twintornados Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 11 minutes ago, mackinaw said: ... The T-birds of the late 70's and 80's were nothing more than gussied-up Fords. Well, umm, yeah..since they too were Ford's. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintguy Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 35 minutes ago, mackinaw said: Sadly, this is probably true. For those of us old enough to remember the original 2-seat Thunderbird, it was really something special. The follow-up 4-seat models, Squarebird, Bulletbird, and Flarebird were known for high style and created the personal luxury category. The T-birds of the late 70's and 80's were nothing more than gussied-up Fords. Remember the '67 to '71 T Bird offered a 4 door. Never a big seller, but were true to the luxury theme of those years. Look at the European manufacturers 4dr coupes from MB and BMW. In each case true to the heritage of the line. Can Mustang do the same? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 35 minutes ago, twintornados said: Well, umm, yeah..since they too were Ford's. You and your facts. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 You guys know what I meant. Pics of 1965 T-bird and full-sized Ford LTD, and pics of 1978 T-bird and LTD II. Draw your own conclusions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintguy Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 1 hour ago, mackinaw said: You guys know what I meant. Pics of 1965 T-bird and full-sized Ford LTD, and pics of 1978 T-bird and LTD II. Draw your own conclusions. I'd take either of the '65s. The '78s not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 In terms of overall size, the last Falcon would be a great starting point for a car, such a waste of a good design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 1 hour ago, mackinaw said: You guys know what I meant. Pics of 1965 T-bird and full-sized Ford LTD, and pics of 1978 T-bird and LTD II. Draw your own conclusions. A better comparison to the 60's era T-Bird would be a Fairlane since both would be unibody designs. The differences are styling which is subjective. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pffan1990 Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 9 hours ago, twintornados said: I don't really thing they would use a horse name and a bird name on the same vehicle...Mustang Falcon is two proper nouns and putting them together just sounds "off". Other suggestions/ideas if they want to keep the Mustang icon would be; Mustang Sport Mustang Touring Mustang S4 Mustang 400 The Mustang Touring sounds nice to me for some reason. Great name for a sporty 4-door coupe-ish/SUV-ish Mustang. But what about Mustang Fairlane for that one though? 6 hours ago, sullynd said: I wonder if Ford would have any concerns bringing back Thunderbird as it is Native American in origin. Could run into the same appropriation concerns that Jeep is dealing with. Didn't know that the Thunderbird came from a Native American origin as I thought it was a type of bird. But yes, it could possibly cause some issues as Jeep is going through. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehaase Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 Only Thunderbird I did not like was the final 2 seater version based on DEW98. I even like the hated 80 - 82 Fox platform version. The 61 - 66 unibody Thunderbird had much in common with the Lincoln Continental. According to what I have read on Curbside Classic, all of the 67 - 79 body on frame Thunderbirds were loosely based on the 65 full-size Ford. Even Ford's 72 - 79 mid-size cars were based on a shortened 65 full-size platform with a modified rear suspension. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 1 hour ago, twintornados said: A better comparison to the 60's era T-Bird would be a Fairlane since both would be unibody designs. The differences are styling which is subjective..... I'll stick with my original analogy. My point is that, in the 50's and 60's, the T-bird was a unique vehicle. The 1965 Ford was BOF construction with coil springs at all four corners. The T-bird was unibody with front coils and rear leaf springs. And the styling was totally different. The only reason you'd know a T-bird was a Ford Division product was because it was sold in the same showroom as the Galaxie 500. The 1970 T-birds were nothing more than mildly restyled Ford LTD's. They may have even shared some sheet metal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Lover Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, mackinaw said: You guys know what I meant. Pics of 1965 T-bird and full-sized Ford LTD, and pics of 1978 T-bird and LTD II. Draw your own conclusions. Regarding the '77-79 model: Quote this generation was the most successful in sales with over 955,000 examples produced in its three-year run If the purpose of a car company is to make money, we have a winner. This model was a runaway success in its era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Thunderbird Edited March 5, 2021 by Harley Lover 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 One for the latte crowd, Mustang Grande 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slemke Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 The 9th generation “aero bird” thunderbird turbo coupes were my favorites. One of those would be a good candidate for a 2.3L ecoboost transplant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRunrGuy Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, slemke said: The 9th generation “aero bird” thunderbird turbo coupes were my favorites. One of those would be a good candidate for a 2.7L TT V6 ecoboost transplant. FTFY HRG Edited March 6, 2021 by HotRunrGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slemke Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 41 minutes ago, HotRunrGuy said: FTFY HRG 2.3 sticks to the original 4cyl formula. If going v6, my choice would be between the 3.0 and 3.5 ecoboost. Could also go Coyote as that generation featured a 302. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 12 hours ago, mackinaw said: The 1970 T-birds were nothing more than mildly restyled Ford LTD's. They may have even shared some sheet metal. Nope 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92LX302 Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 On 3/5/2021 at 11:43 PM, slemke said: 2.3 sticks to the original 4cyl formula. If going v6, my choice would be between the 3.0 and 3.5 ecoboost. Could also go Coyote as that generation featured a 302. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
