Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

[4LOWBIRDS+7]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Ron: Did those forty get scrapped or did they get out to the public ? That would be a rare Bird to own if there were only forty.
Must admit this is the first time I heard of them. The last Bird of the line "suposedly a '97 laser red , #173196", was given to the CTCI and they have since sold it as far as I know.
Any pictures ?

TO MY KNOWLEDGE THE 1998'S WERE BOUGHT/OR ASSIGNED TO DIFFERENT DIVISIONS AND USED AS POOL CARS FOR A WHILE AND THEN ALL SCRAPPED. THE LAST ACTUAL THUNDERBIRD OFF THE LINE WAS A TWIN TO THE BIRD THAT WENT TO CTCI. THE CTCI BIRD WAS BUILT SEVERAL DAYS EARLIER AND PREPPED FOR THE PICTURE TAKING. THE LAST ONE WAS GOOD, IT WAS PICTURED IN ALL THE LAST PHOTOS. SOMEWHERE I HAVE PICTURES OF THAT, BUT NOT OF THE 1998'S.

[lasuvidaboy]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

I agree about the dealers playing a hand in the car not being a success. I went to a few dealers here in L.A. when the car first came out and they all had the car priced well above sticker. One dealer had it 5k over and the other 10k over. A girlfriend of mine wanted one and she was quoted 15k over sticker! $53k plus tax for a Tbird was ridiculous yet some people apparently paid it. She ended up buying a Mercedes convertible. 3-years later Beverly Hills Ford (no longer in business) was selling the cars for 10k BELOW sticker. That dealer was the place you could pick up a Tbird in any color and at a good discount by 2005. By that time many Ford dealers had done the damage-at least here in Southern California. I picked ours up for sticker at a out-of-the-way dealer several miles away from our home.

[Eyelawdoc]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

I agree about the dealers playing a hand in the car not being a success. I went to a few dealers here in L.A. when the car first came out and they all had the car priced well above sticker. One dealer had it 5k over and the other 10k over. A girlfriend of mine wanted one and she was quoted 15k over sticker! $53k plus tax for a Tbird was ridiculous yet some people apparently paid it. She ended up buying a Mercedes convertible. 3-years later Beverly Hills Ford (no longer in business) was selling the cars for 10k BELOW sticker. That dealer was the place you could pick up a Tbird in any color and at a good discount by 2005. By that time many Ford dealers had done the damage-at least here in Southern California. I picked ours up for sticker at a out-of-the-way dealer several miles away from our home.

Interesting.

My car, a Whisper White 2003, sold new (not to me) from Beverly Hills Ford. It was ordered by BHF from Ford in May of 2003, built in June and delivered to the dealership in July. It then sat on the lot for three months, until finally selling in mid-October 2003.

A few years later it was traded in at Walker Burge Ford in Los Angeles, then sold to another owner who lived in Santa Monica. Slightly over a year ago it was again traded in to Wallker Burge. It sold again in January 2010 at wholesale with around 33,000 miles to a friend of the general manager. The third owner of my car lives in Oxnard, CA and was going to export the car to Peru, but changed his mind. He sold it to me, owner number four, in May 2010 for a bit less than he paid for it with just under 34,000 miles.

[Rondor]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Speaking of Mustangs,, In '67 wife worked for a Ford dealer and we bought a '67 Mustang convertable White with blue interior, and every option available. That was first year with a/c in the dash and turn signal indicators in the hood. We had to sell it a year later to get a bigger car for baby stuff, We have never seen one like it since and wife has wanted one for years. I told her it would cost over $40k if you could find one and be too old too drive. Bought T bird instead and she is thrilled with it.

[pinkilee]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Speaking of Mustangs,, In '67 wife worked for a Ford dealer and we bought a '67 Mustang convertible White with blue interior, and every option available. That was first year with a/c in the dash and turn signal indicators in the hood. We had to sell it a year later to get a bigger car for baby stuff, We have never seen one like it since and wife has wanted one for years. I told her it would cost over $40k if you could find one and be too old too drive. Bought T bird instead and she is thrilled with it.

I HAVE a '66 1/2. My son took it to Wisconsin a couple years ago. It's a GTA, I'll have to ask if it has air.

Oh, I forgot to say... it's in pieces. My dream was to help my late hubs restore it. Then I thought, I could do this on my own...learn the language of Chilton and I'm all set.

Son beat me too it... Now it's a rusty heap. Told him to bring it back out here and I'll have it restored. He says to send him the cash...he'll get it done. He's 6', if I could I would...

I usta drive this car in my 20's.

[007Cruiser]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

I HAVE a '66 1/2. My son took it to Wisconsin a couple years ago. It's a GTA, I'll have to ask if it has air.

Oh, I forgot to say... it's in pieces. My dream was to help my late hubs restore it. Then I thought, I could do this on my own...learn the language of Chilton and I'm all set.

Son beat me too it... Now it's a rusty heap. Told him to bring it back out here and I'll have it restored. He says to send him the cash...he'll get it done.
He's 6', if I could I would...

I usta drive this car in my 20's.

Sounds like a project for Overhauled.

[pinkilee]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Sounds like a project for Overhauled.

I was thinking the same thing!!!!

[007Cruiser]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Are they still doing new episodes? I'll call and have them "steal" it.

[pinkilee]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Are they still doing new episodes? I'll call and have them "steal" it.

iloveyou!!! I was thinking about calling them, too. They'd totally do it.

