Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

Hmmm, not sure if I have the 999 report or not?  I'll have to check.  Sucks they aren't free any longer....

i wonder if the Heritage and Turbo Coupes were all later production.....would make sense, as they rushed the base cars into production first i'm sure.

In theory, David, this is correct. The V6 base models should have been the first off the line. The V8 engine was supposed to be a running option...in other words, as soon as the engines were supplied, they could be dropped in. The Turbo Coupe, AFAIK, was also a running option.

I have a hypothesis...the original date of 12/26/82 was supposed to be the start date of production for 1983 Thunderbirds and Cougars. That got kicked back to 2/83 (the information that I have in the Ford dealer books is that production began around 2/26/83, give or take a few days). I am now wondering if the delay was not just for quality control, but also to add the V8 near the beginning of production. I know the same can be said for the 4-cylinder turbo production. I'm still trying to find more info in the literature and books that are in my possession, but I'm sticking by this hypothesis for the time being. Just a hunch, really, with some evidence to support it.

What we'd really need to find is the earliest 1983 V8 car. Then we could start piecing things together. Same for the earliest 1983 Turbo Coupe.

In any case, the 1983's were almost mid-year cars and had a shorter run than normal.

In theory, David, this is correct. The V6 base models should have been the first off the line. The V8 engine was supposed to be a running option...in other words, as soon as the engines were supplied, they could be dropped in. The Turbo Coupe, AFAIK, was also a running option.

I have a hypothesis...the original date of 12/26/82 was supposed to be the start date of production for 1983 Thunderbirds and Cougars. That got kicked back to 2/83 (the information that I have in the Ford dealer books is that production began around 2/26/83, give or take a few days). I am now wondering if the delay was not just for quality control, but also to add the V8 near the beginning of production. I know the same can be said for the 4-cylinder turbo production. I'm still trying to find more info in the literature and books that are in my possession, but I'm sticking by this hypothesis for the time being. Just a hunch, really, with some evidence to support it.

What we'd really need to find is the earliest 1983 V8 car. Then we could start piecing things together. Same for the earliest 1983 Turbo Coupe.

In any case, the 1983's were almost mid-year cars and had a shorter run than normal.

What we'd really need to find is the earliest 1983 V8 car. Then we could start piecing things together. Same for the earliest 1983 Turbo Coupe.

Rods Heritage and mine are only 2 weeks apart for build dates, so that makes some sense......i wish Kevin Marti would get his act together so we could get the stats already.  He made a few Turbo Coupe Reports available as a test marketing thing, and silence since then, every year i call and am told next  year.

Maybe more of us need to start calling/emailing Kevin!  :hick:

His info would help clear things up a bit.  I'm wondering if he thinks there isn't much of a demand for the TBird/Cougar reports compared to the Mustangs or if he has a lot of work to compile the raw data?

mine is a TC so it cant be an early car since they came later in the model year so it would technically be an 83 1/2  5/16/1983 and its 15 days older than I am

Your VIN - ...A145967
My  VIN - ...A144687

Both show a vehicle manufacture date on Carfax of 5/16.

Looks like my VIN was assigned earlier than yours.  Not sure if we can use the consecutive number as a guide to production dates. Maybe a general trend can be found but probably nothing specific.