Two Fords Look BACK to the Future
The T-Bird and Bullitt Mustang

by Denise McCluggage

The interior of the T-Bird is right enough. Which means right to this T-Bird at this time. The interior is not perfect but it is perfectly American and a perfect fit for the T-Bird. It could have been otherwise.

J Mays, boss design man at Ford, was quite recently at Audi, emperor of interiors. He knows about slick, shining, dotted-cleverness like the TT. Or elegant stylish exercises like the A6. But he didn’t let them do that to the T-Bird. He must have remembered the red earth of his native Oklahoma just in time and Uncle Sammed the T-Bird just the right amount. (The borrowed-looking dash and center console and the ubiquitous Ford switches feed that feeling as well as saving money.)

You gotta love it all.

The exterior starts out being pretty much of OK (despite the plastic grille that looks a little too plastic) and then grows on you. That elongated turquoise-touched bird emblem on the rounded hood is simply lovely. And lordy the tail lights! Maybe better than driving this car is following it around admiring the simple but glorious taillights. (Perhaps I have the beginning of a fetish here - I’m smitten by the taillights on the PT Cruiser, too.)

Oh yes, colors. A brush with memory is the oh-so-50’s turquoise (though less toothpaste-looking than the original T-Bird’s) and a reminiscent yellow. (Those are 2002 colors only.) Red, black, white. Looks good in all of them.

The Thunderbird has a smooth-operating power soft top. Up and down is a snap. Optional is a hard top (with required port holes) that needs two sturdy people to deal with. (When it’s left behind in the garage it rests on a frame that comes with it.)

That hardtop is a $2,500 option. The deluxe T-Bird (there’s no “basic”) lists for $35,495. The premium ‘Bird is $36,495. There’s a bunch of equipment that goes with that. A good value, this T-Bird.

The 2002 T-Bird interior  (Neiman-Marcus Edition)

The cockpit is comfortable and roomy enough for two adults, but better they be penniless with no belongings. A small curved space behind the seats might hold a tote bag or light shopping. The trunk would be best used stuffed with assorted soft-sided bags. Don’t stay away long.

And don’t let a rain catch you because if the top has to go up, the stiffened tonneau cover has to come off...and where to put it if the trunk is full? The Ford design team had better go back to the CAD program and come up with a way to deal with the tonneau - maybe hinge it so it can sit like a dish in the trunk and hold the meager luggage. Otherwise design a top that looks complete when down without a cover.

Quibble, quibble. When you’re in love, it’s a foible -- not a fault. 

[Details on the T-Bird]

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