ford and the new turbocoupe

Topic: ford and the new turbocoupe (Read 13796 times) previous topic - next topic

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #30 – August 03, 2010, 07:34:13 AM

Quote from: Watchdevil;330362

In these times, it's going to be an impossible sell to Ford's top management to tool up a production run for another coupe. There really is not much of chance you will ever see a Taurus Coupe or a Fusion Coupe.

Cadillac is taking a big risk with their new CTS Coupe. If it sells, only then will Ford even consider competitive product if potential sales volumes justify it.

Most of the last couple of generations of four seat Tbirds and Cougars were sold to people who still embraced the image of a personal luxury coupe and not so much for the perfomance oriented Turbo Coupe and Super Coupe models.

Considering the Thunderbird was supposed to be an upmarket Ford, I am not so sure there is no room for a coupe. Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, all sell coupes, and so the CTS coupe makes a lot of sense. Position the "new" Thunderbird to compete with these vehicles, but at a lower price, and advertise it as such and I think it could sell.

Personally, I think there could also be a 4-door version, but it would have to be sporty. I think there is a lot of room in BMW's market if you can compete on quality and performance but at a lower price.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #31 – August 03, 2010, 01:00:48 PM

what ever, i want to see were this is going to end up, im still going to push it but what ever happens, happens

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #32 – August 03, 2010, 01:10:05 PM

Quote from: Sean Story\1988TURBO;330553

what ever, i want to see were this is going to end up, im still going to push it but what ever happens, happens

Hey I completely understand your passion!

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #33 – August 03, 2010, 01:15:46 PM

Quote from: ProTouring442;330532

Considering the Thunderbird was supposed to be an upmarket Ford, I am not so sure there is no room for a coupe. Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, all sell coupes, and so the CTS coupe makes a lot of sense. Position the "new" Thunderbird to compete with these vehicles, but at a lower price, and advertise it as such and I think it could sell.

Personally, I think there could also be a 4-door version, but it would have to be sporty. I think there is a lot of room in BMW's market if you can compete on quality and performance but at a lower price.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

I think with Ford's new found commitment and increased perception of it's latest offerings then it's entirely possible that Ford could add a Tbird to compete with those more expensive luxury offerings at a lower price. After all, that lower price point is what is attracting people to the current batch of Fords loaded with great features. That was also a formula that worked for the Tbird in the past by lowering the price point. I am just afraid right now Ford is more concerned with the Lincoln revitalization now that they have a solid lineup of Ford models in place and that likely leaves the Tbird remaining on the back burner while Lincoln will be strengthened by recieving such a model first with the likes of an MKR concept.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #34 – August 03, 2010, 02:16:08 PM

Keep in mind that most people now think a Mustang is too big, as a two door, and a Camaro or Challenger is gigantic. A Thunderbird would rust on the lot right now, I'm afraid. Car companies aren't that interested in what people who own used cars want.

But, if Ford ever built another Thunderbird, it sure as hell wouldn't be another two seater. Neither car sold! It was a failed model then, and it was in the following century. The Thunderbirds that made Ford money had four seats, and two (or four) doors, and way too much sheet-metal.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #35 – August 03, 2010, 02:49:17 PM

If every single member of this forum, NATO, TCCOA and even SCCOA not only signed that petition but wrote Ford a check right now, Ford would not bring back any Thunderbird, much less a Turbo Coupe, that was even remotely similar to these 80's Birds. That is simply a fact. Passionate though you may be, you are wasting your time, especially if you are unwilling to accept anything but a repop 80's Bird.

If, and I must emphasize that "IF", there is any new T-Bird in the future I see it being a four-door, perhaps based on the Mustang or perhaps based on the Falcon (though GM's little GTO experiment pretty much assured the latter ain't gonna happen). I can envision the car has being a "four door coupe", with a roof line similar to the Mercedes CLS or even the new Sonata.

GM can get away with the CTS Coupe, and Mercedes and BMW can get away with their SL's and 6-series (and 3 series) because they already have four door versions of the cars that make them loads of money, so there is room in their dealerships for a few less-profitable, slower selling Coupes (and Wagons). The lost revenue on those few coupes is worth it to have the halo effect those coupes bring. Ford does not have such a luxury, because they do not have a suitable platform to build such a Coupe on. If Ford ever decides tobring some Aussie platforms over, they sure as hell ain't gonna waste that engineering money on a two-door, especially a two-door aimed at fans of obscure and never-particularly-successful 80's Thunderbirds. Basing another Ford badged coupe on the Mustang would be redundant (though I still think an S197-based Cougar would've saved Mercury).

