Ford Thunderbird

March 2002

Although not well known in Europe, this convertible is something of an American icon. It was produced in 1954 in response to General Motors' Chevrolet Corvette, and consistently outsold the GM car in its early years.

Originally a two-seater, it grew and got uglier until 1996, when its maker Ford leaked the news that T-bird sales were falling fast, and it would probably cease production at the end of the decade. That was before design head J Mays suggested to boss Jac Nasser that the legend could be saved.

He took the rear-drive chassis from the Jaguar S-Type, and added a 3.9-litre, quad-cam V8 giving 252bhp and 362Nm of torque. The car also boasts an up-to-date five-speed automatic transmission, plus a very cleverly designed part-retro and part-modern body.

Under the Jag this platform will handle four doors and four adults. But the T-bird is only a two-seater, so what's happened? You've got to forget a lot about modern cars when you slide behind the wheel of the Thunderbird. We drove the original concept car way back in Issue 544, but now just over two years later, this was the real car heading for the showrooms. Its packaging harks back to the Fifties, with a huge boot and the vast open-top shell flexing and shaking over road ripples. But none of this dilutes the driving experience; it positively adds to it.

Even the exhaust note has been tuned and the aerodynamics honed to allow conversation at 70mph. What you are buying for ,500 (

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