I miss mine, not even joking. Ugly as fuck, but that's why I loved it. Never worried about theft, you could leave the keys in, door open and it would still be there. Then had some dents and digs, never cared some of the incidents made it look better like some Mad Max type vehicle! But the best memory was I never knew it had a tent, I thought I got a base model (that's how cheap it was), so when I went camping with my friends and I had never done it before so I was mostly unprepared, and it had a tent i fell in love. I bought an Element after!
Is this the car Walter has in breaking bad? Also I never realized they were from 2005 I thought they came out much later. I guess being from NYC We never really see them here, haha. Had never seen one until I moved out to Utah.
I think the lockable trunk button was a pretty great idea. I don't think it was made with a valet in mind. I think it was supposed to prevent anyone from being able to open your trunk if you wanted to leave the top down on your car. It could also be used in general. Incase someone was able to break into your car, they wouldn't be able to access the trunk if they didn't have the key. Also, just a fun fact, that wasn't the only way to open the trunk in the car. While there isn't a keyhole for the trunk on the back of the car, you were able to open it by using a keyhole that was placed behind the drivers seat if you pulled the seat forward. Since the regular button is power operated, you could use the keyhole behind the seat if your battery was dead, but you needed to access the trunk. For example, to get your jumper cables out of the trunk.
@@ultraguy8771 Guys, he never said this was 2002, he said "this car was released in 2002" which this model was. The 2005 model was built in 2004, so he is right on all counts. But whatever, that isn't the point of the video anyway so why nitpick?
I purchased this car when I was 55, 15 years ago. Stil have it, 53,000 miles and we love it. I bought for my wife and it is a superb car. I purchased it new as a 2005. People of ALL ages still comment on how great it looks as well as my wife!
Super jealous, I love these t birds despite being 21 and well out of nostalgia range where these cars were targeting. I’m a sucker for retro styling and 50s-60s stuff
In 03 my then 3rd ex wife had to have the 007 James Bond edition. In her mind she fancies herself as a Bond girl. I did not see any value in the car and small appeal and did her a pre owned 911 cabriolet instead. 06 rolled around and she brought me to our local Ford dealership here in nearby Woodland Hills. They had a 2000 mile pre owned 007 version in the Sunset Coral with me doing a custom painted Sunset Coral color change on the removable hardtop vs the odd factory white hardtop for 18K less; plus $650 to repaint the top. We grabbed it for like 38K. We got her out of the 911 and traded down. She loves that car. 17 years-ish later she still has that car. Two years back when I saw her she had 6K total miles on it and upgraded to a Borla exhaust; otherwise (other than the film accurate hardtop color change) the car is near original and pristine. She told me she did a minor color correction, clay bar treatment and full clear wrap. I agree the car appeals to certain type. We both work in film & television and she tells me she drives it in only on Fridays to the lot and gets lots of constant thumbs up. She tells me it was one my few that did her right!
The biggest point of trivia about that dashboard is that it's lifted almost entirely from the Lincoln LS. The Thundberbird is based on the LS, sharing a platform with the Jaguar S-Type.
The fact that the car was a failure doesn't mean it doesn't appeal to some people, I agree with a lot of Doug's comments, but I personally like the way It looks very much
The headlight dial changes the DURATION of the delay from just a few seconds to as much as a few minutes. It’s actually a great idea. Several vehicles of that era had the adjustable delay time to adjust the time. The lights stay on after you turn off the ignition switch. My mother’s 2001 Grand Marquis has the same switch. She’s elderly and walks slowly. So she turns it for maximum delay to give her time to get into her house. Others don’t need the extra time. So they adjust it to where they turn off almost immediately.
The Thunderbird was a boulevard cruiser; I don't think the target customer was really expecting too much hp, or performance. That said, the cheap interior was inexcusable, and they should have realized that would be focal point. Cool exterior, crap interior.
When I buy a car, the interior is the most important thing. That's where you are 95% of the time, not staring at the exterior. I remember seeing one in the day, turning a corner past me, and saying, "When is it going to end?" For a "sports car", it was huge.
@@davidm5707 I think they both play an equal role. You're right about spending most of your time inside the car, and it ought ro be a great place ro be, but having a cool looking car completes the package. They gotta get both right, or it's too much of a compromise.
@@kozmaz87 As Ford owner I agree. This Thunderturd has the same quality interior as my '98 Puma, which is based on Fiesta and was sold at far lower pricepoint. There are good things too in Ford interiors like optional audio options that were very good for the time (sound quality wise).
@@mr8gandusmr8 No its for valet parking, my 2001 lesabre has a key lock like for the trunk release button, but I lost the valet key, I can't find it anywhere,
Like a movie critic, DeMuro has his moment in the sun trying to tear down the Thunderbird. I started selling cars in a Ford store in the late 70's and am still employed in a management position. Needless to say, I've driven just about everything on wheels at one time or another. I bought a 2004 Tbird new and still have it today and find it does exactly what it was designed to do namely provide a classy feel in both retro design and comfort for a roadster. Ford never intended the car to be a world-class offering to compete with other roadsters as the original design motif was followed. That motif was a weekend car to be enjoyed for its style and elegance-not how fast it would go from 0-60 or its speed around the Nuremberg track. In nineteen years of ownership, I have little to complain about. I've never stood on the accelerator nor pitched it wildly into a corner. I bought it because I liked it and Ford never intended to make the car past 2005. It was an image car for them and in that regard, it succeeded. The Roadster design is one of the cool things about its design. Nobody buys a roadster to travel in so the limited trunk space is of no consequence. It's a weekend traveler at best which is just fine for me.
If the automatic headlight adjustment is like all the other Ford's, the adjuster has nothing to do with light sensitivity. It just measures how long the lights stay on after the car is turned off.
0-60 in 6.5 seconds is really nothing to complain about. It's even quick by today's standards for many cars, and in a small convertible like this I think it would feel like a rocket ship. I think giving it a "3" was way lower than it should have been.
My 2004 Mazda6 station wagon was faster in 0-60 if I remembered to turn traction control off, and it had a 3.0L Duratec V6. My 2004 Pontiac GTO was vastly faster, but then again it was also much faster than a Mustang at the time too. Also, the 0-60 is on an objective scale, so no matter what kind of car it is, 6.5 seconds will always get a 3.
@@sethmoyer --- Not that I didn't believe you, but I was curious so I looked it up. Motor Trend and Zeroto60times has the GTO doing it in around 5.3 or 5.4 depending on the transmission, but Zeroto60times has the Mazda doing it in 7.2 and Automobile-catalog has it taking 9.1, presumably the latter having not turned off the traction control. Both of these are about what I'd expected they'd be. I liked the GTO's performance on Pontiac's last ditch effort back then, but I couldn't get past that it looked like a Sunbird or Cobalt or something along those lines.
The design for the (new) Charger came first before they decided on a name for it. They even toyed with keeping the Intrepid name iirc... If you look closely the design has more in common with the Intrepid that came before it than an old school Charger.
@@Turk_2023 Idk man. They were huge weird, space age styled, land yachts 20 years after that type of car was dead. But if you're into it, who am I to tell you differently lol.
Or at least the 4.6 litre V8 the motor that came in that Thunderbird was the same motor my friend had in his Lincoln LS he had nothing but problems in it
Individual dealerships were adding onto the Ford pricing and it was illegal. If they were a "sanctioned dealership" with Ford, they lost their sanctioning. I was told this by Henry Clay Ford II himself at the Ford 100th Anniversary show. Ford really came down hard on any dealership that did that. Believe me, they paid for it dearly.
Ford did not make the 3.9 V8. It was made by Jaguar....of which, Ford owned at the time. And it only had 252hp in 2002. Has absolutely nothing to do with Ford's modular V8.
In 2002 Jaguar had the 4.0 version making 290 hp and a supercharged variant making 370 hp, then in 2003 they introduced the 4.2 making 300 hp and the Supercharged variant that makes 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. I have the 4.2 Supercharged engine and I love it!
I Am ProdAG A 7.2L V8 from a time **before** catalytic converters that strangled 400+ HP V8s to barely half that power were mandatory. For shame, it’d still produces 40 less horsepower than the Thunderbird.
I have a pristine Thunderbird Blue 2002 (2nd owner, low miles) and she's a beaut! I saw her out of the corner of my eye at a local car yard and had to have her. She's great for cruising and I always receive positive comments on what a beautiful car I have. She has get up and go when I want it and only downside is that it doesn't have room for passengers. 8/10
My grandpa has a black one with brown leather seats, and it’s a really pretty car irl. I haven’t really driven it, but it’s a good old man car to zoom around in
I agree, and who cares about owners manual? All I need is fluid capacity and how to reset the change oil light; and I can get that, even as far back as 2004, from the internet. If you watch old Perry Mason on tv, you have to love this T-Bird.
If you don't tuck the inner shirt it'll roll up and look like either fat or worse smuggled merchandise! Trust me, I did this for years before someone told me
But the Thunderchicken should've at least had a turbo/supercharger strapped to that 3.9 L V8 or a 5.0L fuel injected with a horsepower boost. Anything under 400 hp especially in a car like this is a joke......
