Interior color question.... April 30, 2010, 05:26:27 PM Ok, not sure this is the correct section to post this in, but I'm curious about something and hope someone here can answer it. Here goes: How rare is back interior in a 83-84 Thunderbird or Cougar? I have the sales brochure that I'm pretty sure lists black as an option and have seen in person ONE Thunderbird with black interior. I tried repeatedly to buy it but the owner declined every time. Anyway, I've always loved black interior and wanted that car so bad, then one day a young girl was driving it, tried once again to buy it.....3 month's later the car was trashed!! NOT a happy camper!! Anyway, anyone here have black interior or seen it? HELP!!! Later, RAY Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #1 – April 30, 2010, 05:41:18 PM Closest thing to black was kind of a charcoal gray (like the trunk carpeting).You can see all the colors on coolcats.net Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #2 – April 30, 2010, 05:48:41 PM Mine is going to black. Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #3 – April 30, 2010, 08:27:03 PM Quote from: vinnietbird;320337Mine is going to black.There is something about Black that is rich and masculine. That is why I chose it when I bought my Mustang, and the fact that I hated the run of the mill Gray and Beige rental car colors that were being offered at the time. I have decided that the Gray interior color is now wrong for my Tbird. My initial intention of getting this car was to simply restore it to original. However, I have moved way beyond the desire to keep this car looking authentic and factory equipped. It's more fun this way and feels more like an artistic effort with my own vision. It's just too boring going with stock. Plus I hate the whole ordeal of trying to find matching trim. So my plan which I have already revealed is to do the entire interior in black. It will be so much easier to do with auto parts store availible satin black vinyl interior spray which matches the finishes on most modern cars, as opposed to some glossy black. I no longer have to worry about gray color matching and replacement materials that have to be exact. I plan to offset all the black with white seat and door panel inserts to give this era Tbird a feel of the classic ones and to help give it an attractive wow factor as opposed to the predictable factory spec look. Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #4 – April 30, 2010, 08:32:27 PM Quote from: Silver5oh;320334Ok, not sure this is the correct section to post this in, but I'm curious about something and hope someone here can answer it. Here goes: How rare is back interior in a 83-84 Thunderbird or Cougar? I have the sales brochure that I'm pretty sure lists black as an option and have seen in person ONE Thunderbird with black interior. I tried repeatedly to buy it but the owner declined every time. Anyway, I've always loved black interior and wanted that car so bad, then one day a young girl was driving it, tried once again to buy it.....3 month's later the car was trashed!! NOT a happy camper!! Anyway, anyone here have black interior or seen it? HELP!!! Later, RAYBlack interiors fell out of favor in that era simply because it had a perception along with vinyl of being the econo car base cheap look. People were really into color and velours in a time that Tbirds were moving away from the old 70's formula of upscale. Tbirds and Cats were also among the first domestic cars to include decent sport seat options to counter the trend of people buying imported luxury sport sedans. The first AeroBirds and Cats were slowly weaning people away from the baroque definition of luxury while paving the way for technical sophistication and sensibilities found in German cars.However, average buyers of the AeroFoxes at the time were still attracted to the Tbird and Cougar's affordability and great looks and more often chose cars equipped averagely like mine. The 1977 Tbird opened up a whole world of people that loved those cars but could not afford them before then, so it was a formula that carried over into the success of the new Aero cars. It's a shame Tbird popularity weaned off in the late 80's. Essentually reliable imported cars took over and if you noticed, they were luxury models of puppiesanese brands only offered as 4 door models in their home markets which created a perception that you no longer had to be limited to only two doors to make a personal upscale luxury statement. Along with that, the Taurus came along and took over as the best seller in a four door body style only which created more acceptance of two doors. The Taurus really did help along changing the image of 4-door cars as being staid and conservative and proved that a four door car could be made attractive more like personal two door cars of the time. GM also influenced the 4-door revolution in the late seventies by offering many sedans designed with their personal luxury coupe names and trim. For instance, sedan versions of the Buick Regal, Cutlass Supreme and later the Pontiac Grand Prix that were formerly only two