The long-and-the-short of it: If you ever see another RWD Ford besides the Mustang, it'll have four doors. It might have a turbo (ecoboost), but it would not be a Turbo Coupe.

Face it, sunshine: The TC we all know and love is gone, and it is not coming back. Ever.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #36 – August 03, 2010, 03:42:01 PM

Quote from: oldraven;330568

But, if Ford ever built another Thunderbird, it sure as hell wouldn't be another two seater. Neither car sold! It was a failed model then, and it was in the following century. The Thunderbirds that made Ford money had four seats, and two (or four) doors, and way too much sheet-metal.

Thunderbirds gained it's widespead popularity with the 1958 model with four seats which gave people with dreams much needed practicality.

Really the 2002-05 Thunderbird only served to appease those elitists that wanted a new version of the 1955-57 models. As I keep saying the Thunderbird lives on now as a Mustang convertible. There is just no room for another two seat roadster when the Mustang will continually outsell it with a back seat.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #37 – August 03, 2010, 03:49:28 PM

I still haven't figured out why it was that ford decided to ditch the 10 extra years of legacy of the Tbird in favor of killing it and keeping the mustang. Yeah, yeah, it was a "downsizing" venture, and we all know that the mustangs sold better than the birds.

But, if anyone else recalls, the fox body mustang almost disappeared in favor of the *probe*. But, when a bunch of -Enthusiasts- wrote and petitioned Ford to keep the mustang and not turn it into that P.O.S, what did they do? Redesigned it and kept it on the same platform for another 5 years, and its still around today. Then, 4 years later, they kill the mn12s.

Too bad nobody did this when they first killed off the cats and birds, or perhaps when they "brought them back", and too bad that kind of customer oriented service wouldn't apply today.

oh yeah and

Quote from: Watchdevil;330362

...Taurus Coupe or a Fusion Coupe.

Quote from: Watchdevil;330522

I don't think any of us are crazy. At some point people began preserving other older cars at a time when they were a dime a dozen. We have just begun to start now what could be an expanded legacy for classic Tbirds and Cougars in the future. The Fox generation is quite significant in my book.

As far as the Fox Mustangs go... There was never anything shagy about them. I never even wanted one because they were nothing but boxes that looked like they would have served better as a 80's replacement for a Pinto. Matter of fact with the basic package and drivetrain of 4-cyl models they indeed took over where the Pinto left off while using a more desireable nameplate. The Aero Birds and Cats brought back shagy to Ford in a time there was nothing shagy to speak of until the 1994 Mustang came along. The only merit of Fox Mustangs was the 5.0 and SVO in strictly functional performance packages. They were just never much to look at, especially considering 80's Camaros and Firebirds were shagier, low slung and Ferrari-like in styling. That is why I ended up with 4 GM F-body cars until the 1994 Mustang came out. I did not even want an Aero Tbird or Cougar at the time. It was not until 1997 when I bought a used 1985 Tbird because I wanted something that felt as close as possible to the 1994 Mustang convertible that I had to give up and sell because of some financial woes at the time.

Couldn't have said it better myself;)
They might as well have called it the RWD Escort. I have always been a fan of mustangs, from the very beginning up till now, but the fox ones, especially the earlier four-eyed ones, just have never appealed to me. If they're at shows, I only pay attention if heavy (exterior) modding is involved. But thats just my opinion - none of you mustang guys go getting upset now.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #38 – August 03, 2010, 05:29:25 PM

My little sister had an Escort EXP (remember those?). Looked a lot like a Fox Mustang...so much so she got comments quite frequently saying "I like your Musting". :p

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #39 – August 03, 2010, 06:45:47 PM

This is sean's brother in law. I did sign the TC petition. It would be nice to see it again. I've noticed the people on this forum are not very proactive or positive about bringing a car they love back. As a member of the sho community I can say that we were a big part of ford bringing back the sho. They even said so in a article, We did alot to make it happen but it worked. Since then we had ford save an all aluminum sho powered sable that was destined to be crushed from Canada. They took it back and even brought it to our convention in Michigan this year. It will be in there museum we will see to that. If you try hard enough and talk to the right people it will happen. edsel ford walked around the parking lot the convention and looked at the new and older SHO's...ford does care

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #40 – August 03, 2010, 06:55:10 PM

Quote from: sarjxxx;330584

I still haven't figured out why it was that ford decided to ditch the 10 extra years of legacy of the Tbird in favor of killing it and keeping the mustang. Yeah, yeah, it was a "downsizing" venture, and we all know that the mustangs sold better than the birds.