I'm looking at getting one. I think this guy is a dweeb. "They only made it as a 2 seater". I've seen dozens of 4 seaters. If he's wrong about that he's wrong about everything.
Doug is SO harsh on the car, like to see him create a fraction of an creative idea on it. Fun car, draw looks and has a big following something he'd never mentions
@@johncarney482 Agreed. I don't think he knows this car was created for novelty rather than practicality. Ford told buyers at the time that it would produce only 4 model years - which could probably justify its high sticker price. It was not a "failure" as he puts it.
@@raydavies6236 Well not exactly. The V6 Accord was a 6.0 to 8.2 second 0-60 car depending on the year and transmission. The Thunderbird was a 6.3 to 7.1 depending on the year so both cars were very comparable. The thing that held the Thunderbird back though was that it was a big boat weighing almost 3800 lbs.
Keep in mind Doug waits for people to come to him. He rarely asks someone to review their car. I could see him approaching CNC motors initially because it’s a business relationship but, when it comes to private party, Doug waits for people to offer him their vehicles. He explained it in one of his videos in his other channel and it makes perfect sense. That’s why it takes awhile when someone requests a car because he has to wait for someone with that vehicle to approach him.
Car sold for "Just under 40g" in 2005, which as Doug points out, was "just over 52G" in 2019, when this video was made. That's now 65+G in 2024, just 5 short years.
No kidding. When your target demographic is 70 year olds? I'd think 280hp would be plenty. Those folks want reasonable V8 power and decent gas mileage. 3.9 V8 is probably just what most of them were looking for.
The car was expensive, yet it was not luxurious like a mercedes, quick like a corvette or carismatic like a Mustang. With no justification for why would someone spend a lot of money for a car like that, it flopped. I myself like how weird the car looks from the outside, the problem is, this car doesn't know what it wants to be.
So Valets won’t have access to your trunk? When they’re... driving your car, with your key? No, it’s so that you can secure items in the trunk with the top down.
Funny that you mentioned it, my late grandfather formally owned both a 1957 and a 2002 Thunderbird, both in the same turquoise color. Had the opportunity to ride them both when I was a kid. I'll take the 57 over the 02 any day!
Not 100% in my opinion. I had one, he missed a lot of the quality points it had, like the bet fitting convertible top in the industry, per Car and Driver. The 2 step windows, most convertibles have them now, but only Euro cars had them then. The Thump the doors, trunk and hood had. Great fit and body finish. He did nail the weak spots about right. The headlight switch gives you the length of time the lights stay on after you leave. He should have known that.
thatallredheadude 1 i got both v8 auto and v6 manual . I daily v6 cause it gives me no problems . The v8 one always misfiring damn coils lol and they hard to find so I’m thinking of swapping mustang coils instead
I think the interior is pretty nice for an early 00s ford, same with the styling, and the engine. These cars were designed to be comfortable blvd cruisers and they were very good at doing that.. 280hp was 20 more than the mustang and 40+ more than the crown vic.
Doug; you didn't mention (or didn't know) that another cool feature of this gen of Thunderbird, is that if if you open both doors at the same time all the way open and look at the car from behind at a certain distance, you will see the thunder "Bird" wings formed by the design of the interior of the doors.
My old neighbor had one of these. His was the 50th anniversary edition. They put their heart and soul into that model because it is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen. Cherry red with lots of cool little decals and lots of chrome
Doug be introducing his girl to his parents like.... Thisssssssssssss is a 1987 Female... She’s got plenty of interesting qU¡rKs and features and to hear more of my thoughts follow me to the dungeon where I do the quirky things.
I had to wait for a used car opportunity. The 40 grand price tag was insane to me at the time. Got one for 20, six years ago. You can pick one up cheaper now.
@@lawr5764 I was 30 when these came out and really loved it but it was out of my price range. I just bought one today, a 2002 in Inspiration Yellow with only 15,000 miles on it. The prices are going up on low mileage well maintained examples.
Hot take: people that own a car learn where the window switches and door locks are and even though they are the same size, I’m positive nobody has to look at them to figure out which is which after like 3 days of ownership.
I actually saw one of these on the road last month just a few dozen miles from Ford World Headquarters. He merged onto the highway at about 38mph only to jump right into the left lane and accelerate to 51mph in the 70mph zone. He had the top down and was about 76. He and Betty really thought they were the shit.
Well that beats the hell out of the obnoxious assholes that merge onto the freeway. and get in everyone's way or think they are Mario Andretti. and play their obnoxious loud music, which is pretty much everyone. besides that guy couldn't act like he's the shit driving a Thunderbird because FORD'S ARE GARBAGE!!!!
They needed to provide an accessory kit of retro-fins and retro-sharp headlamp doors. The body is just to much soft curve without some sharp creases to balance it out.
Around the same time Ford gave us Europeans heated seats for the Fiesta and Fusion (Fiesta Minivan in Europe) that excluded the backrests. How dumb is that?!
Too Funny! I haven't seen one in years until yesterday and a 70 year old man was driving it. He had a black on black with the hard top on. He was sporting it like a boss and I was like good for you :)
I own a 2002 triple black (hardtop, body & interior). I am perfectly content with it, good car. It's not a sports car, that's for the Corvette crowd, it's a boulevard cruiser. One of the best things I could have done for the money.
@@TSL73 thats what im saying! The 7.3 was slow, the 5.4 was hated everywhere, and the 6.0 has a nasty reputation. None of their modern day engines have a bad rep.
@@limoboy27 you know since they are going to be adding more electric vehicles in the future they could make a competitor to the new GMC Hummer and call it the E-cursion hahahaha
Great vid, however if the car was designed to be a cruiser just like you said, then why does it need a bigger engine? That v8 is perfect enough for that car, good balance between performance, fuel efficiency and reliability.
@@leeklinglesmith3427 That's because it was a Jaguar engine. They would have been better off using the 4 valve 4.6L V8 from the Lincoln Mk. VIII. Those came with 280 hp in the early/mid 90s. With PI heads the engine would probably be pushing out 300-320 hp.
That was the most american thing i have read all week. V8 - "realibity, *fuel effiency* and performance" loool. 3 things this car is faaaar away from. Did you pull out these facts out of your ass?
That’s a great idea, as that’s a terrific car. Personally, I think it’s the best looking Cadillac to date! But even that car ended up with way too much of GM’s plastic parts.
This is a great car. In 2021 it still looks great. It is still the only hardtop convertible American sports car (two seater) with a V8. This is not a corvette. It is everything you want in a car but are afraid to admit. I think I want a tire burner, but what I really want is a V8 that will give me immediate power when I need it but won't throw me sideways. I don't want a 4 cylinder, I don't want turbo that lags. I want 4 wheel independent suspension. I don't want wash board kidney killer. Ii say I want a hard shifting head jerking shifter but what I really want is a smooth shifts and comfort for long backroad drives. You feel like you have a solid car under you. It compares more to a Mercedes coupe 500 series or a jag. That is the correct customer for this car. BUY one you won't be disappointed.
Doug is confusingly ignorant about cars sometimes. He normally doesn't make mistakes, but for some reason when he does they are the type that any car enthusiast above the age of 13 wouldn't make. He's at his worst when he reviews old cars from the 80s. I was born far after that and yet I still understand 80s design more than he does. He calls fenders on pretty much every car made in the 70s or 80s ugly and an afterthought even though it obviously wasn't, and calls interiors that mimicked HIGH END hifi equipment of the era "lazy" and "cheap". Doug seems like a nice guy, but he has quite a library of gaffes for a channel this popular.
Thank you, I was looking for this comment. Acceleration is probably the one criteria where he could be more objective. Instead, it's the one most subjective to his personal bias.
@@firsttimegod802 people need to understand, and that is my point, that not all cars need to be a 700HP beast. A 6.5 sec for 0 to 60 and a 280HP V8 is super rare for an early 2000's car.
I own a 2002 TBird, Red, 2-tone Red/Blk interior. I really like this car. Bought used for $12,500 with 36,000mi on it back in 2016. So your biggest gripe with the new ones (too expensive) vanished in the used market. This car cost less that the motorcycle it shares the garage with! Since you dont see them much on the roads anymore...I actually get compliments about every other time I drive it. It is a good used car if you can handle the limitations of 2 seats.
I Am ProdAG apples and oranges. A 72 Fleetwood has 400HP. Everyone knows after the oil crisis of 72 power numbers steadily plummeted until the mid 80s. 280 HP in 2002 was impressive if not wowing but there was A LOT of cars in 2002 with less HP.
2002 Thunderbird is not a sports car. Not even a GT. But more of a weekend land yacht. For its intended experience, 280 HP is adequate. It is all about flat power band, mildly satisfying power and reliability. A 280 HP car IMO is quite powerful. Only hardcore enthusiasts would demand more power, but among them only a handful can actually afford such a beautiful, powerful piece of machinery. So why would the manufacturer put 400 HP Five O in a land yacht?