door personal luxury coupe offerings. The Cougar went to four doors for 1977-79 and 1981-82 but did not seem to have an impact like the GM cars did. Cars like the Taurus lost ground after the 1995 ovoid restyle while SUV sales gained popularity and took over the market. This left the Thunderbird and Cougar percieved as old man's cars no matter how great the direction of the Super Coupe was heading at the time. Then you have to factor in the sporty affordable and the outright muscle factor of the Mustang in the equation which helped render the Tbirds and Cougars as less popular and desirable. The current Mustang has taken up the original package and formula of the four seat Thunderbird so it would make it repetitive to offer a four seat Thunderbird unless people would actually flock to them just for the mystique of having something available other than the Mustang. My Mustang is essentually as big as my 1984 Tbird with less room inside due to the fast roofline. Factor in the convertible version of the Mustang and it is pretty much the 1958 Tbird. I was also noticing that the new Fusion we have is as long as a Mustang but obviouly has a room advantage due to the sedan proportions of being more upright and taller. Believe it or not the new Fusion seems to dwarf my Tbird! The Fusion would have made a sensational two door coupe and one would be in the driveway if they had it. If there was another Tbird made to be a roomy four seat coupe, that would have trumped the Fusion purchase. It was really a desire to have a Thunderbird in the first place that lead to the Fusion purchase, however you cannot buy what they will not make. So another lost new Tbird sale. I do think Ford underestimates the importance of the Tbird no matter what they say about the nameplate being held on a shelf in high regard for future possible use. The most likely senario is either another two seat roadster or a four door coupe Lincoln MKR style in package and concept. Ford will also do whatever it can to make sure the Mustang continues success so they will not let another Ford or Tbird model step on the toes of any Mustang sale. The convertible Mustang makes another Tbird roaster or four seat convertible unlikely. The most likely thing would be one of those four seat coupes with a swoopy roofline like the VW CC or similat Mercedes whatever the alpha-numeric name is called. I am thinking about this and I could care less if they assign such a car to Lincoln as I would think it would have much more impact as a Thunderbird. I know Cadillac is taking a big risk offereing the new CTS coupe and convertible soon. Lincoln will only follow if it sets an absolute neccessity to be competitive in the market. I could care less about a Cadillac CTS sedan. Give me a new Taurus anytime because for me it makes a better statement than a Cadillac or any current Lincoln offereing. Lincolns for some reason just do not carry enough clout for me, I guess because a bold statement has historically been made with Ford branded products so many times. Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #5 – May 01, 2010, 05:13:36 PM Quote from: Silver5oh;320334Ok, not sure this is the correct section to post this in, but I'm curious about something and hope someone here can answer it. Here goes: How rare is back interior in a 83-84 Thunderbird or Cougar? I have the sales brochure that I'm pretty sure lists black as an option and have seen in person ONE Thunderbird with black interior. I tried repeatedly to buy it but the owner declined every time. Anyway, I've always loved black interior and wanted that car so bad, then one day a young girl was driving it, tried once again to buy it.....3 month's later the car was trashed!! NOT a happy camper!! Anyway, anyone here have black interior or seen it? HELP!!! Later, RAYMy 83 Cougar has black carpet and gray vinyl seats, not sure about the rareness though. Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #6 – May 01, 2010, 06:16:44 PM Ok, not arguing with anyone....but I know I saw BLACK interior in a white 83-84 Thunderbird. I'm not sure of the car's drivetrain (other than automatic on the column of course) but it had the TRX rims on it and a thin black pinstripe down the side plus it had the Turbo Coupe style sport seats. To this day, I REALLY wish I could've got my hands on it.....I'd probably still own that one!! My first 83 T-Bird Turbo had red interior, and while it was in very good shape, I hated red then as much as I do now!! LOL My current Turbo Bird has the aforementioned dark charcoal cloth and I really like it...but that black interior still sticks in my mind.Was just hoping someone else knew about black interior and maybe could shoot me a pic of it....but if it doesn't really exist.....oh well. Watchdevil: for what its worth, do not use the basic black vinyl paints at your local parts store. It ends up peeling off. I've used with great results, BONDO's brand of bumper black paint. If your plastic pieces are clean and dry, a few light coats will make it look just like factory black molded pieces. I've redone the entire red interior of an '84 