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S650 Mustang to offer a 4-door version?


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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?

T bird.jpg

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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.

51006019448_fa93b906f7_z.jpg

 

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.

 

image.png.0d791434567ebe51e07c0c1e577d1337.png

 

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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.

 

 

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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. 

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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.  

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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 by Harley Lover
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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.

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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. 

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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

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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