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Car History: Car History Year 2000
Posted on Monday, September 27 @ 15:03:13 CDT by Cars |
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The dawn of a New Millennium is an event that few people - in historical terms -will witness, for obvious reasons. It is one of those strange moments that serves to focus the mind and encourage us to take stock; to think about what has gone before and what may be to come. The future is always the great unknown and so we tend, at such times, to seek comfort in the past, to wax lyrical about that warm and wonderful, half-remembered, half-imagined, time-gone-by that probably never was. We yearn for an age when life was safer and simpler. For some reason, that golden Age is often imagined to be the nineteen-fifties.
Ford introduced the Thunderbird as a "Personal" car in 1955. The first run of '55 -'57 Thunderbirds - was ever a name so evocative of power and freedom? -epitomized everything that we imagine the 'fifties to have been: colorful, carefree, youthful and exciting. It's easy to forget that 1955 was the year Martin Luther King formed the Montgomery Improvement Association in Alabama, and that association launched a boycott of Montgomery's buses as a protest — against racial segregation on the city's transportation. The Warsaw Pact was formed, West Germany was admitted to NATO - this was the time of the Cold War. Americans were fearful of the threat of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Is it any wonder that they indulged in a little "Personal" fantasy?
So, as we stood on the threshold of the twenty-first century, not knowing what lay in store for us, we took comfort from the past and hankered after symbols of security. Ford, in an inspired move, provided the means of escape, as they did in '55. After 42 years in production, the Thunderbird had been dropped at the end of 1997 and a link with the glorious past was severed.
By November 2001, the T-Bird was not just back but was Car-of-the-Year. Not only had the Thunderbird returned, but it looked like it did first time around: there was even a porthole. All is again well with the world. In the 50 year period of the Motor Trend Car-of-the-Year award, the Thunderbird has taken the honors four times - a tally double that of its nearest competitor. The magazine's Editorial Editor, Kevin Smith, summed it all up perfectly, "The all-new Thunderbird celebrated Ford's heritage of innovation and reaffirms our goal to build the best cars on the planet -cars that evoke passion and touch people's hearts and souls."
For the record, the new Thunderbird utilizes a traditional front-engine-rear-drive layout and is powered by a 3.9 liter V8 with 4 valves per cylinder. Computer-controlled, electronic fuel-injection replaces the original T-bird's four-barrel carb and output is rated at 252 against the 202. 5-speed automatic transmission replaces a stick-shift or optional Ford-0-Matic. Like so many contemporary automobiles - and a few in the 'fifties - the new Thunderbird shares a platform with a number of other models. It has components in common with the Lincoln LS and the S-Type Jaguar, including the basic engine design. Like its illustrious predecessor, the Thunderbird remains a cruiser rather than a racer, delivering silky smooth performance with a minimum of sound and fury and rides like a magic carpet. In uncertain times, it's appealing to imagine climbing behind the wheel of a Thunderbird - a '55 or an '02 - and driving off into the sunset.
Specification
FORD THUNDERBIRD
Engine
V8 - All aluminum
Displacement
281 cu. ins
Bore and stroke
3.60 x 3.60 ins.
Horsepower
252
Body styles
Convertible coupe
No. of seats
2
Weight (lbs)
3,775 Ibs
Price
$36,390
Produced
-
Specification
DODGE INTREPID
Engine
V6 - All aluminum
Displacement
167 cu. ins
Bore and stroke
3.38x3.09 ins.
Horsepower
200
Body styles
4 door sedan
No. of seats
6
Weight (lbs)
3,423 Ibs-3,518 Ibs
Price
$19,890-$22,640
Produced
-
Specification
CHRYSLER PT LANDCRUISER
Engine
Cast iron block/aluminum head - 4 cylinders in line
Displacement
148.2 cu. ins
Bore and stroke
3.44x3.98 ins.
Horsepower
150
Body styles
4 door sedan
No. of seats
5
Weight (lbs)
3,107 Ibs
Price
-
Produced
-
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