In 1997, after 42 years in production, Ford made the decision to discontinue the Ford Thunderbird. The nameplate took on many variations through its lifetime, starting life as a two-seat roadster designed to compete directly against the C1 Chevrolet Corvette, but then gaining two more seats and spending the rest of its time as a grand touring coupe and convertible, even at one point being offered as a four-door coupe, decades before the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class would coin the term.

By the end of its run, however, it had essentially become a two-door Taurus, with consumers gravitating toward more dynamic offerings like the BMW 3 Series. With the much more fun Mustang filling the gaps the Thunderbird left open, the Thunderbird's exit was not a huge loss for Ford.

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The 11th-Gen Ford Thunderbird: A Brief Return

Yellow 2002 Ford Thunderbird
Via: Ford

When Chrysler sparked the retro craze of the late '90s and the early aughts with the Prowler and PT Cruiser, domestic automakers, including Ford, were quick to respond. With the 1955 Thunderbird being an example of iconic '50s design, Ford felt it appropriate to bring back the Thunderbird name after a five-year hiatus in 2002, wearing sheet metal inspired by the famous shape of the original.

However, production of this new version didn't last nearly as long as the original, only lasting until 2005. Judging by the sales figures it managed to put up during its four-year production run, the new Thunderbird was not met with thunderous applause. Sad as it is to hear, several factors contributed to the once-storied nameplate's ultimate demise.

The 11th-Gen Ford Thunderbird: A Roadster Once More

via-automobilesreview.com

Ford sought to recapture the retro essence that made the original T-Bird stand out from all its other iterations. Part of this essence is the fact that, unlike other Thunderbirds, the first generation was a two-seater. With this in mind, for the new Thunderbird, Ford made it, once again, a two-seater convertible. Just like the original T-Bird, the newest version also came with a removable hard top with a rear-quarter porthole window. A retractable soft top could be used to shelter occupants if the hard top wasn't, but no rear-seat accommodations were available.

This would prove to be one pitfall for the Thunderbird, even if it was deliberate. This has much to do with the fact that, despite only being able to fit two occupants, the Thunderbird was by no means a small car. It shared its underpinnings with the Lincoln LS midsize sedan. This made purchasing the car difficult to justify, especially when much smaller, nimbler two-seaters like the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class, Toyota MR2, Honda S2000, and the then-just-released BMW Z4 had advantages in handling and took up far less space. Cars similar in size that also fit only two, like the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and the Lexus SC430 (it was technically a 2+2 but, come on, not even a dog could fit in those rear seats), greatly surpassed the Thunderbird in both price and refinement.

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Why The 11th-Gen Ford Thunderbird Flopped Tremendously: Toy-Like Design

Ford_Thunderbird_2002_Convertible
Valder137 via Wikimedia

Another deliberate choice for the Thunderbird that also worked against its favor was its styling. After all, it was meant to be Ford's entry into the retro-styled pseudo-segment. However, it looked unlike anything else in Ford's U.S. lineup, which at the time was largely adhering to the New Edge design language found on models across the globe. New Edge utilized a healthy blend of curves and geometric elements to keep Ford cars looking modern. The Thunderbird tried hard to look like its 1955 counterpart, but safety regulations and the platform on which it was based made recreating it especially challenging.

Most obviously, the original T-Bird's protruding headlights could not return to the new one, with the round headlights instead residing in a concave housing, leaving the front end rounded off. This, ironically enough, left it looking more like the C1 Corvette than the original Thunderbird. The emphasis on round corners also deviated from the original car's squared-off shape.

Even still, the copious amount of chrome and retro detailing made the car seem like far less of a serious contender and more like a novelty. Because of this, consumers didn't really take it too seriously. Ford thought it could be marketed as a fashion item, with there even being a Neiman Marcus Edition, but this did not prove too effective.

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Why The 11th-Gen Ford Thunderbird Flopped Tremendously: Ambitious Pricing

Red 2005 Ford Thunderbird on the road
Mecum Auctions

Despite its novelty styling, perhaps the biggest reason why the Thunderbird sold so poorly was its price. What made automakers jump on the retro styling trend was the sales juggernaut that was the Chrysler PT Cruiser, which looked just as much of a novelty item as the Thunderbird, if not more so.

However, it was affordable to the masses, competing with most sub-$20k hatchbacks like the Ford Focus. Affordable to the masses the Thunderbird, on the other hand, was not.

The Thunderbird started at $34,965 for the base model without the removable hard top. Most buyers would have opted for the nicer Premium trim with the removable hard top, which would have totaled $38,465 plus destination. That translates to a mind-boggling $64,000 in today's money. If they were really willing to shell over the big bucks, consumers could have instead opted for the aforementioned, much more powerful, and solidly-built Mercedes-Benz SL or Lexus SC.

The 11th-Gen Ford Thunderbird: What Did It In

Ford Thunderbird - Side View
Via Bring A Trailer

The wicked concoction of impracticality, tacky styling, and unattainable pricing made the 11th and final generation Ford Thunderbird a sales failure. To be more granular, consumers felt that a car as polarizing as the Thunderbird, with a cheaply-built interior and lack of practical use cases was not worth the near-$40k investment.

Instead, the also retro-styled four-seater Mustang achieved what the Thunderbird couldn't—bringing retro styling and driving fun to the masses.

Source: Ford, WSJ