1999 Ford Thunderbird Concept Car

For Sale at Vintage Motors of Sarasota | Sarasota, Florida

The Ford Thunderbird is one of America’s legendary sports cars. It started as a Corvette challenger that quickly grew soft while the Corvette stayed sporty. Ford tried to keep it relevant but by 1997 the model was killed off.

But only two years later Ford introduced a luxury roadster concept called the Thunderbird and it looked way better than the model it was going to replace. The car sported retro looks and would go on sale for the 2002 model year.

This is one of three concept Thunderbirds built by Ford. One of those was later re-bodied as a “Sports Roadster” (a sporty, topless version). One of the concepts is still owned by Ford. And this is the third – the only one in the wild. It was built around the chassis of a Lincoln LS and uses that donor car’s 3.9-liter V-8 (which is actually a Jaguar motor) making 252 horsepower. This car isn’t street legal – it doesn’t have windows or gauges and has a governor on the engine to keep speeds very low.

The return of the Thunderbird was short-lived. Between 2002 and 2005, only 67,518 were built. It was expensive and not sporty. It was a flop all around. But this is actually a really cool opportunity to obtain a piece of history related to one of America’s great cars. The price is $195,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold, Worldwide Auctioneers Auburn 2018, $25,300.