I was 40 when I bought my ´03 T-Bird three years ago. Not feeling like 70 yet. :D Two things: those "buttons" on the windshield. You don´t have to push them down before releasing the soft top. Those are the pins that you screw in when you are putting the hardtop on. Maybe the owner of the car has screwed them in again after removing the hardtop, which makes no sense at all and made you feel confused, lol. Next thing: I have a black interior on my Bird, and I have a black panel around the seat heater buttons as well. The grey panel on the shown car looks like an aftermarket part. Another reason why this car failed back in the day wasn´t only the price given by Ford. Due to initial high public interest Ford dealers independently have risen the price by several thousand dollars. I am glad that this car hasn´t sold very good, because now I own a pretty rare, good looking and cheap to maintain convertible cruiser. The engine is not underpowered for a car that has a weight of 3700 pounds and a lenght of over 15 ft and for a car that was meant to be a boulevard and weekend cruiser, not a sportscar. But, it does the job very well. I live in Germany and I regularly drive the car to max speed (142 mp/h). Ther´s an internal electronic speed barrier which I haven´t yet deactivated thou. Some people that have removed that block say, the car is capable of making 155 mp/h, which is not bad for a so called boulevard cruiser, driven by 70 year old ladies on their way to the golf course. :D How did the interior of a 2005 Mustang look like? Wasn´t there a lot of plastici nvolved, too? But I agree on the price for the T-Bird that was 10k above the Mustang GT at that time.
@@diablocls55 Mustang GT at the same time only produced 260 HP with 4.6 L V8, more underpowered than this. It is not until 2005 MY where the engine power had been bumped up into 300 HP classes.
Guys, you're missing the point. This car is art and history with a little bit of kick. You can easily add a bunch of HP if you want to. But this will be a rare timepiece in 10 years.
About to own a 2004 thunderbird and I really enjoyed it. i think people were just thrown off guard by the styling but it really is a smooth cruiser to ride around town with the top off.
Genuinely I’ve always liked the styling of these cars. There’s a guy who goes to my local cars and coffee who has a 5.0 coyote swapped in and it’s such a great sleeper car, crazy unassuming
Yes! I'm not a FoMoCo guy but always wondered what this car with aftermarket suspension pieces and engine upgrades would be like. To me this car was one of the biggest missed opportunities in American auto manufacturing in the last 30 years. Damn shame.
@@paulv2141 They made a Thunderbird SVT concept that was Supercharged to 390 hp. That would have been pretty easy since they basically had it with the Jaguar XJR. That car used a supercharged 4.0 to 4.2L AJ engine tuned to 380-420 hp.
The auto adjustment on the headlight is actually for how long you want tbe headlights to stay on at night after you get out of the car... ford/mercury/Lincoln have been doing that since like the 70s... how did you not know that doug!!
I own a torch red 2002 tbird.....always get compliments.....this is not a sports car, it is a cruiser.....love it....always easy to be a Monday morning quarterback
@@pocok5000 it's meant to be a cruising convertible. Not a sport vehicle at all. Would have competed with the BMW 6 Series, Mercedes coupes etc. It's a retro touring car
Dávid Kertész So first this is not a sport car, and second, even then 280hp is not little. I dont get what is wrong with americans. Have a speedlimit of 130kmh yet think 280hp is not much. In Germany we have no speedlimit and most people are driving 80hp cars. 180 is considered sporty
Oliver Schulz there was a reason for that. The problem back then was us companies wanted to compete in the same categories but didn't want to invest in making them nearly as good. That gap has closed significantly today but back then they wanted people to pay a ton of money for a parts bin pile of shit.
@@ourtime-downhere6931 I don't consider this car a pile of shit at all. I love this one except for the small trunk. It's fun to drive, it looks good and it's reliable. What else to expect? An exotic roadster with a V8 engine for that price? You don't find that even today.
Fun fact: This car used so much structural adhesive it was the equivalent of putting 50 gal drum in the trunk. Also the area where the beauty queen would sit had to be reinforced because it was found to buckle when someone sat up there. (on top of the back seat with the top off) It was built on the same platform as Jaguar S-Type[1] (DEW 98) it's Ford code name was M205. I worked 60 hours a week for 2 years laying out all of the body grid lines, locators and measuring points for all the sheet metal. It was my first design job out of college. ALSO it was the first car to be completely designed using I-DEAS CAD program. Rumor had it some Ford execs got huge kickbacks for switching to I-DEAS.
Jeez, only a kid straight out of college would design a car and completely forget about the beauty queen. Cmon dude, she's a beauty queen, she deserves her throne.
4:55 “...so valets won’t have access to your trunk when you give them your car.” 🤔 wait, you have to give the valet your key, giving the ability to access your trunk.
I love how Doug goes into detail but the whole review never makes any sense. He lets his preconceived notions dictate it far too often (especially here omfg), and his outlook on cars has become so twisted it doesn't make any sense anymore. 280 puppies in 2002 for a production car is very impressive, 280 puppies in 2019 for a production car is still impressive! To act like thats nothing is extremely elitist. And to top it off he gives the 6.5sec 0 to 60 a rating of 3 buuuttttt when reviewing a 2000 MR2 spyder, that holds the same exact 0 to 60 he gives a measley 1? 🤔 idk what Daddy Doug is on but its skewing his views on cars. Thats it thanks for coming to my ted talk
I've noticed what I consider a problem he has when coming up with a Doug's Score on older cars like this. I feel that he is rating them compared to current car offerings, which is extremely unfair as the older cars will rarely measure up, considering the rapid changes to cars since he began driving (think he said he was in high school when this car was released). I fair and more meaningful Doug's Score would be rating it to comparable cars of approximately the same year, as he does with the newer car models.
I completely disagree! I love my TBird! And everywhere I go I get great reactions from all ages. I think it’s super fun to drive! I agree about the lack of trunk space. I bought a chrome custom trunk rack that looks great in the car! My TBird is a red 2003!
Yes, the problem WAS price. I was in the business at that time and not only was it overpriced, but the dealers were charging OVER list price for the car. The type of buyer for this car is looking to pay less than sticker for it, so they went elsewhere or didn't other at all. Once word hit the streets dealers were charging over list, the cars sat on the lot.
Yep. Engineering wise it was a RWD Taurus with no back seat and a ragtop. The interior was soooo Taurus. So the car should have been the price of a Taurus plus $7000. Don't know why they didn't just refit a 2002 Mustang Vert and put a luxury package in it.
S Tho Pump your brakes, big fella. Engineering-wise it was a Lincoln LS with two doors and a convertible top. Both of those vehicles shared their platform with the Jaguar S-Type (Ford owned Jaguar at the time). Your Taurus theory doesn’t stand up.
5:00 when, oh whe, will Doug realize that those key trunk/glovebox locks aren't meant for Valets, but for making sure people can't access those things when you leave your car parked with the top down?
You know what wasn't a failure? The tent on the back of your 2005 Pontiac Aztek.
And its coolbox
Yea, too bad the tent was attached to a vehicle that was as pretty to look at as a genital wart....
I miss mine, not even joking. Ugly as fuck, but that's why I loved it. Never worried about theft, you could leave the keys in, door open and it would still be there. Then had some dents and digs, never cared some of the incidents made it look better like some Mad Max type vehicle! But the best memory was I never knew it had a tent, I thought I got a base model (that's how cheap it was), so when I went camping with my friends and I had never done it before so I was mostly unprepared, and it had a tent i fell in love. I bought an Element after!
Is this the car Walter has in breaking bad? Also I never realized they were from 2005 I thought they came out much later. I guess being from NYC We never really see them here, haha. Had never seen one until I moved out to Utah.
@@scotty7864 indeed it is and you only saw them in upstate NY! Big in Syracuse and Buffalo where you can still find some
ChrisFix's Mom would like to have a word with you
😂😂😂😂
I was gonna comment something like this
🤣🤣
Adrian Furgol I’d trust Chris’s Mom over Doug any day
I just wanna say that
Car salesman: what about buying this one Doug. It’s a nice car.
Doug: No, I don’t really like the way the owners manual is worded.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
No shit! Who gives a shit about the owners manual? (Other than Doug)
Car salesman: If you turn the page 79 and 118 you'll find couple of quirky things.
Doug: I say we call this a deal.
And Times New Roman ? I don't think so ! :'D
DOUG Has Some weird ass Long Finger's i bet he can touch his own Postate
I think the lockable trunk button was a pretty great idea. I don't think it was made with a valet in mind. I think it was supposed to prevent anyone from being able to open your trunk if you wanted to leave the top down on your car. It could also be used in general. Incase someone was able to break into your car, they wouldn't be able to access the trunk if they didn't have the key.
Also, just a fun fact, that wasn't the only way to open the trunk in the car. While there isn't a keyhole for the trunk on the back of the car, you were able to open it by using a keyhole that was placed behind the drivers seat if you pulled the seat forward. Since the regular button is power operated, you could use the keyhole behind the seat if your battery was dead, but you needed to access the trunk. For example, to get your jumper cables out of the trunk.
@@zthecat the crown Victoria had it too!
Title: 2002 Ford Thunderbird
Doug: "This is a 2004 Ford Thunderbird"
Dougscore excel sheet: 2005 Ford Thunderbird
Which is it Doug!?
He did the same thing with the E60 M5- 2007 in the video, 2008 in the description, 2006 on the excel sheet.
