Photo: Garage Kept Motors
Ford brought back the Thunderbird moniker with a brand-new model after a four-year hiatus in 2001. It was the eleventh generation of the nameplate that first appeared back in 1954, and they took advantage of their collab with Jaguar to bring it to life.
Underpinned by the same platform as the era's Jaguar S-Type, it was also the foundation stone of the XF and the Lincoln LS, among others. The Blue Oval made the last Thunderbird at its Michigan facility. It was a two-door convertible with a front-engine and rear-wheel drive layout, packing a Jag-made 3.9-liter V8 paired with Ford's five-speed automatic transmission.
With 252 horses and 267 pound-feet (362 Nm) in tap, the last Ford Thunderbird certainly didn't break any speed records. Towards the end of its production run, the lump was replaced by a punchier mill with an identical displacement, which was good for 280 hp and 286 lb-ft (388 Nm). Ford pulled the plug on the Thunderbird for good in mid-2005, and they probably won't bring back the nameplate, not for North America, and certainly not with an internal combustion engine under the hood.
At any given moment, one can find countless Thunderbirds for grabs on the used car market. And if you were looking for a late model year copy that looks very good inside and out, and doesn't have that many miles under its belt, then this one is worth checking out. It is a 2004 model, according to the Garage Kept Motors listing, with the odometer indicating 54,628 miles (87,915 km). It has two owners in the papers and is described as being clean.
Mind you, the ad, which you can access here, doesn't say much else about it, but you are looking at a maroon exterior paint finish with a matching hard top that used to be available as an option straight from the factory. It rides on multi-spoke wheels, has a black leather interior that appears to have withstood the test of time rather well (after all, we are talking about a car that's almost 20 years old), and it looks surprisingly well.
We certainly wouldn't say there weren't any issues with this model, as anyone who is in the market for it can probably keep a speech about them. Nonetheless, it is an interesting example that deserves a spot in the used car section on our website. Before wrapping it up and calling it a story, we also have to tell you the asking price, which is $19,900. That's less than a brand-new Toyota Corolla, which comes with an MSRP of $21,700 in our market for the 2023 model year. But is this Thunderbird worth it to you, or would you be interested in something else within this price range?
With 252 horses and 267 pound-feet (362 Nm) in tap, the last Ford Thunderbird certainly didn't break any speed records. Towards the end of its production run, the lump was replaced by a punchier mill with an identical displacement, which was good for 280 hp and 286 lb-ft (388 Nm). Ford pulled the plug on the Thunderbird for good in mid-2005, and they probably won't bring back the nameplate, not for North America, and certainly not with an internal combustion engine under the hood.
At any given moment, one can find countless Thunderbirds for grabs on the used car market. And if you were looking for a late model year copy that looks very good inside and out, and doesn't have that many miles under its belt, then this one is worth checking out. It is a 2004 model, according to the Garage Kept Motors listing, with the odometer indicating 54,628 miles (87,915 km). It has two owners in the papers and is described as being clean.
Mind you, the ad, which you can access here, doesn't say much else about it, but you are looking at a maroon exterior paint finish with a matching hard top that used to be available as an option straight from the factory. It rides on multi-spoke wheels, has a black leather interior that appears to have withstood the test of time rather well (after all, we are talking about a car that's almost 20 years old), and it looks surprisingly well.
We certainly wouldn't say there weren't any issues with this model, as anyone who is in the market for it can probably keep a speech about them. Nonetheless, it is an interesting example that deserves a spot in the used car section on our website. Before wrapping it up and calling it a story, we also have to tell you the asking price, which is $19,900. That's less than a brand-new Toyota Corolla, which comes with an MSRP of $21,700 in our market for the 2023 model year. But is this Thunderbird worth it to you, or would you be interested in something else within this price range?
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