Should Ford Cobraize the Thunderbird?

[Wayne Maybury]

The first thing that struck me about the styling was the front end which to me appeared to be weak, probably the head light styling. For aerodynamic and safety reasons, they couldn't produce something that resembled the original T-Bird head light design but I'm sure they could have come up with something that made a better statement than what they settled for. To me, the rest of the car looks pretty good.

I went to see them when they first came out. Ford put on a really big deal with a bunch of 55s, 56s, 57s, and new Birds all side by side. The reps talked about this being a performance car then told me it had 2?? HP (sorry can't remember). I told them then and there that it was under powered. I never understood why they didn't use the DOHC 4.6 which was 305 HP at the time. If it would fit in a Mustang, it surely would fit in a Bird.

Ford, like many other big auto producers, are interested in volume and they don't seem willing to stick with a model that doesn't sell a big number of units. I wonder if they are going to continue to make the Lincoln LS which is a great car but never seemed to live up to sales expectations.

Wayne