@@ultraguy8771 Guys, he never said this was 2002, he said "this car was released in 2002" which this model was. The 2005 model was built in 2004, so he is right on all counts. But whatever, that isn't the point of the video anyway so why nitpick?
🤣🤣
Joe Coolioness you won sir! 👍🏽💥✨
Doug needs to reply yes.
Doug: "The 2004 Thunderbird is embarrassingly underpowered, with only 280hp"
2004 Mustang GT: hides away with its 260hp
With a bigger displacement engine
It's not just HP...it's the weight of the vehicle.....
@@muskokamike127 400lbs of difference for a 20hp difference. Also considering the Thunderbird is not a sportscar while the Mustang GT is.
ThirteenMatt I had a 2006 GT convertible. I wouldn’t classify it as a sports car either. More like a truck with a car body.
Yeah, but the thunderbird cost $10,000 more than a 2004 Cobra that was (under)rated at 390HP.
“Ford only gave the thunderbird one engine”
Far inferior to the dual-engine cars of the time
Laughs in Tesla lol
Jung Boi Citroën 2CV Sahara 4x4
i think he meant they only had 1 engine option. but lmaoo
Batvolle Hum hummm hummm *silence* Lol
It’s a shame that Jeep didnt made the Hurricane, if a Hemi V8 at the front isn’t enough, they will give you another one in the back.
I purchased this car when I was 55, 15 years ago. Stil have it, 53,000 miles and we love it. I bought for my wife and it is a superb car. I purchased it new as a 2005. People of ALL ages still comment on how great it looks as well as my wife!
Well done. You can guess a mans taste in women by looking at his car.
It indeed looks very nice
Super jealous, I love these t birds despite being 21 and well out of nostalgia range where these cars were targeting. I’m a sucker for retro styling and 50s-60s stuff
In 03 my then 3rd ex wife had to have the 007 James Bond edition. In her mind she fancies herself as a Bond girl. I did not see any value in the car and small appeal and did her a pre owned 911 cabriolet instead. 06 rolled around and she brought me to our local Ford dealership here in nearby Woodland Hills. They had a 2000 mile pre owned 007 version in the Sunset Coral with me doing a custom painted Sunset Coral color change on the removable hardtop vs the odd factory white hardtop for 18K less; plus $650 to repaint the top. We grabbed it for like 38K. We got her out of the 911 and traded down. She loves that car. 17 years-ish later she still has that car. Two years back when I saw her she had 6K total miles on it and upgraded to a Borla exhaust; otherwise (other than the film accurate hardtop color change) the car is near original and pristine. She told me she did a minor color correction, clay bar treatment and full clear wrap. I agree the car appeals to certain type. We both work in film & television and she tells me she drives it in only on Fridays to the lot and gets lots of constant thumbs up. She tells me it was one my few that did her right!
Awesome car…. It was designed as a heritage !! Not a Retro .. a personal luxury car .. not a sports car.. the originals were the same
Chrisfix's Mom VS Doug Boxing match coming soon
Came to the comments section just to look for this.
@@Tigermoto yes me too
Omg yes! I would pay to see that!
Lee Butterworth same
@@Tigermoto same
The biggest point of trivia about that dashboard is that it's lifted almost entirely from the Lincoln LS. The Thundberbird is based on the LS, sharing a platform with the Jaguar S-Type.
And the 3.9 V8 was designed and made by Jaguar.
Fords DEW98 platform
So, if you want a decent Thunderbird... buy a Jaaag!
Original thunderbird borrowed from Ford spare parts bin as well. No big deal, this car turns more heads than a 2020 anything
@@michaelhallenbeck8644 Sorry Michael, IMO they think: another would be showing off.
Doug: "this is why the 2002 thunderbird was a huge retro failure"
*ChrisFix has entered the chat*
Lol true, he got one for his mom
hahahahahahazaha
Lol
The fact that the car was a failure doesn't mean it doesn't appeal to some people, I agree with a lot of Doug's comments, but I personally like the way It looks very much
@Saul Rosenberg facts
The headlight dial changes the DURATION of the delay from just a few seconds to as much as a few minutes. It’s actually a great idea. Several vehicles of that era had the adjustable delay time to adjust the time. The lights stay on after you turn off the ignition switch. My mother’s 2001 Grand Marquis has the same switch. She’s elderly and walks slowly. So she turns it for maximum delay to give her time to get into her house. Others don’t need the extra time. So they adjust it to where they turn off almost immediately.
And Doug in all his hyperbole couldn't figure that out. But everybody else must be stupid.
That's pretty awesome.
Many many many German cars do this standard and have for years
ChrisFix is angry you didn’t review his Thunderbird now.
And scotty is angry that Chris fix exists
@@iHaveTheDocuments fuck scotty Kilmer
Scotty Kilmer is an asshole who does burnouts in a neighborhood with children in it
*His mom's
@@iHaveTheDocuments that nigga a bitch, fuck him, we all know he has Toyota fetish, old bitch
Doug: Ford only gave the Thunderbird one engine
Me: *Imagines a dual-engine Thunderbird*
💩
Pilotgeek 🤣
😂😂😂😂
🤔 Maybye Doug ment that there was only ONE ENGINE OPTION AVALIBIBLE
@@NewYorker613 yeah i thought so, too🤔
Title: 2002 Ford Thunderbird
Doug: THIS is a 2004 Ford Thunderbird!
On the Doug score chart it says 2005
2002-2005 car
My brain hurts
Doug, the type of guy to get his years mixed up.
2002 was the introductory year. A lot of people refer to a certain body style of a car by its introductory year as a way to simplify things.
Just traded a 1979 lincoln continental mark v for a 2002 triple black deluxe Thunderbird....My wife and I are already in love with it!
The Thunderbird was a boulevard cruiser; I don't think the target customer was really expecting too much hp, or performance. That said, the cheap interior was inexcusable, and they should have realized that would be focal point. Cool exterior, crap interior.
When I buy a car, the interior is the most important thing. That's where you are 95% of the time, not staring at the exterior.
I remember seeing one in the day, turning a corner past me, and saying, "When is it going to end?" For a "sports car", it was huge.
@@davidm5707 I think they both play an equal role. You're right about spending most of your time inside the car, and it ought ro be a great place ro be, but having a cool looking car completes the package. They gotta get both right, or it's too much of a compromise.
AND IN BLACK WITH THE TOP ON IT WAS DOWN RIGHT DEPRESSING INSIDE.
Well Ford stands for the amount of money the brand could afFord to save on you. Most Ford interiors are dreadful.
@@kozmaz87 As Ford owner I agree. This Thunderturd has the same quality interior as my '98 Puma, which is based on Fiesta and was sold at far lower pricepoint. There are good things too in Ford interiors like optional audio options that were very good for the time (sound quality wise).
"If you stick your ignition key in the button and turn it, it's locks so valets won't have access to your trunk"
But they've got the ignition key..
Yes they do!! He's nuts.
A lot of cars come with a valet key that doesn’t grant access to the glove box or the trunk
Its there so that the boot cannot be accessed if you leave your roof down. Duh
@@mr8gandusmr8 No its for valet parking, my 2001 lesabre has a key lock like for the trunk release button, but I lost the valet key, I can't find it anywhere,
Maybe vallet drivers, are stupid enough to not reallize that.
Chris: Hey guys, ChrisFix here! And today I like to show you how to fix Doug’s attitude by using common hand tools! Now lets get started!
Hey Guys, ChrisFix here...
Uh oh
Nice
XD
Chris boutta torque down all his screws
Like a movie critic, DeMuro has his moment in the sun trying to tear down the Thunderbird. I started selling cars in a Ford store in the late 70's and am still employed in a management position. Needless to say, I've driven just about everything on wheels at one time or another. I bought a 2004 Tbird new and still have it today and find it does exactly what it was designed to do namely provide a classy feel in both retro design and comfort for a roadster.
Ford never intended the car to be a world-class offering to compete with other roadsters as the original design motif was followed. That motif was a weekend car to be enjoyed for its style and elegance-not how fast it would go from 0-60 or its speed around the Nuremberg track.
In nineteen years of ownership, I have little to complain about. I've never stood on the accelerator nor pitched it wildly into a corner. I bought it because I liked it and Ford never intended to make the car past 2005. It was an image car for them and in that regard, it succeeded. The Roadster design is one of the cool things about its design. Nobody buys a roadster to travel in so the limited trunk space is of no consequence. It's a weekend traveler at best which is just fine for me.
I bought mine last year, and we love it, no payments, mine is the merlot w./sand interior.
Never in my life have i seen this car driven by anyone under the age of 50
Halle Berry drove one of these in Die Another Day
zdvickery but she was paid to do it.
I had to drive one for my Dad once. I felt old...
Joe K actually had friend in high school who’s dream was this car and he bought one at 20
Joe K I was 40 when I bought mine.
"Hard and cheap plastic"
Just like every other American 2000s car.
Lmao I didn’t bunk I’ve seen any “high quality plastic” in any vehicle in the early 2000s
and still today: american cars and their crappy interiors
I know. Seriously, the screen on that stereo is virtually identical to the one in the late 90s Taurus my gma used to have.
Oh yes because that 2003 Toyota avalon is just so above and beyond the build quality in this thing..
