Time to say Goodbye .... again.

[SandyBoy]

I am surprised that nobody took note. At 2:35PM this afternoon, Thursday, March 10th 2005, Ford called a press conference to announce the end of the Thunderbird ! Last call for orders is end of May. The car goes out of production in July. There will be a 50th Anniversary Edition, made at the end. It will utilize the 2005 Lincoln color called "Cashmire" a very pastel Ivory/Creme, with a matching top & interior, with some dash trim in bronze.
Kinda sad to lose it once again.

[Alexander]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

Ford is again breaking the Thunderbird enthusiasts hearts. The two-seat new Thunderbird was a good design, but not a great design. Ford took the opinions of Thunderbird enthusiasts, but then still did it as they saw fit. Thunderbird from the beginning had many options that the compitetion did not, and it always had high performance. It held many speed trial records and lost in a photo finish in the first Daytona 500, and many successes in NASCAR. They did not follow this successful heritage. Instead they marketed a car with "relaxed performance" and few options - GPS was never available. It is simply not competitive in 2005.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[SandyBoy]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

Yes, Options are important. I put $100. down on a 2005 Town Car to replace mine. Then they gave me one (2005 T.C.) to use while they fixed mine. In short order I came to find that for $2,000 less $$$ I could get a whole lot more car/features with a 2005 Buick Park Avenue Ultra. Things that Lincoln chose to pull off the '05 (that were on the '03) such as:
Rasinsence Automatic Windshield Wipers, "AutoLamp" Time delayed headlights (for at night), Visable reverse warning alert for parking, carpeting that one could sink their fingertips down into, rather than a piece of deep felt used for carpet in the '05 T.C., Heads Up Instrument Display on the lower part of the windshield, a combination MP3/Cassette/C.D. Changer that holds 12 (rather than Lincoln's 6) discs, and much better fuel mileage with the 3800 Six cylinder over the Lincoln's V-8. However, the T.C. has 239 H.P. & the Park Ave Ultra has 240 AND is Superchrged.
Once the Town Car is fixed, I'll be trading it in on the P.A. Ultra. Sadly the T.C. of 2005 is nothing more than a top of ther line Grand Marquis LS with every option.

[Alexander]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

I have always been a big Ford fan, when Ford was doing well as well as when it was not. It pains me when they make decisions such as these. You cannot cheapen a luxury car and expect people to still perceive it to be a luxury car. Lexus would not strip down one of their cars, why should Lincoln? History has its lessons. Everyone recognized that the 1958 Packard was just a Studebaker with Packard styling cues. That was its last year.

http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Packard/1958PackardSedan-b.jpg

http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Packard/1958_Packard_r.jpg

This person has assembled pictures of every Packard ever built: http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Packard/

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[SandyBoy]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

Oh my God, that Bronze one is drop dead georgous !!!
____________________________________________________

Ford took every single thing that was Town Car exclusive in 2003 OFF of the 2005, leaving the car LOOKING the same, both inside & outside, but removed all individual features that were exclusive Town Car merchandise.

I wondered why I had a constant "rattle" in the dash panel. I FINALLY found out on week #3. The felt-lined glove box of my '03 was the same, but the felt was removed, leaving in its place, just the hard formed slippery plastic the formed the glove box, so on every turn the stuff in the glove box would slide back 'n forth, hitting the sides of the glove box.
Carpet:
The carpet of my 2003, you could stick your fingers into it, and your finger tips would disappear INTO the rug. The 2005? No part of your finger can get into any part of the "carpet" (really a large piece of padding with a thin top coat of "rug" ~
AutoLamp:
Gone. You cannot set your headlamps to stay on after you leave the car. They will on their own, automatically stay ON for 15 seconds. What good is 15 seconds???? It takes me 10 seconds to get out of it!!
Visual Alert reverse Warning System:
Gone
Leather & American Burlwood Steering Wheel:
Replaced with Simulated Leather & Simulated Wood
Rainsence Automatic Windshield Wipers:
Gone.
Other driver convience items are also either gone,
or their various abilities are limited to 1 thing.
Price of it has gone up $2,200 since end of 2003 final pricing.
___________________________________________

On the Park Avenue Ultra I get at no extra charge every
single item the Town Car had either as standard or that
I paid for as optional, as standard on the Park. Plus
all of the above missing items from the Town Car, plus
Heads-Up Display on the lower dash, a 12 disc CD changer, in
liew of the 6-Disc in the Town Car, plus it's a SIX cylinder
WITH Supercharger. With gas going to $2.50 a gall this
Summer coming, it's better than feeding the gas hungry
Town Car, and yet the Buick has 1 horsepower MORE than the
Town Car's V-8. For passing kick, it IS Supercharged.
.....and Oh those portholes !!

http://www.barnettmotors.com/new_photos/5635_1.jpg

[Alexander]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

http://www.auto123.com/05photo/buick/parkavenue4dr-ultra.jpg

The Buick is a beautiful car that retains classic styling cues while still looking modern. I agree that anything with portholes looks good.

[img width=300 height=200 http://www.mmiusa.com/ookpik/graphics/ship.gif]

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Alexander]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

1958 Packard full-size sedans are so rare. I have only seen one once in my life.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[SandyBoy]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

Alex, THAT there is 1 hellava site. Just killed an hour on it !! Did YOU see everything? 1956 Packard Carribbean ??? COUPE !! WOW

Better than ANY PLAYBOY magazine

[Alexander]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

I love Packards. It is such a shame that company went under.

http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Packard/1956PackardCaribbeanHardTop.jpg

Hardtop 1956 Caribbeans are rare. Even rarer are Caribbeans that are painted in a solid color. I saw a Burgundy 1956 Packard Caribbean at the Atlantic City car show several years ago. It one of only a handful painted a solid color from the factory that year. Most were tri-tones.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Alexander]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

>Better than ANY PLAYBOY magazine

You must have missed the Playboy "Women of Packard" issue.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[SandyBoy]

RE: Time to say Goodbye .... again.

I was busy reading women of Imperial.;-)
Which was intereting. Every few years the woman would fall over & die, and then they'd get propped back up again and cheapened. Then, they'd fall over again, and get cheapened & propped back up again. Finally they died for good in 1993, in New Yorker dress.