Thunderbird fans to bid marque farewell at Ford
Production of icon will stop in July, but enthusiasts hope for a comeback.
By Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News
If you go
• What: The Ford Thunderbird 50th Anniversary Celebration
• Where: In front of Ford Motor Co. World Headquarters, 15041 S. Commerce Drive, Dearborn
• When: 1 to 5 p.m., Friday, June 17
• Admission: Free
• About 300 Thunderbirds will be on display. All eras will be represented, from 1955 to 2005. Participants must register, but the public is invited to look at the cars.
• For information about the show or registering a vintage car, write Tbird50, 144 Elmwood, Dearborn, MI 48124 or go to
http://members.aol.com/tbird50
DEARBORN -- There's nothing like the reaction the Rev. Jim James gets when he drives his baby blue 1960 Thunderbird convertible to church on Sunday.
"People at church like to see the car," said the pastor at Dix United Methodist Church in Lincoln Park and West Mound United Methodist in Taylor. He has driven the car in parades with police and church members on-board.
"When I was a boy, it was a car I always wanted," he said. "It's a rich man's hobby and I'm not a rich man. But, little by little, I do things to it."
James will join enthusiasts later this month in front of Ford Motor Co. World Headquarters in Dearborn for a bittersweet celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Thunderbird. They also will be saying goodbye to the famous marque.
Production will end in July at the Ford Wixom plant.
It's a car that became an American icon -- one memorialized in music and movies and preserved by collectors.
About 300 privately owned and pampered versions, representing most of Thunderbird's half-century of designs, will be on display June 17 at Ford Headquarters. About 30 cars from the celebration also will participate in the annual Motor Muster at Greenfield Village June 18-19.
"This is going to be about the last hurrah Ford will do for the Thunderbird because they won't be promoting it anymore," said Paul Nichols, 59, of Dearborn, who owns a red 1966 convertible first driven by President Lyndon Johnson around his Texas ranch. "Some of us, I guess we feel bad," Nichols said. "But, the Thunderbird has been discontinued before. Who knows what might happen next."
The T-Bird, like most things American, changed over the years. First seen as Ford's answer to Chevrolet's Corvette, it never really was about high performance as much as innovation and big horsepower luxury. It grew from a sporty two-seater to a giant luxury car by the 1970s, to Ford's aerodynamic entry to NASCAR stock car racing by the 1990s.
It was discontinued in 1997 when two-door sedan sales sagged. It re-emerged in 2002 as a retro version of the two-seater original. But, the number of the $37,000-plus luxury roadsters sold never topped 20,000 a year. Still, Ford has promised to keep the famous name in consideration for a future product.
It is that tempting promise that excites enthusiasts.
"I don't think it's over for the Thunderbird. I think it's just a pause," said Paul Markou, president of the Rose City Thunderbird Club in Windsor. "I'm predicting the Thunderbird will come back within five years as a four-seater luxury car."
The classic 1950s and '60s Thunderbirds are well known. A T-Bird carried the mysterious girl Richard Dreyfuss sought in the movie "American Graffiti." Another took Thelma and Louise on their flight to ultimate freedom.
The Beach Boys captured the car's youthful spirit when the group sang, "She'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the T-Bird away." Singer Marc Cohn wrote about the car in his song "Silver Thunderbird," in which he recalled a father's advice: "Son you must take my word. If there's a God in heaven, he's got a Silver Thunderbird."
The willow green 1957 T-Bird in Nelson and Dee Zuchetto's garage in Allen Park is a connection to their dating days in the early 1960s and the long drives in a different 1957 Thunderbird to Point Pelee Park in Canada. Nelson sold that car while in college.
"You know, when they brought out the new Thunderbirds in 2002, I thought they looked like jelly beans," said Dee Zuchetto, 62, who along with her husband plans to attend the June 17 event. "But, now that they aren't going to make them anymore, it makes me sad. There's nothing like riding in a Thunderbird."
Hale Houts of Lyon Township is manager at Ford Motor Credit. He was born in 1955, so owning one 1955 Thunderbird may seem natural. He owns two. He also bought a 2005 model to complete his set of T-Birds. He plans to bring his cars to the celebration.
"I think of what happened in the '80s, with all the terrible ugly cars and downsizing. Will anyone want to collect these dogs?" Houts asked. "Well, I think we will be surprised. People collect the cars of their youth. The next generation probably will feel nostalgic about those downsized Thunderbirds that nobody is collecting right now."
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