Brian no vehicle in that year had good quality interiors reslly😂😂
Doug: the Ford thunderbird was a retro failure
Chris fix's mom: hold my beer
😂😂
*Soapy Wooder
Everytime I click on the "show replies" button on other comments, it just comes to your comments reply. TH-cam picked you!!!
First Scotty, now Doug. Jesus Christ 😳
Hold my soapy wooder
Doug: the ford thunderbird is shitty
Chrisfix mom: listen here you little shi-
who the hell is that loser
@@punchy207 a legend
chrisfix not crisfix silly
Doug actually said it was one of the coolest cars at the time
🤣🤣🤣! It’s nice to meet a fellow chrisfix/Doug demuro fan!
2050: That's ONE MILLION dollars in todays money.
mopar fan we won’t have wait that long... 2030 tops
Hahaha
@@stx333 I'm afraid you may be right!
Sure glad we got off the gold standard so the gvt. can debauch the currency.
Within 2 or 3 decades we'll all be Zimbabwean millionaires.
Doug the type of guy to not know if he's reviewing a 2004 or 2002
lol that was the first i noticed i dont even watched 4 secs xD
And the doug score says 2005 haha
@@34FenwayPark meh made between 2002 2005
Probably because they were made between 2002 to 2005?
@@saimk4239 But the 280 hp version started in '04, I believe.
If the automatic headlight adjustment is like all the other Ford's, the adjuster has nothing to do with light sensitivity. It just measures how long the lights stay on after the car is turned off.
That's so useless compared to when you want them on. Flashlights have existed on keychains since forever, much less cell phone lights.
@@joshuaein thats the dial to the right of the headlight switch.
EXACTLY!
0-60 in 6.5 seconds is really nothing to complain about. It's even quick by today's standards for many cars, and in a small convertible like this I think it would feel like a rocket ship. I think giving it a "3" was way lower than it should have been.
My 2004 Mazda6 station wagon was faster in 0-60 if I remembered to turn traction control off, and it had a 3.0L Duratec V6. My 2004 Pontiac GTO was vastly faster, but then again it was also much faster than a Mustang at the time too.
Also, the 0-60 is on an objective scale, so no matter what kind of car it is, 6.5 seconds will always get a 3.
@@sethmoyer --- Not that I didn't believe you, but I was curious so I looked it up. Motor Trend and Zeroto60times has the GTO doing it in around 5.3 or 5.4 depending on the transmission, but Zeroto60times has the Mazda doing it in 7.2 and Automobile-catalog has it taking 9.1, presumably the latter having not turned off the traction control. Both of these are about what I'd expected they'd be. I liked the GTO's performance on Pontiac's last ditch effort back then, but I couldn't get past that it looked like a Sunbird or Cobalt or something along those lines.
"they kept it a 2 seater because of a retro design" meanwhile dodge making the charger a sedan
Lmao exactly
The design for the (new) Charger came first before they decided on a name for it. They even toyed with keeping the Intrepid name iirc... If you look closely the design has more in common with the Intrepid that came before it than an old school Charger.
@@randomcharacter6501 Intrepids were awesome
@@Turk_2023 Idk man. They were huge weird, space age styled, land yachts 20 years after that type of car was dead. But if you're into it, who am I to tell you differently lol.
The charger would be a much better car if it were shorter and have a two door option.
At that price, this should have gotten the Mercury Marauder engine treatment.
Or a 351 Cleveland
Or at least the 4.6 litre V8 the motor that came in that Thunderbird was the same motor my friend had in his Lincoln LS he had nothing but problems in it
@Eat Jat I really liked this car when it came out if anyone would do a motor swap in one of these it would be a nice sleeper car
Yes.. Put another way, they needed to put the THUNDER back in Thunderbird.
@@mikepino4954 the ls and tbird / jag engine was terrible. They chose it cause it was a more refined engine. But ended up also being a turd lol
I went to buy one when they first came out. The dealer wanted $15,000 over the sticker price. I said no thanks and bought a Corvette instead.
Money talks and bullshit walks. Like you, I vote with my wallet.
@@abz124816 I test drove one too.
Bought a Cadillac CTS. 😊
The bird is worth way more than that vet today
@@ronhackney324 No, no they aren't
Individual dealerships were adding onto the Ford pricing and it was illegal. If they were a "sanctioned dealership" with Ford, they lost their sanctioning. I was told this by Henry Clay Ford II himself at the Ford 100th Anniversary show. Ford really came down hard on any dealership that did that. Believe me, they paid for it dearly.
Ugh, I absolutely love this car. I have the 45th anniversary edition and it is the greatest car that I have ever owned.
Any coil problems?
@@way2tall7 not at all. I had a cooling problem but nothing I wouldn't expect to see on any other almost 20 year old car
“It’s hard to imagine a time when Ford was making one of the coolest cars in the world”
- Has a Ford GT
Roddy Dykes but that isn’t a telsa
@@erichdiebenow4727 what?
F-150 Raptor is pretty cool
Isaac HK Teo it isn’t a Tesla
daktothefuture 1 you aren’t smart
I'd really like to see Doug review a De Tomaso Pantera.
I second that motion......
Yessir!! Favorite car ever!
Yes, my dad has one.
Cool, then supply one!
Followed by a Muira.
Engine outputs 2002: Merc S-Class 4.3 V8 275hp; Lexus LS 430 4.3 V8 290hp; Audi A8 4.2 V8 296hp; Cadillac Seville SLS 4.6 V8 275hp.
"The thunderbird is very weak with only 280 hp"
Ford did not make the 3.9 V8. It was made by Jaguar....of which, Ford owned at the time. And it only had 252hp in 2002. Has absolutely nothing to do with Ford's modular V8.
73 Plymouth roadrunner 240 hp 30 years older. Stop making excuses
In 2002 Jaguar had the 4.0 version making 290 hp and a supercharged variant making 370 hp, then in 2003 they introduced the 4.2 making 300 hp and the Supercharged variant that makes 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque.
I have the 4.2 Supercharged engine and I love it!
I Am ProdAG A 7.2L V8 from a time **before** catalytic converters that strangled 400+ HP V8s to barely half that power were mandatory. For shame, it’d still produces 40 less horsepower than the Thunderbird.
I have a pristine Thunderbird Blue 2002 (2nd owner, low miles) and she's a beaut! I saw her out of the corner of my eye at a local car yard and had to have her. She's great for cruising and I always receive positive comments on what a beautiful car I have. She has get up and go when I want it and only downside is that it doesn't have room for passengers. 8/10
It sounds like a beautiful car!
Beautiful is a stretch
Bought my 2004 last year, it is a keeper for sure.
Same with my black one. I never take the hard top off because it looks so much cooler (IMO) than with the convertible top or with the top down.
I genuinely like this car. It’s gorgeous and still looks good today. Sure, it’s weird and not practical. But it’s gorgeous.
My grandpa has a black one with brown leather seats, and it’s a really pretty car irl. I haven’t really driven it, but it’s a good old man car to zoom around in
Fax, the circular headlights just pop with the long chasy
They are nice cars
I agree, and who cares about owners manual? All I need is fluid capacity and how to reset the change oil light; and I can get that, even as far back as 2004, from the internet. If you watch old Perry Mason on tv, you have to love this T-Bird.
Totally agree 👍
Doug, the type of guy that tucks both shirts in.
If you don't tuck the inner shirt it'll roll up and look like either fat or worse smuggled merchandise!
Trust me, I did this for years before someone told me
@@YeeSoest humans do tuck in the inner shirt. It's the outer shirt tuck that's a wee bit odd.
@@rickc2102 it's those damn homosapiens who tuck in the outer shirt
No you shouldn’t be wearing 2 T-shirt’s period wtf is wrong with y’all 😂😂😂
@@rickc2102 Depends what kind of shirt. Short sleeve buttoned downs is definitely a tuck type of shirt.
And Doug, the Thunderbird had 280 HP while the Ford Mustang GT had 260 HP
But the Thunderchicken should've at least had a turbo/supercharger strapped to that 3.9 L V8 or a 5.0L fuel injected with a horsepower boost. Anything under 400 hp especially in a car like this is a joke......
@@heyrod59
It's not a sports car, it's not meant to be fast
heyrod59 Who do you think this was marketed at
@@heyrod59 There were Ferraris that didn't have 400 hp in 2002.
@@heyrod59 there was a supercharged version that never saw production because of the shitty sales
I've had a 2002 Thunderbird since 2004 and I love it! it's a great vehicle it hasn't given me many problems and it's a beauty!!!
Looking at your pfp this statement checks out lol
I'm looking at getting one. I think this guy is a dweeb. "They only made it as a 2 seater". I've seen dozens of 4 seaters. If he's wrong about that he's wrong about everything.
Doug is SO harsh on the car, like to see him create a fraction of an creative idea on it. Fun car, draw looks and has a big following something he'd never mentions
@@johncarney482 Agreed. I don't think he knows this car was created for novelty rather than practicality. Ford told buyers at the time that it would produce only 4 model years - which could probably justify its high sticker price. It was not a "failure" as he puts it.
"Only" 280 horsepower. He would find a car anemic if it had a Pratt& Whitney turbofan strapped to it.