The MN-12 Thunderbirds and Cougars were very expensive cars to build with small profit margins. It was considered at one time to shorten the MN-12 chassis to provide a new Mustang but it would have made it too expensive and heavy. The MN-12's went out of production simply because production cost outweighed demand and they were at the end of their lifecycle and not worth the expense to redesign them without sufficient demand.

The 02-05 Tbirds were intended from the get go to be limited production vehicles of about 15-20 thousand a year for a limited number of years. As long as the Lincoln LS was available to base it on then it continued to exist. Yet again, Ford developed another platform that was too expensive to produce which was not yielding profitable results. All this happened at the time when Jac Nasser was running Ford into the ground with illusions of granduer that the market for high end luxury cars was stable and in high demand. Ford had bought up Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar and largely ignored its own brand of vehicles. The only thing that mattered to Ford as a brand then was how many SUV's and trucks they could sell while everything else was left to neglect.

Both the Tbird and LS bowed out at the same time as the Wixom, MI plant was shut down. That plant was building too many different vehicles in an outdated assembly plant. It was too expensive and unprofitable to keep building those cars there.

Quote

if anyone else recalls, the fox body mustang almost disappeared in favor of the *probe*. But, when a bunch of -Enthusiasts- wrote and petitioned Ford to keep the mustang and not turn it into that P.O.S, what did they do? Redesigned it and kept it on the same platform for another 5 years, and its still around today. Then, 4 years later, they kill the mn12s.

The vast enthusiasm of Mustangs is so much greater than that of Tbirds it's no wonder it got saved. It has been proven by Probe sales that no one cared or even wanted them.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #41 – August 03, 2010, 07:02:39 PM

Quote from: Sean Story\1988TURBO;330615

This is sean's brother in law. I did sign the TC petition. It would be nice to see it again. I've noticed the people on this forum are not very proactive or positive about bringing a car they love back. As a member of the sho community I can say that we were a big part of ford bringing back the sho. They even said so in a article, We did alot to make it happen but it worked. Since then we had ford save an all aluminum sho powered sable that was destined to be crushed from Canada. They took it back and even brought it to our convention in Michigan this year. It will be in there museum we will see to that. If you try hard enough and talk to the right people it will happen. edsel ford walked around the parking lot the convention and looked at the new and older SHO's...ford does care

Not to be a Negative Nelly , but do you have a link to the article you mentioned ?
As stated before it was not much of a stretch to re introduce the SHO name when they already had a Taurus on the market, but the new SHO is a totally different car as the old one .
To bring the Turbo Coupe back they first would have to bring back the T-BIRD and most of us are being realistic , in this economy and time it aint gonna happen .
And lets be honest how many people that are signing the petition are realistically going to buy a new Bird if they reintroduced it .

I wish y'all well in your quest , but I wouldn't hold my breath

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #42 – August 03, 2010, 07:12:28 PM

Quote from: sarjxxx;330584

But, if anyone else recalls, the fox body mustang almost disappeared in favor of the *probe*. But, when a bunch of -Enthusiasts- wrote and petitioned Ford to keep the mustang and not turn it into that P.O.S, what did they do? Redesigned it and kept it on the same platform for another 5 years, and its still around today.

The level of enthusiasm for the Mustang is way greater than it has ever been for Tbirds ..if you need an example take a look at how many Mustang internet forums there are as opposed to Tbird ones .
Ford got a mountain of letters concerning the car that became the Probe.
Ad much as it hurts to admit it The Mustang has more fans than the Bird , personally I like em both :D

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #43 – August 03, 2010, 07:24:51 PM

I would much rather see a retro version of a 69-70 Eliminator my self. Other then that. I have no need to see anything from the 70s or 80s return.

ford and the new turbocoupe

Reply #44 – August 03, 2010, 07:56:21 PM

Quote from: hypostang;330619

The level of enthusiasm for the Mustang is way greater than it has ever been for Tbirds ..if you need an example take a look at how many Mustang internet forums there are as opposed to Tbird ones .
Ford got a mountain of letters concerning the car that became the Probe.
Ad much as it hurts to admit it The Mustang has more fans than the Bird , personally I like em both :D

yea dude we know ever since the mustang came out there has been tons of followers but lets stay on topic shall we, not to hate on mustangs but there are so many out there that it inset impressive any more, i like mustangs but to be honest the bird is a trip away from a mustang. witch makes it in a weird way better in my opinion. i like the stang but there every were. but t-birds did sell and why are you making the whole bring back the tbird thing back like its going to be hard to do and to south you friend they dont have to do it at THIS time. the perpous of signing that thing is get get the idea started and rolling and seeing were it goes ill search for the link for the SHO atical and post it for those who dont believe. see ya in a bit.