This 54-Mile Ford Thunderbird Is As Close To A New One As You Can Get
The eleventh-generation Ford Thunderbird was a divisive car when it debuted, and it still is. Ford, trying to capitalize on the retro design craze of the early 2000s, ended up creating a car that only a grandfather could love. This ended up hurting sales and led to the eventual cancellation of the nameplate, but not before just over 100,000 of the new Thunderbirds were sold. It won’t be surprising to find that more than a few of these were stored away, and some, like this latest listing on Bring a Trailer, were pretty much never driven.
Currently sitting at a bid of $12,000, this 2002 Thunderbird has only 53 miles on the odometer. That likely makes it one of the lowest-mileage examples of this generation in existence. The description of this T-Bird’s history reads just as you would expect it to: The seller’s grandfather purchased it brand new from Bowen’s Garage, a Ford dealership in Eastford, Connecticut. He went with the Easter pastel–like exterior color of Inspiration Yellow, with the matching-color removable hardtop that has an opera window.
He also chose the Full Interior Color Accent Package, which added the same Inspiration Yellow color to the seats, the top half of the steering wheel and the lower half of the dashboard and doors. The car is essentially showroom stock, right down to the 252-hp 3.9-liter V8, five-speed automatic and 17-inch wheels. The original window sticker says this thing had an original MSRP of $39,795, which is $69,089 in today. That’s used Lexus LC 500 money.
Other than a minor paint imperfection that the seller says is on the left side of the front bumper, the car seems damn near brand new. You can even see it in how thick the floor mat carpeting looks. In BaT’s comments the seller mentions that the hoses and tires are all good as the car was moved regularly even though it was garaged. If you’re interested in owning the last iteration of this historic American nameplate, the auction has a week left as of this writing.