It was slower than a 200 hp V6 Accord of the day though, and could be close to twice the price.
In America cars are powerful but driven slow, in Europe it's the opposite way. I can't understand it.
@@raydavies6236 Well not exactly. The V6 Accord was a 6.0 to 8.2 second 0-60 car depending on the year and transmission. The Thunderbird was a 6.3 to 7.1 depending on the year so both cars were very comparable. The thing that held the Thunderbird back though was that it was a big boat weighing almost 3800 lbs.
The Mustang GT had 260hp when this Thunderbird came out, so the horsepower figure isn’t that bad for the time.
280 and a 60 time of 6.5 must be heavy.
Title: 2002 ford thunderbird
Doug de muro: this is the 2004 thunderbird
Ford thunderbird: am I a joke to you
He mentions about a minute in that they released it in 2002, 2004 is the same model
And the Doug score sheet says it’s a 2005
😂😂😂 best comment yet
Doug Score: 2005 Ford Thunderbird.
yes 2 years difference lets all have a crisis over this
I’m going to keep asking for the Mercedes Grosser 600 until he does it.
Eny money will do it
Gross
Ethan Nelson Now that would be an interesting one
these morons below don't get it. I'm with you. this was the official dictators' car.
Keep in mind Doug waits for people to come to him. He rarely asks someone to review their car. I could see him approaching CNC motors initially because it’s a business relationship but, when it comes to private party, Doug waits for people to offer him their vehicles. He explained it in one of his videos in his other channel and it makes perfect sense. That’s why it takes awhile when someone requests a car because he has to wait for someone with that vehicle to approach him.
Car sold for "Just under 40g" in 2005, which as Doug points out, was "just over 52G" in 2019, when this video was made. That's now 65+G in 2024, just 5 short years.
“Only 280hp”... since when was that not enough? Do all cars need 707hp? I know the tbird is kinda heavy but i still think that’s enough
No kidding. When your target demographic is 70 year olds? I'd think 280hp would be plenty. Those folks want reasonable V8 power and decent gas mileage. 3.9 V8 is probably just what most of them were looking for.
My car has 110hp and it feels like a damn rocket for me haha
My 2004 has a chip for 180mph. It has amazing power.
The car was expensive, yet it was not luxurious like a mercedes, quick like a corvette or carismatic like a Mustang.
With no justification for why would someone spend a lot of money for a car like that, it flopped. I myself like how weird the car looks from the outside, the problem is, this car doesn't know what it wants to be.
Well, Doug is the type of guy to consider slow a 7 secs 0 to 60
So Valets won’t have access to your trunk? When they’re... driving your car, with your key?
No, it’s so that you can secure items in the trunk with the top down.
Many cars come with a valet key that will start the car but not open glovebox, trunk etc. Modern valet keys will even limit hp.
Cole Trickle Doug Demuro is an idiot. Alex got it right.
@@frankeewagner That's the reason I (and I'm assuming most of the viewership) watch him honestly
I said the same thing😂
Cole Trickle, I was gonna same; I have a car with a valet key and a master key. Well done!
"This is a 2004 thunderbird", *PROCEEDS TO TITLE IT AS 2002*
2002 model, 2004 car
yes i edit
and it says 2005 in the DougScore...
Consistency at its finest
Same with the E60 M5 - he says it's a 2007 in the video, 2008 in the description and 2006 on the Dougscore chart.
I just bought an '04, and so far I have no complaints. It accelerates quickly, handles like a dream, and is smooth as silk!
280hp was more than the Mustang GT of the time; it wasn't a low amount of power.
It also had 4v full VVT ... it was rumored to be a duratec transverse v6 Design with 2 more cylinders added
I was thinking the same thing; not a low amount of power for its time.
Plenty of power...he is judging this car by today's standards. Next I will be hearing that a Ferrari F40 wasn't really that fast...
This engine was not made by Ford. It was made/designed by Jaguar. Of which, Ford owned at the time.
@@Risk400 LS6 is judging by today's standards? Wake up. V8 with 280hp is nothing.
I've only seen old people driving this car LMAO Doug got it 100%
Funny that you mentioned it, my late grandfather formally owned both a 1957 and a 2002 Thunderbird, both in the same turquoise color. Had the opportunity to ride them both when I was a kid. I'll take the 57 over the 02 any day!
@@WIZKID8675 on looks yes the 57 is way better but drivability then the 02 takes the cake, those old pre 90s cars were death traps
Not 100% in my opinion. I had one, he missed a lot of the quality points it had, like the bet fitting convertible top in the industry, per Car and Driver. The 2 step windows, most convertibles have them now, but only Euro cars had them then. The Thump the doors, trunk and hood had. Great fit and body finish. He did nail the weak spots about right. The headlight switch gives you the length of time the lights stay on after you leave. He should have known that.
@@Dcbbanker LMAO no offense but you look old to me so he was right
you and this clown must be fukk budies
I hit 160mph in one of these. Would NOT try again.
スティーブン yup i did in the lse v8 . You wouldn’t even know that it was doing 160 and that car rode like it was on rails perfect balance
@@THEREAL_GZUS Lincoln LS is SUCH an underrated car. you could even get one with a manual transmission. V6 only though and good luck finding one
thatallredheadude 1 i got both v8 auto and v6 manual . I daily v6 cause it gives me no problems . The v8 one always misfiring damn coils lol and they hard to find so I’m thinking of swapping mustang coils instead
You're big brave
the Game, Review and Reallife Channel What are you trying to communicate?
I think the interior is pretty nice for an early 00s ford, same with the styling, and the engine. These cars were designed to be comfortable blvd cruisers and they were very good at doing that.. 280hp was 20 more than the mustang and 40+ more than the crown vic.
Doug; you didn't mention (or didn't know) that another cool feature of this gen of Thunderbird, is that if if you open both doors at the same time all the way open and look at the car from behind at a certain distance, you will see the thunder "Bird" wings formed by the design of the interior of the doors.
Cool... REALLY? I've gotta TRY it!
Ooo I would have wanted to see that
It actually just looks like a car with the doors open. I don’t see it
Doug is the type of person to turn his turn signal on when going around a curve
Doug is the type of person to stop in the middle of making a sharp righthand turn and almost causing an accident.
to be honest I've done the turn signal around a curve thing and after I feel like the biggest dumbass
Doug is the type of dude to get millions of views
I hear sounds of 70 year olds unsubscribing to both of Doug's channels.
Ageism… the last allowed -ism.
Speaking of age... how is it possible that Doug was born in 1990... I refuse to believe this
All 2 of them
Pierre Lescours He was born in 1988 if he was 14 in 2002.
Whatever, my dad doesn't even know he can watch videos on his phone. Just craigslist and facebook.
My old neighbor had one of these. His was the 50th anniversary edition. They put their heart and soul into that model because it is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen. Cherry red with lots of cool little decals and lots of chrome
7:03 “...that’s all we can a-Ford” now there’s a slogan!! 🤣🤣👌👌
I thought he said that too lol
Doug be introducing his girl to his parents like....
Thisssssssssssss is a 1987 Female... She’s got plenty of interesting qU¡rKs and features and to hear more of my thoughts follow me to the dungeon where I do the quirky things.
Why’d you type quirks like that wtf
😂😂😂
cavemanvi that’s how Doug sounds when he says it
... and then, I'll give her a DOUG SCORE!!!
Wonder if Doug would try to fit In the back.....
Let me guess, next video: "Why the hummer H1 is an awful dream car"
@@ZombieOreos "Why you couldn't even give me a Honda Del Sol"
“Why the 1994 mustang was the worst mustang”
He has already reviewed the H1
"Here's why the Jaguar x-type is a failure"
Doug have an H1 too...
I was in my 30s when this car was introduced and I regret to this day not having bought one back in the day. They are AWESOME.
I had to wait for a used car opportunity. The 40 grand price tag was insane to me at the time. Got one for 20, six years ago. You can pick one up cheaper now.
@@lawr5764 I was 30 when these came out and really loved it but it was out of my price range. I just bought one today, a 2002 in Inspiration Yellow with only 15,000 miles on it. The prices are going up on low mileage well maintained examples.
@@nbrider7235 Mine's a yellow, 2002 also.
First Scotty dissing Chrisfixes hummer now Doug dissing his mums car 😂😂
FIetch2002 what’s next, the driftstang 😂
Yourlocalcarguy “Here’s why the 1994 Ford Mustang was an engineering failure”
Lights "auto" dial controlled how long they stayed on after the car was turned off.
Doug is blissfully oblivious to electronics aside from esthetics.
i thought it was for the brightness of the gauge cluster and electronic displays?
Correct. My '99 Mercury Grand Marquis has the same feature.
Doug should defenetly do some more research
@@ncp61398 no there is a wheel that controls the brightness.
Hot take: people that own a car learn where the window switches and door locks are and even though they are the same size, I’m positive nobody has to look at them to figure out which is which after like 3 days of ownership.
Total non issue.
I actually saw one of these on the road last month just a few dozen miles from Ford World Headquarters. He merged onto the highway at about 38mph only to jump right into the left lane and accelerate to 51mph in the 70mph zone. He had the top down and was about 76. He and Betty really thought they were the shit.
