Akers, the car's chassis and dynamics supervisor, points out should give "better overall balance across all four tire patches, eliminating the risk of both understeer and oversteer."
Another balance that Akers says he worked hard to make was between "relaxed and sporty" suspensions. "Sometimes, a sporty ride can be really stiff and tied to the road. A ride that's too plush is too 'floaty.' We've worked to find the right combination to give the driver a great cruising car that provides a lot of fun on the curves."
Fundamental to such a balance, Akers says, is vehicle stiffness, and with the 2002 Thunderbird that had to be built from below because the car wouldn't have a roof.
One of Akers' team's first moves was a cross-car beam just behind the seats that integrates into the structure. Next they added a series of three steel bolted-on X-braces; hardware not found in a typical sedan with a fixed roof structure.
The rear brace, a 76-millimeter-diameter tube, is key to the car's stiffness, says Joe Williams, Ford's North American Car Vehicle Center supervisor. "Bolt-on braces typically are added in the body shop," he says, but "the Thunderbird's very stiff rear brace is so critical to the body structure that it has to go on early in the assembly process. This helps ensure top quality and precision Thunderbird fits along the body."
T-Bird's front and rear suspension systems are short-long arm designs (SLA), while the control arms and uprights are made of aircraft-grade forged or cast aluminum.
Thunderbird uses a power rack-and-pinion steering gear with variable assist to provide low-effort maneuvers at parking speeds and a high level of road feel at highway speeds, and that works through a standard power tilt and telescoping steering wheel.
All T-Birds come standard with 17-inch, 21-spoke cast aluminum wheels fitted with all-season tires, though customers looking to upgrade will be able to choose a 17-inch, 7-spoke chromed cast aluminum wheel.
There are power-assisted, four-wheel disc antilock brakes and vented rotors on all corners, and all-speed traction control is optional.
For the new 2002 Thunderbird to be called "a true American dream car," Williams says, "it would have to feature heart-throbbing V8 power. But as a modern icon, it would have to be smooth-running power. The Thunderbird team found its answer in Ford Motor Company's new 3.9-liter V8 designed for the Lincoln LS."
This DOHC engine generates 252 horsepower at 6,100 rpm and 267 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm. For this application, the engine has been tuned to "recapture some of the authentic Thunderbird magic" by giving it a "throaty exhaust sound" located on a tonal scale somewhere between a Mustang GT and a Lincoln LS.
Engineers drove a 1955 Thunderbird to listen to its distinct tone and then set sound targets for the 2002 model. They adjusted pipe, muffler and resonator size and baffling to achieve the right note.
"Part of the overall driving experience in these cars is the subtle roar of the engine," says Scott Cooper, T-Bird's powertrain supervisor. "What you like to hear is a low-frequency, deep tone from the exhaust when you put your foot into it. It sounds good."
Mated to the engine is a 5-speed, close-ratio electronically-controlled transmission with an overdrive top gear. A quiet gear set is used in the transmission to minimize first- and second-gear whine, and a 3.58:1 final drive ratio gives "better performance feel."
As romantic a notion as the wind-in-the-hair driving may be, the quotidien reality can be something less charming, so Ford went to some effort to control top-down turbulence. The angle of the windshield helps a lot with this, but engineers used "airflow visualization to ensure the wind crossing over the windshield doesn't create unwanted cabin turbulence that would interfere with conversation."
As well, T-Bird's antenna is embedded in the windshield to reduce wind noise from whistling that can occur with an outside-mounted antenna, and additional isolation from wind noise results from the doors' drop-glass feature. When the Thunderbird door is opened, the side glass lowers just slightly. When the door is closed, the glass goes back up to fit snugly into the seal system.
"From the moment the designers washed a vintage Thunderbird with their hands, attention to detail has been a top priority for the team," says Nancy Gioia, the car's chief program engineer. "We believe the car is not only beautiful but a well-balanced driving machine our customers will love."
Ford clearly expects this car to be popular with the well-heeled Boomers who lusted after this car in its original '50s incarnation but couldn't afford it then, and the Oakville operation is telling its dealers to take customers' deposits now on the 2000 or so models Canada will get.
According to Robert Girard, Ford of Canada's vice-president of general sales, this action meets a strong demand. "For months now," he says, "our dealers across Canada have been besieged by customers - some with cheques in hand - who want this car."
Though there are lots of people (myself included) who find the new T-Bird design disappointing, Girard and the other folks at Ford are pushing hard on the notion that it's a stunner. A press release from Oakville says the 2002 Thunderbird is "a dramatically designed convertible roadster" that is "a modern memento of an earlier optimistic North American era. Obvious visual cues, rendered with a decidedly modern interpretation, tie it to classic cars of the past."