351cid Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 On 3/4/2021 at 10:16 PM, akirby said: And if they were trying to kill the Mustang coupe and replace it with Mach-e it would be the same thing. But they’re not. "Mercury isn't going anywhere..." Ford said that one week before they announced it was being discontinued. I don't believe a thing FoMOCo (or any other manufacturer) says. Ford knows the PR nightmare that would ensue if they announced the Coupe was being phased out. I believe that is the plan and Ford is working that way now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
351cid Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 On 3/5/2021 at 5:14 PM, ehaase said: According to what I have read on Curbside Classic, all of the 67 - 79 body on frame Thunderbirds were loosely based on the 65 full-size Ford. Even Ford's 72 - 79 mid-size cars were based on a shortened 65 full-size platform with a modified rear suspension. You are correct...and that chassis died in 2011 as the final Panthers. I have soooo many P71 Crown Vic parts on my 72 Gran Torino Sport. I'm even looking at adapting the rack & pinion to a 73 Ranchero I'm starting on. Another factoid. Not sure about now, but the chassis for Grand National, Winston Cup, Busch Grand National, and Sprint Cup cars was pretty much a Ford chassis design with a Chevy truck rear trailing arms. "Cup" cars were Ford chassis & front suspension, with Chevy truck trailing arms supporting a Ford 9" rear, and a modified Ford Top Loader (Jerico) transmission. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 13 minutes ago, 351cid said: "Mercury isn't going anywhere..." Ford said that one week before they announced it was being discontinued. I don't believe a thing FoMOCo (or any other manufacturer) says. Ford knows the PR nightmare that would ensue if they announced the Coupe was being phased out. I believe that is the plan and Ford is working that way now. Anything is possible but several things make this very unlikely in the near future. 1. It's a Ford ICON along with F150 and Bronco 2. It can now share components with Explorer/Aviator and F150/Ranger/Bronco including electrification 3. They're making Mustang a sub brand with multiple vehicles 4. With Camaro going away and Challenger future unknown the market is wide open even if it's smaller now 5. People are still willing to pay big bucks for performance models 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisH Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 12 minutes ago, akirby said: Anything is possible but several things make this very unlikely in the near future. 1. It's a Ford ICON along with F150 and Bronco 2. It can now share components with Explorer/Aviator and F150/Ranger/Bronco including electrification 3. They're making Mustang a sub brand with multiple vehicles 4. With Camaro going away and Challenger future unknown the market is wide open even if it's smaller now 5. People are still willing to pay big bucks for performance models The bold text above is speculation, right? I don’t recall hearing anything definitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 9 minutes ago, CurtisH said: The bold text above is speculation, right? I don’t recall hearing anything definitive. Nothing official from GM but lots of Media reports that the next gen Camaro was cancelled and the current one would end after 2023. They could always just decide to keep the current one going for a few more years with a facelift. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisH Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 1 minute ago, akirby said: Nothing official from GM but lots of Media reports that the next gen Camaro was cancelled and the current one would end after 2023. They could always just decide to keep the current one going for a few more years with a facelift. I knew some of the Camaro guys have been worried that GM was going to cancel it again. I was just wondering if you had heard anything verifying that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomcat68 Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 3 hours ago, akirby said: Nothing official from GM but lots of Media reports that the next gen Camaro was cancelled and the current one would end after 2023. They could always just decide to keep the current one going for a few more years with a facelift. There was a rumor that it would be back as an electric car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomcat68 Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 3 hours ago, CurtisH said: I knew some of the Camaro guys have been worried that GM was going to cancel it again. I was just wondering if you had heard anything verifying that. I think they'll be disappointed. GM has committed to electric and there is currently no known plan outside of GM for a new one other than a rumor from some auto mag that they could make an electric one much later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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