They were!
they didnt think they were the shlt they were just enjoying a beautiful day.
@@amandaburleson2035 Dangerously and clueless.
Well that beats the hell out of the obnoxious assholes that merge onto the freeway. and get in everyone's way or think they are Mario Andretti. and play their obnoxious loud music, which is pretty much everyone. besides that guy couldn't act like he's the shit driving a Thunderbird because FORD'S ARE GARBAGE!!!!
I actually still see quite a few of these things in Michigan. They're uncommon but they're there.
For me the magic of the Thunderbird was the pair of little round side windows in back.
They needed to provide an accessory kit of retro-fins and retro-sharp headlamp doors. The body is just to much soft curve without some sharp creases to balance it out.
They're called "opera windows". I don't know why.
@@efandmk3382 they were actually called portholes because they're completely wrong. Hopper Windows didn't come along until the 70s.
Completely round, round!
Everyone knows those windows increase horsepower and improve handling.
No no, we only have to give them half power seats... That's all we can afFORD. Ha!
Around the same time Ford gave us Europeans heated seats for the Fiesta and Fusion (Fiesta Minivan in Europe) that excluded the backrests. How dumb is that?!
*rimshot*
You have to ask yourself if you can afford a ford
Doctor Petrol I got it too 🤣🤣🤣
Too Funny! I haven't seen one in years until yesterday and a 70 year old man was driving it. He had a black on black with the hard top on. He was sporting it like a boss and I was like good for you :)
Really? I see them at least once every two months. Maybe living in a big city helps though, lol.
I see them about every day or two in Missouri
A tip of the hat and a nod of the head...nice...
Where do you live? I see them everywhere!!
I own a 2002 triple black (hardtop, body & interior). I am perfectly content with it, good car. It's not a sports car, that's for the Corvette crowd, it's a boulevard cruiser. One of the best things I could have done for the money.
Ford's management really missed an opportunity with the revived T-Bird.
This and a modern day 6.2/7.3/6.7 excursion
@@limoboy27 if they made a new excursion with the new 7.3 V8 it would sell pretty well I think
@@TSL73 thats what im saying! The 7.3 was slow, the 5.4 was hated everywhere, and the 6.0 has a nasty reputation. None of their modern day engines have a bad rep.
@@limoboy27 you know since they are going to be adding more electric vehicles in the future they could make a competitor to the new GMC Hummer and call it the E-cursion hahahaha
@@limoboy27 their smaller displacement eco boosts do have reliability problems but the twin turbo V6 is a fast engine for what it can do though
Great vid, however if the car was designed to be a cruiser just like you said, then why does it need a bigger engine? That v8 is perfect enough for that car, good balance between performance, fuel efficiency and reliability.
engine wasn't reliable tho. I owned one and had issues regarding cooling and the coil on plugs
@@leeklinglesmith3427 That's because it was a Jaguar engine. They would have been better off using the 4 valve 4.6L V8 from the Lincoln Mk. VIII. Those came with 280 hp in the early/mid 90s. With PI heads the engine would probably be pushing out 300-320 hp.
That was the most american thing i have read all week. V8 - "realibity, *fuel effiency* and performance" loool. 3 things this car is faaaar away from. Did you pull out these facts out of your ass?
I really want you to do an XLR-V... plllllease
That’s a great idea, as that’s a terrific car. Personally, I think it’s the best looking Cadillac to date! But even that car ended up with way too much of GM’s plastic parts.
@@mudman6156 but what modern car doesn't have cheap parts?
Yeah.. I know.. but I still want to see it lol. I have a vette now but have always been fond of the xlr's specifically the 2009 V's
I want Doug to do a review on a Ford Transit Connect Titanium. He will shat on it.
Jeremy Clarkson did a great funny review of it and I can't find it anywhere, can anyone shed some light on this?
Next week in Hoovies garage: 'I bought the cheapest thunderbird in the US'...
ToolkiT73UK I hope he does now
Maybe he will find testosterone next week
Yes please xd
Gabriel Mejia at least he's got more testosterone than Vehicle Virgins
Yeah, a standard SC lowered and tricked out.
Why does Doug act like 280 hp is barely anything, that is a really solid number, and I would be perfectly pleased with even 160 hp.
Doug is the type of guy that pulls his shorts down to his ankles to take a piss.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂😂
I sit down lol
I don’t bother to take them off, I just go
He washes his hands before taking a piss
9:19 "ready to receive the power top."
heh.
I caught that! :D
@@Quad8track Good to know you are a good catcher, daddy is ready to pitch ;)
@@jakestech28 oooo :3
Your profile pic makes it even funnier
4:45 That's so you can lock your valuables in the trunk, when the roof is down on your unattended convertible.
Exactly
Yeah, I really like that feature
This is a great car. In 2021 it still looks great. It is still the only hardtop convertible American sports car (two seater) with a V8. This is not a corvette. It is everything you want in a car but are afraid to admit. I think I want a tire burner, but what I really want is a V8 that will give me immediate power when I need it but won't throw me sideways. I don't want a 4 cylinder, I don't want turbo that lags. I want 4 wheel independent suspension. I don't want wash board kidney killer. Ii say I want a hard shifting head jerking shifter but what I really want is a smooth shifts and comfort for long backroad drives. You feel like you have a solid car under you. It compares more to a Mercedes coupe 500 series or a jag. That is the correct customer for this car. BUY one you won't be disappointed.
- "Our car does not sell enough!"
- "Should we fix it to get better sales numbers?"
- "No it does not sell well enough to justify that."
Vicious cycle of American Automotive failure.
exactly what I was thinking
2021: Ford introduces the all new Thunderbird electric crossover. :D
I don’t approve as a gas car fan
@@jonkeevose498 Too.
Thunderbird Mach-E
Bringing the Thunderbird back as an electric sports car would be epic. No need to waste it on a crossover.
@@GoldenGrenadier , I don't think you caught on.
0-60 in 6.5 sec, 280Hp/286Lb/ft V8 and you're calling it underpowered? It makes no sense to me...
Had more power than the Mustang GT at the time. Not bad if you ask me
Doug is confusingly ignorant about cars sometimes. He normally doesn't make mistakes, but for some reason when he does they are the type that any car enthusiast above the age of 13 wouldn't make. He's at his worst when he reviews old cars from the 80s. I was born far after that and yet I still understand 80s design more than he does. He calls fenders on pretty much every car made in the 70s or 80s ugly and an afterthought even though it obviously wasn't, and calls interiors that mimicked HIGH END hifi equipment of the era "lazy" and "cheap". Doug seems like a nice guy, but he has quite a library of gaffes for a channel this popular.
Thank you, I was looking for this comment. Acceleration is probably the one criteria where he could be more objective. Instead, it's the one most subjective to his personal bias.
Yeah for it's time and the type of car, it really doesn't seem slow
@@firsttimegod802 people need to understand, and that is my point, that not all cars need to be a 700HP beast. A 6.5 sec for 0 to 60 and a 280HP V8 is super rare for an early 2000's car.
I own a 2002 TBird, Red, 2-tone Red/Blk interior. I really like this car. Bought used for $12,500 with 36,000mi on it back in 2016. So your biggest gripe with the new ones (too expensive) vanished in the used market. This car cost less that the motorcycle it shares the garage with! Since you dont see them much on the roads anymore...I actually get compliments about every other time I drive it. It is a good used car if you can handle the limitations of 2 seats.
280 HP in 2002 was perfectly adequate and it came with a V8 standard
LS6 V8 produced 405hp in 2002. G37 V35 produced 280hp in 2002 being V6. There is nothing adequate with such a poor V8.
Alex K. 280 HP in a ford product with a V8 is perfectly adequate in 2002. Take your stupidity elsewhere
My 73 Plymouth has 240 hp for a car that came out 30 years before this Thunderbird
I Am ProdAG apples and oranges. A 72 Fleetwood has 400HP. Everyone knows after the oil crisis of 72 power numbers steadily plummeted until the mid 80s. 280 HP in 2002 was impressive if not wowing but there was A LOT of cars in 2002 with less HP.
2002 Thunderbird is not a sports car. Not even a GT. But more of a weekend land yacht. For its intended experience, 280 HP is adequate. It is all about flat power band, mildly satisfying power and reliability. A 280 HP car IMO is quite powerful. Only hardcore enthusiasts would demand more power, but among them only a handful can actually afford such a beautiful, powerful piece of machinery. So why would the manufacturer put 400 HP Five O in a land yacht?
I was 40 when I bought my ´03 T-Bird three years ago. Not feeling like 70 yet. :D Two things:
those "buttons" on the windshield. You don´t have to push them down before releasing the soft top. Those are the pins that you screw in when you are putting the hardtop on. Maybe the owner of the car has screwed them in again after removing the hardtop, which makes no sense at all and made you feel confused, lol.
Next thing: I have a black interior on my Bird, and I have a black panel around the seat heater buttons as well. The grey panel on the shown car looks like an aftermarket part.
Another reason why this car failed back in the day wasn´t only the price given by Ford. Due to initial high public interest Ford dealers independently have risen the price by several thousand dollars.
