''The supply of classic T-Birds is pretty substantial, so a blip in demand can be met without forcing prices up,'' he said. Rick Carey, an automotive historian in Mystic, Conn., said he did not expect the new car's arrival to affect prices of early models very much. The T-Bird supports several national collector clubs. ''I think the new car will complement the old ones,'' said Al Walentis of Mount Penn, Pa., who runs a Web site,. Still, some other generations are of interest to collectors, and the arrival of the '02 Thunderbird, after an absence of four years, may stimulate a broader interest in previous models. While the models that followed sold better, only the two-seaters qualify as American icons. became chief executive as well as chairman.įew cars are as evocative of the 50's as the 1955-57 T-Birds. And even as the new car evokes Ford's glory days of the 50's, the company is returning to day-to-day control by a member of the founding family, for the first time in more than two decades. In 47 years, the Thunderbird has come full circle: from jaunty two-seater to flashy personal coupe to bloated luxury barge - and now, back to its roots. To most buyers, it didn't matter that the pretty skin covered off-the-rack Ford parts, or that vague steering and a low-revving V-8 made the T-Bird more suitable for turnpike cruising than for weekend racing. Giberson was rewarded with a $95 suit - and Ford rolled out its two-seat convertible as an answer to Chevrolet's sporty Corvette.
Having lived in the Southwest, he had heard the Native American legend about a creature whose flapping wings created thunder and winds. It was a young Ford stylist, Alden Giberson, who gave the Thunderbird its evocative name. And another label once considered, the Hep Cat, would seem as hip today as ''23 skidoo.'' Or the T-Bird might have been called the Detroiter, a name whose luster faded as the fortunes of the Motor City declined. Yet the name of nature's dam builder was once considered for the car now known as the Thunderbird, whose rich history reaches back to the 1955 model year. THE lights dim, the curtain rises and glamorous fashion models pull the wraps off the retro-styled, nostalgia-inducing 2002 Ford Beaver.
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