Girard says, "With elegant curves, big wheels and spirited performance, Thunderbird for 2002 is refined, new-millennium chic with a hint of its fabled '55 panache."
However you view the new Bird's look versus that of its famous predecessor, there's little doubt the new car will be a vastly superior vehicle in all other aspects.
Girard says the new T-Bird will be a "well-balanced roadster that employs a rigid, computer-engineered chassis and a finely-tuned four-wheel independent suspension system employing lightweight materials to reduce unsprung weight and improve response."
Weight distribution on the Thunderbird is "nearly" 50/50, which Steve Akers, the car's chassis and dynamics supervisor, points out should give "better overall balance across all four tire patches, eliminating the risk of both understeer and oversteer."
Another balance that Akers says he worked hard to make was between "relaxed and sporty" suspensions. "Sometimes, a sporty ride can be really stiff and tied to the road. A ride that's too plush is too 'floaty.' We've worked to find the right combination to give the driver a great cruising car that provides a lot of fun on the curves."
Fundamental to such a balance, Akers says, is vehicle stiffness, and with the 2002 Thunderbird that had to be built from below because the car wouldn't have a roof.
One of Akers' team's first moves was a cross-car beam just behind the seats that integrates into the structure. Next they added a series of three steel bolted-on X-braces; hardware not found in a typical sedan with a fixed roof structure.
The rear brace, a 76-millimeter-diameter tube, is key to the car's stiffness, says Joe Williams, Ford's North American Car Vehicle Center supervisor. "Bolt-on braces typically are added in the body shop," he says, but "the Thunderbird's very stiff rear brace is so critical to the body structure that it has to go on early in the assembly process. This helps ensure top quality and precision Thunderbird fits along the body."
T-Bird's front and rear suspension systems are short-long arm designs (SLA), while the control arms and uprights are made of aircraft-grade forged or cast aluminum.
Thunderbird uses a power rack-and-pinion steering gear with variable assist to provide low-effort maneuvers at parking speeds and a high level of road feel at highway speeds, and that works through a standard power tilt and telescoping steering wheel.
All T-Birds come standard with 17-inch, 21-spoke cast aluminum wheels fitted with all-season tires, though customers looking to upgrade will be able to choose a 17-inch, 7-spoke chromed cast aluminum wheel.
There are power-assisted, four-wheel disc antilock brakes and vented rotors on all corners, and all-speed traction control is optional.
For the new 2002 Thunderbird to be called "a true American dream car," Williams says, "it would have to feature heart-throbbing V8 power. But as a modern icon, it would have to be smooth-running power. The Thunderbird team found its answer in Ford Motor Company's new 3.9-liter V8 designed for the Lincoln LS."
This DOHC engine generates 252 horsepower at 6,100 rpm and 267 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm. For this application, the engine has been tuned to "recapture some of the authentic Thunderbird magic" by giving it a "throaty exhaust sound" located on a tonal scale somewhere between a Mustang GT and a Lincoln LS.
Engineers drove a 1955 Thunderbird to listen to its distinct tone and then set sound targets for the 2002 model. They adjusted pipe, muffler and resonator size and baffling to achieve the right note.
"Part of the overall driving experience in these cars is the subtle roar of the engine," says Scott Cooper, T-Bird's powertrain supervisor. "What you like to hear is a low-frequency, deep tone from the exhaust when you put your foot into it. It sounds good."
Mated to the engine is a 5-speed, close-ratio electronically-controlled transmission with an overdrive top gear. A quiet gear set is used in the transmission to minimize first- and second-gear whine, and a 3.58:1 final drive ratio gives "better performance feel."
As romantic a notion as the wind-in-the-hair driving may be, the quotidien reality can be something less charming, so Ford went to some effort to control top-down turbulence. The angle of the windshield helps a lot with this, but engineers used "airflow visualization to ensure the wind crossing over the windshield doesn't create unwanted cabin turbulence that would interfere with conversation."
As well, T-Bird's antenna is embedded in the windshield to reduce wind noise from whistling that can occur with an outside-mounted antenna, and additional isolation from wind noise results from the doors' drop-glass feature. When the Thunderbird door is opened, the side glass lowers just slightly. When the door is closed, the glass goes back up to fit snugly into the seal system.
"From the moment the designers washed a vintage Thunderbird with their hands, attention to detail has been a top priority for the team," says Nancy Gioia, the car's chief program engineer. "We believe the car is not only beautiful but a well-balanced driving machine our customers will love."
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