I am glad that this car hasn´t sold very good, because now I own a pretty rare, good looking and cheap to maintain convertible cruiser. The engine is not underpowered for a car that has a weight of 3700 pounds and a lenght of over 15 ft and for a car that was meant to be a boulevard and weekend cruiser, not a sportscar.
But, it does the job very well. I live in Germany and I regularly drive the car to max speed (142 mp/h). Ther´s an internal electronic speed barrier which I haven´t yet deactivated thou. Some people that have removed that block say, the car is capable of making 155 mp/h, which is not bad for a so called boulevard cruiser, driven by 70 year old ladies on their way to the golf course. :D
How did the interior of a 2005 Mustang look like? Wasn´t there a lot of plastici nvolved, too?
But I agree on the price for the T-Bird that was 10k above the Mustang GT at that time.
Not underpowered? The fuck you mean😂 a naturally aspirated v6 mercedes e320 from 2003 makes more power and is quicker than this.
@@diablocls55 Mustang GT at the same time only produced 260 HP with 4.6 L V8, more underpowered than this. It is not until 2005 MY where the engine power had been bumped up into 300 HP classes.
Guys, you're missing the point. This car is art and history with a little bit of kick. You can easily add a bunch of HP if you want to. But this will be a rare timepiece in 10 years.
I love how my 05 Ford Escape XLT I bought for 2000$ shares all the switches and the radio😂
You paid 2k for an 05 escape? 👀
@@ricardomijares3078 lmao chillll
@@JimBobe 🤣🤙
My 1998 F-150 has all the same plastic cover materials, switches, etc. On the upside these parts are extremely durable.
@@tomwiles he said "lemme get a plastic car"
About to own a 2004 thunderbird and I really enjoyed it. i think people were just thrown off guard by the styling but it really is a smooth cruiser to ride around town with the top off.
A Ford "Sunliner" is an even SMOOTHER cruiser with the top down, and you can even bring your kids with you!
Genuinely I’ve always liked the styling of these cars. There’s a guy who goes to my local cars and coffee who has a 5.0 coyote swapped in and it’s such a great sleeper car, crazy unassuming
Yes! I'm not a FoMoCo guy but always wondered what this car with aftermarket suspension pieces and engine upgrades would be like. To me this car was one of the biggest missed opportunities in American auto manufacturing in the last 30 years. Damn shame.
Yes. It could have been so much more. The styling wasn't bad, but there should have been a 600 hp GT or SVT option. That would have been sick!
A cherry red thunderbird with a 5.0 and a white roof would be really sweet
@@paulv2141 that with a manual transmission
@@paulv2141 They made a Thunderbird SVT concept that was Supercharged to 390 hp. That would have been pretty easy since they basically had it with the Jaguar XJR. That car used a supercharged 4.0 to 4.2L AJ engine tuned to 380-420 hp.
The auto adjustment on the headlight is actually for how long you want tbe headlights to stay on at night after you get out of the car... ford/mercury/Lincoln have been doing that since like the 70s... how did you not know that doug!!
He didn't know motocraft was Ford parts.
He did... You responding gives his channel more views.
The owners manual was right there
A request
Please make the specification of car like hrps, torque,0-60 etc. On the side of screen. It would be easy to understand
and in metric please
Good ideas
agreed, 280 hp is a lot on a small car, but on a boat lke this it's slow as hell. hp doesnt tell the whole story
Or, you know, just Google it if you’re that curious about those specs.
@@cameronhuber8339 torque on the street is what matters....Get the FUCK off your hp addiction
I own a torch red 2002 tbird.....always get compliments.....this is not a sports car, it is a cruiser.....love it....always easy to be a Monday morning quarterback
280 hp
no much horsepower, huh
I want to see Doug comment on a 75hp city car.
This meant to be a sport car.
@@pocok5000 it's meant to be a cruising convertible. Not a sport vehicle at all. Would have competed with the BMW 6 Series, Mercedes coupes etc. It's a retro touring car
Dávid Kertész So first this is not a sport car, and second, even then 280hp is not little. I dont get what is wrong with americans. Have a speedlimit of 130kmh yet think 280hp is not much. In Germany we have no speedlimit and most people are driving 80hp cars. 180 is considered sporty
My car has 54 hp, fiat Panda
Search for Doug with the Mitsubishi Mirage!
The Ford Thunderbird cost $50,000 in today’s money? Man, that isn’t af-FORD-able.
seen it
Well there wasn't competition in the market - The Mercedes SL was double the price.
Oliver Schulz there was a reason for that. The problem back then was us companies wanted to compete in the same categories but didn't want to invest in making them nearly as good. That gap has closed significantly today but back then they wanted people to pay a ton of money for a parts bin pile of shit.
@@ourtime-downhere6931 I don't consider this car a pile of shit at all. I love this one except for the small trunk.
It's fun to drive, it looks good and it's reliable. What else to expect?
An exotic roadster with a V8 engine for that price? You don't find that even today.
The sticker on my 2012 Ford Flex was $52,000. And that's a family wagon...
Fun fact: This car used so much structural adhesive it was the equivalent of putting 50 gal drum in the trunk. Also the area where the beauty queen would sit had to be reinforced because it was found to buckle when someone sat up there. (on top of the back seat with the top off) It was built on the same platform as Jaguar S-Type[1] (DEW 98) it's Ford code name was M205. I worked 60 hours a week for 2 years laying out all of the body grid lines, locators and measuring points for all the sheet metal. It was my first design job out of college. ALSO it was the first car to be completely designed using I-DEAS CAD program. Rumor had it some Ford execs got huge kickbacks for switching to I-DEAS.
Jeez, only a kid straight out of college would design a car and completely forget about the beauty queen. Cmon dude, she's a beauty queen, she deserves her throne.
@@TheSmurfboard Haha, I didn't design the part but was involved in making sure how it lined up in the assembly.
4:55 “...so valets won’t have access to your trunk when you give them your car.” 🤔 wait, you have to give the valet your key, giving the ability to access your trunk.
Actually the Ford gave you a plastic valet key.
Me: trying to watch one last video before phone dies..
Google: how about some ads you can't skip!
Yeah, 2 ads in a row now, every time. TH-cam is getting greedy. This site is quickly becoming cable television.
@@espeterson522 Also the timing for the ads is actually 1.5 seconds for every second shown
That being said, always be prepared with your charger.
Was one of them a music video of an Asian lady saying she's going up?
Chrisfix mom:
Let me show you all of Dougs quirks and features
I love how Doug goes into detail but the whole review never makes any sense. He lets his preconceived notions dictate it far too often (especially here omfg), and his outlook on cars has become so twisted it doesn't make any sense anymore. 280 puppies in 2002 for a production car is very impressive, 280 puppies in 2019 for a production car is still impressive! To act like thats nothing is extremely elitist. And to top it off he gives the 6.5sec 0 to 60 a rating of 3 buuuttttt when reviewing a 2000 MR2 spyder, that holds the same exact 0 to 60 he gives a measley 1? 🤔 idk what Daddy Doug is on but its skewing his views on cars. Thats it thanks for coming to my ted talk
what really sucks in this car is the transmission.
I've noticed what I consider a problem he has when coming up with a Doug's Score on older cars like this. I feel that he is rating them compared to current car offerings, which is extremely unfair as the older cars will rarely measure up, considering the rapid changes to cars since he began driving (think he said he was in high school when this car was released). I fair and more meaningful Doug's Score would be rating it to comparable cars of approximately the same year, as he does with the newer car models.
This is America. Feel free to start a competing you tube channel.
Really? This is America? I thought it was the internet, and last I checked the internet is an *inter*national place
@@rigenkr Doug is based in America, hence my remark. Go troll elsewhere you globalist hack.
I completely disagree! I love my TBird! And everywhere I go I get great reactions from all ages. I think it’s super fun to drive! I agree about the lack of trunk space. I bought a chrome custom trunk rack that looks great in the car! My TBird is a red 2003!
1957 was the successful because it had automatic, it had air conditioner and it had seat belts so the 57 thunderbird was a luxury convertible.
The biggest problem was it was overpriced.
def should've started at 32k
These cars seem to hold their value asking alot of$ for their age compared to other cars in the same class.
Yes, the problem WAS price. I was in the business at that time and not only was it overpriced, but the dealers were charging OVER list price for the car. The type of buyer for this car is looking to pay less than sticker for it, so they went elsewhere or didn't other at all. Once word hit the streets dealers were charging over list, the cars sat on the lot.
Yep. Engineering wise it was a RWD Taurus with no back seat and a ragtop. The interior was soooo Taurus. So the car should have been the price of a Taurus plus $7000.
Don't know why they didn't just refit a 2002 Mustang Vert and put a luxury package in it.
S Tho Pump your brakes, big fella. Engineering-wise it was a Lincoln LS with two doors and a convertible top. Both of those vehicles shared their platform with the Jaguar S-Type (Ford owned Jaguar at the time). Your Taurus theory doesn’t stand up.
I owned an 02. Loved every mile of driving it.
5:00 when, oh whe, will Doug realize that those key trunk/glovebox locks aren't meant for Valets, but for making sure people can't access those things when you leave your car parked with the top down?
Doug only goes to establishments that use valets.