It was one of my dad's cars. I drove it off and on when I was 19-21. It sat for years, my late hubs and Jon (son) was going to work on it together, then Jon was going to teach me how to work on it...then he just stole it. haha

You know how alot of people have a 'bucket list'? Well, if I had one, learning to work on an engine would be one of the top three. There is nothing more that I would like to do right now in my life...grease under the fingernails, the smell of gasoline while parts soak in it, learning why a carburetor 'carbs'...OMG!

[007Cruiser]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Damn....it ended in 2009. Story of my life, a day late and a dollar short. I totally would have called.

[pinkilee]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

You're too good me.

and ummm, pm me your address. I can send you a dollar.

icrackmeup!

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

This is the reason I waited. I had a friend that was a salesman in a small Ford dealership in NC. When the Tbird first came out, I asked him if he could get me one. They had one there, but the owner of the dealership was adamant that he would not take less than $52,000. I checked a couple of other places, and they also wanted a similar ADM (additional dealer mark-up). It really put a damper on my interest until I saw all kind of advertisements in 2005 for the current model in the $34,000 to $35,000 range. In my mind, this dealer greed was one reason the Tbird was sales flop. I re-visited and finally bought one, but I think many other people just lost interest altogether.

Ford was as responsible for it as anyone.

They limited the production and allocated available T-Birds to dealers based on sales volume overall from what I was told.

I got a very first-hand look at this while dealing hard for a new Pick-up truck in the summer of '02.

I was playing two dealerships against each other. The first was smaller dealer in Dover New Hampshire. In the show room was a new yellow T-Bird with a base price that completely escapes me but I remember all too well the $12,000 markup and my reaction to a salesman who assured me the owner would accept just $10,000 extra if offered.

When I asked if they really thought they'd get it he told me they'd already sold 3 at that price.......and that all the dealers were getting this sort of mark up because Ford simply hadn't built enough cars to meet the demand. I usually figure car salesmen are full of it but I just let it go and accepted the explanation because he was trying to sell me a truck and knew full well I had no interest in the car.

Soooooo.........imagine my surprise, when at the bigger dealer in Portsmouth the next day. I was there to pick up my new truck as he'd won the sale. While waiting for the keys and a wash before delivery another Black T-Bird oon his lot with a sold sign. I couldn't help myself and asked how much they'd gotten for it. The salesman quickly spoke up and said, "Oh, no deals on the T-Birds. They go for full retail. They're pretty popular."
Yeah, sure but how much mark up I asked.

"None." he says.

......really cause just up the road.......

He quickly cuts me off and says, "Yeah, he pretty much has to get extra. He bought that car from us. He ran through his allotment already."

Soooooo......... assuming all this is correct it suggests that Ford not building enough supply for the original demand is responsible for the original mark ups......not so much the dealers.

Ultimately though, after the original demand was met.......a good look revealed a car that was a better value in the $35,000 range where most seem to sell after 2003....when dealers couldn't unload 'em vs their competition in the $40,000+ range.

It's just speculation....But I really believe if Ford could have found a way to price 'em at $30,000 basic and $35,000 loaded up they'd have had an actual hit on their hands and I suspect you'd have a 2010 model available today.


On another note. In the second hand market. $20,000 and sometimes less will buy you a very low mileage car. At that price it's probably the best deal it's ever been to buy a T-Bird.....especially since for just tiny bit more a premium car warranty will cover you like new.

The magazine guy is deluded if he still thinks driving a really nice little top down cruiser, that due to it's small production is actually a pretty exclusive little ride, comes in as .......LAME at these prices.

[Southern]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

I hope I don't get in trouble here....

I had no room for a two seater in the early 2000s.
At least not one that cost like this one did, so I didn't look. I had first a Miata that I had bought new in 99 and then a slightly used BMW Z3 as my toy......

I have no idea why they didn't sell better but suspect that you are ALL right.

Bottom line to me as I recently sold my Caddy and Mercedes and went out to buy a "late model" convertible....

This is a nice car.
Is it on the level of the better Tbirds of the past? No. Not even close. But some of the past Tbirds were nothing to brag about either.....some were no more than gussied up Ford coupes.......
So what is it?

To me, it is a midrange Ford Convertible that has some Tbird Styling cues.
I like it. I like it a lot. Barring Armageddon I will keep it for several years.

But those who were expecting it to be in the same class as the Bullet Birds..were bound to be disappointed.

So I suggest it wasn't a pricing issue as much as it was a value issue.

It it had come with Navigation and Memory Seats and Wind deflector and a compass and
remote gas door and......well, you get the idea.......
It would have sold well at $40,000.
Or if it had..... just what it had...which, while not exactly luxury, isn't bad........it would have sold well at $34,000.

As it was, it was not overly equipped and they wanted a luxury price.

Sill, I wish I had bought one then....because those who did, have had years of pleasure from them......and that in hindsight, is worth a lot.


I know that I didn't hesitate to pay $24000 for a used one........ :)

[Peterfurlan]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Southern you said it all. Some of these folks have to wake up a Duesenberg it isn't. Its
a fun car a toy mainly for old farts like us. A true sports car it is not.

P.S. I can't believe some 2002's sold for $52,000

[EllisonCal]

Re: Car and Driver Slams Our Birds

Doesn't really matter what they have to say. We all know what we have and if we are happy with this car that's all that matters.

I had those tail lights on my 67 Cougar.

Hey Gobird, had 'em on our '68 XR-7 too. Did you ever check the wiring inside the trunk that made those turn signals work? OMG, am I glad they never broke while I owned the car.
Cal