what if Ford kept the Thunderbird

4tires17gals

4tires17gals

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The taurus and Fushion just have not cut it the same way that Davey Allison and alan K made it work.
 
4tires17gals said:
The taurus and Fushion just have not cut it the same way that Davey Allison and alan K made it work.
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The Taurus saved Fords a$s in the late 80s and throughout the 2000s. Ford's CEO is just doing a crappy job with doing away with their racing divisions. Ford should let Ford Racing out of Australia do the racing development.
 
Gotta look at these decisions as they affect the entire company, not just the racing and marketing departments. Remember, manufacturers are in stock car racing as a marketing tool first; any developmental gains they can carry over to production cars is minor fringe benefit. Ford wasn't selling T-birds in the volume they wanted, and the Tortoise was a game-changer in vehicle body design.

Manufacturer dominance comes in cycles. Roush and the Taurus did very well in the late '90s and early '00s. Their decline was due mostly to failing to adapt to the COT, and would have occurred regardless of what model the cars pretended to be. Penske is doing nicely with the current Fusion.
 
BobbyFord said:
Too bad they didn't keep the Galaxie.
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Or the Cyclone

1970-Cyclone-3-4.jpg
 
The Thunderbird was a great looking car and an even better looking race car. Unfortunately, full size rear wheel drive cars started losing popularity at a dramatic rate in the 90s. The Taurus never looked right to me, but I think the Fusion makes a nice looking race car.

After killing off the T-Bird, they reintroduced a new T-Bird a few years later as a two seater retro-styled sports car with a Jaguar engine. It was a pretty big flop.
 
4tires17gals said:
The taurus and Fushion just have not cut it the same way that Davey Allison and alan K made it work.
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It was great when the cars raced strongly resembled what was on dealer showrooms but those days have been over for close to 25 years and with Nascar using a spec car switching models or manufacturers is as easier than falling in love. It would be a lot of fun if each year Nascar had throwback races with teams using older body cars but the safetynicks would chit the bed about someone getting hurt not to mention the expense to the teams and the overall lack of demand for this sort of thing and of course something like this is completely unrealistic anyway. It would be fun though.
 
2 Sweet said:
The Thunderbird was a great looking car and an even better looking race car. Unfortunately, full size rear wheel drive cars started losing popularity at a dramatic rate in the 90s. The Taurus never looked right to me, but I think the Fusion makes a nice looking race car.

After killing off the T-Bird, they reintroduced a new T-Bird a few years later as a two seater retro-styled sports car with a Jaguar engine. It was a pretty big flop.
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I think that platform was used for the T-Bird, the Jag and the Lincoln LS and none of those vehicles sold well.
 
This is the worst looking T-Bird ever, IMO, but it is a thing of beauty compared to the boxes with decals used today.

earnhardt-1981.jpg
 
The Thunderbird went away because people got away from 2-door cars. They killed the car, but brought it back as a retro-looking car. That didn't last long. There are only a few coupes being made today. Everything else is a sedan or a SUV.
 
I just hate the name "Fusion"
Can't they do better? Thunderbird sounded cool. Taurus was good. Fusion is just bad in my opinion.
 
It would be cool to see stock cars race again. I know those cars in the pictures above aren't exactly stock either, but they sure are a lot closer than the crap we have today.
 
You have to remember, the Thunderbird was to the Mustang what the Lemans was to the Firebird. A larger platform for the same powerplant. Well today's Mustang is nearly as big as my old Parisienne minus the chrome bumpers, and weighs as much. So the Thunderbird's place in the line-up is taken by the more popular nameplate, leaving it nowhere to go. The Charger is the same, as is the Camaro. All of them are larger than mid-sized, despite their pony sized backgrounds. So the Lemans, Monte, and T-bird plates ... they sit on a shelf.
 
If you want cool cars watch the xFinity series. Those are real performance cars that people aspire to own. Why the cup and xfinity series don't swap cars is beyond me, the Mustang and Camaro are true halo cars and the big 3 manufacturers have pushed for them in cup anyways. Did BF get drunk that day and push the wrong button to send them to the wrong series?
 
I like the idea of pony cars in the Xfinity Series but the execution has been poor, in my opinion. They look terribly unlike their road counterparts and I don't see it changing when the templates for each manufacturer have to be so similar.

I really don't think the Gen 6 Cup cars look bad though.
 
Acs said:
If you want cool cars watch the xFinity series. Those are real performance cars that people aspire to own. Why the cup and xfinity series don't swap cars is beyond me, the Mustang and Camaro are true halo cars and the big 3 manufacturers have pushed for them in cup anyways. Did BF get drunk that day and push the wrong button to send them to the wrong series?
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Watch sports cars.
 
Acs said:
If you want cool cars watch the xFinity series. Those are real performance cars that people aspire to own. Why the cup and xfinity series don't swap cars is beyond me, the Mustang and Camaro are true halo cars and the big 3 manufacturers have pushed for them in cup anyways. Did BF get drunk that day and push the wrong button to send them to the wrong series?
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These cars look the same to me but maybe I just need my eyes checked lol.

2013_BRAD_KESELOWSKI_DISCOUNT_TIRE_124_large.jpg
chevrolet-camaro-nas-4_800x0w.jpg
 
Sadly, the mid-size coupe is pretty much a thing of the past. Not counting pony cars or luxury brands, I think the Honda Accord is about the only one left.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I like the idea of pony cars in the Xfinity Series but the execution has been poor, in my opinion. They look terribly unlike their road counterparts.
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True. The Camaro looks like a last-gen Camaro, the Mustang looks like a last-gen Fusion, and the Camry looks like a Camaro with Toyota stickers on it.
 
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