One style blunder of the 1980 T-Bird was that the 14-inch wheels and puny tires looked odd on a body with such large wheel wells. Take a look at my 1982 Thunderbird Town Landau that has been converted to 15-inch alloy wheels and bigger tires. Also, the fake wire wheel hubcaps that looked fine on a new 1955 Thunderbird looked really fake by 1982 fashion standards.

The same can be said for the padded roof, opera windows, headlight doors and other styling queues that were simply going out of date. The V-6 engine was not a powerhouse, but the whole set-up was not significantly different from the new 1983 Thunderbird.

1983 was the beginning of a new version of the Thunderbird referred to as the "Aero Bird." This version was substantially unchanged for six years. The times were changing and this new aerodynamic or "jellybean" shape brought a whole new style to the T-Bird. The first time I saw one I just did not like it. But, the style grows on you and I came to not only like it…

I bought a new 1983 Thunderbird. The price loaded was over $14,000 which seemed like an enormous amount of money when you consider that my brother had bought new a loaded 1978 Town Landau for approximately $8,000.

Sales soared up to almost 141,000 in 1986. From a style standpoint, the 1987 Thunderbird is a classic in my book. Also, the Turbo Coupe is an excellent choice if you are looking for a collectible. Go for the V-8 over the V-6. There are lots of them out there. They are not recognized as highly collectible now, but I assure you that they will be. Look for a well cared for low miles original. Seek and you will find. Buy it. Try driving a daily driver that is appreciating, instead of depreciating.

The tenth incarnation of the Ford Thunderbird (1989 - 1997) is referred to as the "Super Bird," by most collectors. With only superficial changes for a run of nine years, the last big Thunderbird was super in many respects. With a supercharged V-6 in the earlier years and a big V-8 later, the car is a good-looking version of the personal luxury sport coupe. Sales drifted down to 66,000 units for 1997. The exterior of the car has a sleek but rather bland yet appealing shape. The interior continued with the luxury that one would expect to find in a four-passenger cruiser. In 1993 Ford launched the Lincoln Mark VIII which was in many ways an upscale Thunderbird… up in the $40,000 price range.

Ford pulled the plug on the big T-Bird and the Mark VIII both in 1997. Too bad. Seems that the buyers had lost interest in big personal coupes and were buying SUVs. If you want to buy a car that is near the bottom of its depreciation curve and will go nowhere except up, look for a pristine Thunderbird Super Coupe, or V-8, or a Lincoln Mark VIII. You cannot lose with one of these cars unless you pay too much for one that is worn out. Watch for estate sales and you will find a buy that makes paying 40 to 50 thousand dollars for a new car seem foolish.

After a four-year hiatus, The Thunderbird returned to Ford Showrooms as a modern reincarnation of the "Baby Bird," which collectors refer to as the "Retro Bird,"or the "Modern Bird." As with the original bird, there is a very limited market for a sporty two-seat car. Buyers tend to be single or affluent enough to spend a considerable amount of money on an additional car that is reserved for pleasure driving.

Most buyers perceive them to be collectible and will preserve them as such. Ford has announced that the last new Thunderbird will roll off of the assembly line in July of 2005. If you have the money and interest in collectible cars, consider the merits of buying a new 50th Anniversary Thunderbird. Sure, you will take a big hit in depreciation but if you hang on to it for the next twenty years I am confident that you will not regret the purchase.

Who knows what lurks in the mind of the FoMoCo brass? I would put my money on a small four-seat thunderbird to surface in two or three years. Look at the Lincoln Mark X and you won’t need a crystal ball to see what is coming. WDM