Hello everyone. I just wanted to share with everyone what a positive impact this car has made on my life. But first some background...

So when I picked up the car, I told my wife I was getting a Thunderbird. Not too many more details were provided, you know, those details sometimes get in the way of these big purchases. 

And when I showed up at home after taking deliver from out of state, the reality hit my wife the minute she saw it - IT ONLY HAS TWO SEATS....

Now she was under the impression it was one of those cars with the "fake" back seat, which would help us haul around our 10 and six year olds. She said "couldn't you have gotten the four seat version" 

So it was rough the next 24 hours... everyone wanted a ride... but with only one passenger seat, it took some coordination. And I heard 100 reasons why a bigger car would have been better...

Well we made it over the hump...

She now says "this is exactly the car I would have bought"... we take turns driving it... and the single seat has given me some dedicated time with my son. The one on one time shows when he said "Dad, this is the most fun we've ever had" after we took a nice drive together.

So good things for the family do come in smaller, more intimate packages.

Any other stories out there?

Jeff

San Diego, CA   July 31, 2007  as posted on TBN and used with the permission of Jeff.

     I love this site[TBN]. I’ve learned so much about the new Thunderbird and I’ve made many, many new friends because of TBN, but I have to tell you that sometimes the gripes and snipes and negative comments about the Bird get to me. I’m tired of reading how bad the paint is, how cheap the interior is, how poor the performance is, so I’m going to post something positive. I fell in love with the Thunderbird in 1955, and when I saw the new prototype in 1998, I fell even more in love with it. I think the design of the new Bird is absolutely perfect. I love the interior, I love the exterior, I love it all…..from bottom to top and front to end. The more I wash and wax it, the more I’m convinced it’s perfect. I love everything about the car. I think the ride, the handling, and the performance are perfect for what this car is supposed to be…..a classy, elegant, yet sporty, boulevard cruiser. I think Ford did a masterful job combining the looks, the feel, the tradition, the mood, and the over all experience of the original baby Birds with all the advantages and benefits that modern technology has to offer. I got everything I wanted and everything I expected in a $40,000 automobile. Actually, I got even more than I wanted and expected. Believe me, I don’t have money to burn, but the $40,000 price tag for a specialty car like the Thunderbird doesn’t seem out of line to me. I wanted this car so badly that I probably didn’t make the best deal I could have made, but I don’t care. I wanted this car so badly that I don’t care that Ford hasn’t advertised it. I wanted this car so badly that now that I have it, I plan on driving it as much as I can, and I don’t care if it’s a collectible car or not. I could care less what it’s worth now, and I definitely don’t care what it’ll be worth 50 years from now when I’m dead. It’s not possible to affix a price tag to what this car means to me. Every time I look at my car, every time I drive my car, every time I wash and wax my car, it makes me happy………and from the comments, thumbs up, and smiles I get from others, it makes other people happy as well. I’ve owned many cars in my life……..convertibles, sports cars, muscle cars, station wagons, vans, trucks, sedans, clinkers, clunkers, beaters, and not a one can compare to this one. How many cars on the market today offer what the new Thunderbird does for the price? It can be a sporty roadster where you can feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair (if you have some that is); it can be an elegant, classy, quiet hard top; or you can drive it with the soft top up and listen to the rain hit the canvas. I love the stereo system. I love the heated seats. I love the grill. I love the removable hard top with the porthole windows. I’m glad it doesn’t have a retractable hard top. If it had a retractable hard top, it wouldn’t have the soft top, and I love the soft top. Besides keeping with the tradition of the ’55-’57 Birds, maybe the removable hard top was necessary to keep the porthole windows. Whatever the reasons for the removable hard top, I’m glad Ford designed the hard top the way they did. To me, Ford captured everything that made the Thunderbird then and now: “FUN FUN FUN” and “UNIQUE IN ALL THE WORLD”! No matter what’s going on in my life, when I get in my car and go for a ride, all is well. I know there have been problems with the car, and I’ve had a couple with mine; but I got them fixed and have continued to enjoy my car without missing a beat. In my case at least, the dealer has gone out of his way to honor warranty issues and to make me happy. I’ve got a car that makes me happy and I have a dealer that makes me happy. What more could I ask for? 

     I want to share something from the Thunderbird Rendezvous Car Show I attended this past Sunday. There was a 1966 convertible at the show that was absolutely pristine. It was gorgeous. Although I didn’t talk to the owner, I was told that the car gets towed everywhere and is only driven on and off the trailer. I guess I don’t understand the mind of an automobile collector, because just having a car to look at wouldn’t cut it for me. To me a car is to be driven. On the other hand, an older gentleman and his wife pulled into the show’s parking lot about an hour before it was over in a 1955 Bird. The paint was faded, the seats were ripped, and there were even some cobwebs in one of the wheel wells. But none of that mattered to the owner. He and his wife had on matching driving hats, and they had on matching smiles from ear to ear. He and his wife looked around for awhile, talked to some people, then got back in their little Bird with their smiles and drove away. Although I’ll never let my car deteriorate, I do plan to be the guy who drives it and smiles, rather than the guy who only looks at it and smiles. Even if I could buy one and put it in a bubble to keep it untouched and perfect, no matter how much it would be worth in 50 years, it could never be worth the happiness it brings me now. 

I love my Thunderbird, I appreciate what Ford has created, and I’ve never regretted buying it for one second. It’s a beautiful day today and I’m off work, so I’m going to go out to the garage and pop Gobird’s 4 CD Thunder Fever set in the stereo and enjoy my beautiful Thunderbird. Life is good. 

Ray - The Herd

Billy,
Sherry called at 11:25 this morning and said the car was ready and she was on her way.  I met her 20 min. later at the dealership & we walked out to look at your new 'bird.  Here's the  photos in 2 albums:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=134524&a=14016099&f=0
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=134524&a=14016104&f=0
The color was breathtaking in the sunlight. The white top really sets off the color. 
Trivia to remember.  Your wife signed the papers on the day the car was announced that it had received the Motor Trend Car of the Year award!