Mercury Capri for my girlfriend with it and it looks just like new black pieces, plus since it's a flexible style paint, it stays on very well!!Give it a try on some pieces and see what ya think!! Later, RAY Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #7 – May 01, 2010, 10:47:26 PM Quote from: Silver5oh;320448Ok, not arguing with anyone....but I know I saw BLACK interior in a white 83-84 Thunderbird. I'm not sure of the car's drivetrain (other than automatic on the column of course) but it had the TRX rims on it and a thin black pinstripe down the side plus it had the Turbo Coupe style sport seats. To this day, I REALLY wish I could've got my hands on it.....I'd probably still own that one!! My first 83 T-Bird Turbo had red interior, and while it was in very good shape, I hated red then as much as I do now!! LOL My current Turbo Bird has the aforementioned dark charcoal cloth and I really like it...but that black interior still sticks in my mind.Was just hoping someone else knew about black interior and maybe could shoot me a pic of it....but if it doesn't really exist.....oh well. Watchdevil: for what its worth, do not use the basic black vinyl paints at your local parts store. It ends up peeling off. I've used with great results, BONDO's brand of bumper black paint. If your plastic pieces are clean and dry, a few light coats will make it look just like factory black molded pieces. I've redone the entire red interior of an '84 Mercury Capri for my girlfriend with it and it looks just like new black pieces, plus since it's a flexible style paint, it stays on very well!!Give it a try on some pieces and see what ya think!! Later, RAYThanks for the advice. I used Duplicolor Black flexible bumper paint in my front bumper cover and it is good stuff. I bought a can of black interior paint not too long ago to use for something else and I was for sure gonna try it out on some scape piece of trim just to make sure it holds up before I spray the entire interior.Just wanted to ask though, are you refering to the vinyl paint peeling from hard plastic only or does it peel from vinyl. I do know most restoration suppliers have seperate paints for vinyl and plastic. I plan on painting over the gray vinyl on the lower portion of the Mustang dash, and doing a good bit of the door panels. I also have the center console and all the plastic interior finishing trim to paint black. I am open for the best advice because I really don't want a peeling mess I will regret later. I do feel like the non-vinyl pieces need to be painted with the bumper paint the way you said. However I wonder how it will do on vinyl... Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #8 – May 02, 2010, 12:50:41 AM We've used that BONDO brand bumper paint on both the plastic interior pieces (rear quarter panels, kick panels etc) and the vinyl door panels and have had very good results. A buddy of mine actually painted his entire interior with it and changed over a mostly tan interior to all black and that was almost 2 years ago and it still looks very good with no peeling. It has been scratched a little here and there due to his kids abusing the rear panels but that should've been avoided by better parental control more than anything else!! LOL Overall it's a good product that if applied over a good clean surface holds up well.Later, RAY Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #9 – May 02, 2010, 04:16:42 AM I'd like to see how well this stuff works on seats. :Dhttp://www.simplyspray.com/upholstery.html Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #10 – May 02, 2010, 08:03:04 AM A number of years ago I found an 83 Turbo Coupe in a local yard with a black interior. The headliner & trim along with the rear window surrounds found a home in my car. Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #11 – May 04, 2010, 09:26:16 PM AH HA!!! So it DOES exist!!!! AWESOME!!! Now I'm off to find one......great, just what I need!!! LOLThanks though...I know I had seen black...just haven't seen it ever again!! LOLLater, RAY Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #12 – May 05, 2010, 09:10:44 PM ...just a pic of what I did to my tan interior. Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #13 – May 05, 2010, 11:13:20 PM Must be an introductory (1983) Premium kinda thing?Running dye change, Or maybe fading plays a big part in it. 'Cuz i've seen a couple "Charcoal" cougar interiors and they were more Dark Gray than actual Black.In fact~I pulled the carpet out of a Charcoal Interior '84 Cougar Just last summer, And i still need to dye it top get it where i want it (Pure Black).http://www.coolcats.net/fox/1983colors.html Quote Selected
Interior color question.... Reply #14 – May 19, 2010, 05:18:02 PM Quote from: Romeo2k;320336Closest thing to black was kind of a charcoal gray (like the trunk carpeting).You can see all the colors on coolcats.netThat charcoal color was also used for the early Mark VII's and is often mistaken for black. The Mark VII finally received real black interiors in 1990. Quote Selected
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