HOW COULD YOU, HAGERTY?

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 03/27/2020 at 16:19 • Filed to: None

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It’s not every day that your insurance company insults your car...

Ugly duckling my foot. It was the fourth-gen Thunderbird’s spectacular styling that attracted me to it in the first place! 

For Sweden > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:24

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ban hagerty

InFierority Complex > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:28

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It’s a clickbait title but it’s not saying that the car is physically ugly. It even says it looks better than others . It’s saying that prices on those specific years seem to have lower prices than others despite looks for whatever reason.

fintail > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:29

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Good comments section there.

Apparently the author isn’t aware of the 80-82 models which almost define “malaise”.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > For Sweden 03/27/2020 at 16:29

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EAT THE HAGERTY!

Jim Spanfeller > fintail 03/27/2020 at 16:31

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Yeah, those are the Thunderbirds I prefer not to think about...

Jim Spanfeller > InFierority Complex 03/27/2020 at 16:34

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True. Still, I had to do a double-take when I saw that title...

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:36

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The ass end of 4th gen is absolutely gorgeous

Just Jeepin' > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:37

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The 58 Thunderbird made this list.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/ugliest-cars-ever-made-1842530048

ranwhenparked > fintail 03/27/2020 at 16:39

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Or the whol e ‘72-’79 period. I like a good, plush landyacht as much as anyone, but they always just seemed so cheap and chintzy. Lots of plastichrome and baroque gewgaws glued all over. 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:41

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Really? That's pretty much my favorite version...

fintail > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 16:42

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My mom had a ~75 when I was a little kid. White on white . She loved it. The car was off the road by 1985, which might be telling. I’ll admit a t-top/turbine wheel equipped loaded 77-79 is a guilty pleasure, but yeah, some of that era could be cheesy. The cars fit the times, the 77-79s especially seem to have sold well.

wafflesnfalafel > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:44

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completely agree - it’s way better than the 58-60, and way better than basically everything from 67 all the way through 1982.

interstate366, now In The Industry > fintail 03/27/2020 at 16:47

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Growing up my family had a 1984 that was passed around from my grandpa, to my dad, to my uncle, who still may have it, but it’s been a long time since it last ran. It had the 3.8 V6. Grandpa replaced it with the 90s Thunderbird, of which I’ve never warmed up to the styling like I have the previous gen.

ranwhenparked > fintail 03/27/2020 at 16:48

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Oh, they were exactly what people wanted at the time, frankly, so was the Mustang II. Perfect read of the market on Ford’s part.

It just seemed in that era that the fancier they made the cars look, the worse the actual build quality got. GM's big watershed seemed to be 1971, Cadillac interiors were basically the same cheap plastic, fake wood, and indifferent assembly as an Impala or Caprice.

fintail > interstate366, now In The Industry 03/27/2020 at 16:50

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The 83+ models were decent enough cars, as far as I know, probably above average for a domestic of the era . Some could have V8s or turbo manual options, too.   I remember my mom liked the 83-86, but it wasn’t in the budget. She ended up in a loaded Tempo.

fintail > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 16:52

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Definitely the era when Cadillac slowly but steadily became less “special”, so to speak.

I am not sure what happened to my mom’s car, I want to say transmission or timing chain issue, whatever it was, my dad told her it was time to walk away from it.  Cars aged faster then, too, it was a dinosaur well before its 10th birthday.

sony1492 > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:52

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Have they seen an 03 Thunderbird before?!

Jim Spanfeller > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 16:53

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And don’t forget the VINYL-COVERED HIDDEN HEADLIGHTS!

interstate366, now In The Industry > fintail 03/27/2020 at 16:54

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Yeah, it wasn’t a terrible car by any means. Just your typical 80s Fox chassis Ford. I don’t remember much about it except it was brown inside and out. Dad gave/sold (no idea which) to my uncle when he got a 1966 Mustang and an early 80s Ram.

facw > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 16:55

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The ugly duckling is a beautiful swan?

Jim Spanfeller > Just Jeepin' 03/27/2020 at 16:59

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I don’t even think that one’s particularly ugly, either. It’s a fairly average late-50s car, maybe a tad sportier-looking. I know that’s not everyone’s thing, but a lot of people do like it, me included. It’s not my favorite generation of T-bird, but I wouldn’t call it ugly...

Jim Spanfeller > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 03/27/2020 at 17:00

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Eh, I suppose that’s fair. Do you like yourself some vinyl headlight covers?

Jim Spanfeller > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability 03/27/2020 at 17:00

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Agreed. And I love the sequential turn signals.

Jim Spanfeller > sony1492 03/27/2020 at 17:02

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*shudders*

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 17:04

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Ooh yeah, I forgot about those

ranwhenparked > fintail 03/27/2020 at 17:04

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Car styling changed rapidly, too, to the extent that by the late ‘70s/early ‘80s automakers were calling their current model cars with metal bumpers, upright grills, and lots of chrome “classic style” , to set them apart from the slippery new aero look models with body colored trim. Certain cars already looked ancient even brand new on the showroom floor, the Colony Park and Sable wagon were quite a side by side contrast.

fintail > interstate366, now In The Industry 03/27/2020 at 17:05

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I think they were known for decent (for the location and time) build quality, too. Probably one of the better domestic choices of the era. Same thing happened to my mom’s old T-Bird, given away or sold for nothing when he deemed it too old to be worth fixing - and it was only around 10 years old. Those 80s cars quickly made 70s metal become ancient and worth little. .

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 17:06

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Out of all the T Birds in the world they chose the fourth gen????? But the 90s one was beige and kinda frumpy.

And let us not forget the try- hard modern T Bird that wasn’t very good.

Or maybe even this one gives you second thoughts . . .

Or God forbid full malaise mode. Don’t ever turn on full malaise mode.

Personally, I think your T Bird is beautiful and highly representative of what made the nameplate good in the first place.

fintail > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 17:10

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A dedicated base of older buyers must have kept those alive. Downsizing also made earlier 70s models look like old barges, with maybe overdone styling being the only thing keeping them going. My mom didn’t get her T-Bird new, but it was in new condition, and had depreciated massively even when a late model design. She loved it though, I remember riding in it, being able to lay down across the back seat. I also remember it in the driveway, hood up, my dad working on it with a pile of parts beside it. He removed much of the emissions equipment to aid in driveability.

I remember my mom’s Tempo seemed like quantum leap from cars just a couple years older, and my uncle’s early 86 Taurus was like a spaceship at the time.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/27/2020 at 17:18

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Thank you! Though the Foxbody Thunderbird appeared in a Blue Öyster Cult music video, so it can’t have been that bad.

Also, t he full-malaise T-bird had VINYL  hidden headlight covers:

ranwhenparked > fintail 03/27/2020 at 17:21

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The only real boat we had was the ‘73 LeSabre my dad drove for awhile as a take home unmarked car. The township supervisors had decreed that, for fiscal responsibility purposes, only marked patrol cars would be bought new, and low mileage used cars should be acquired for all other purposes, as cheaply as possible. The thing might have been low mileage, but it was over 10 years old. Olive green, black vinyl roof, rusty quarter panels, constantly squealing fan belt, and left an oil slick everywhere it parked. They ended the used car policy pretty quickly, but the thing stayed in the municipal fleet into the early 90s, being handed over to the building inspector, then getting sold at auction. I saw it on the road once as a teenager in the late ‘90s, couldn’t believe it lasted that long.

We did have an ‘87 Caprice Classic Brougham for awhile as a family car, was bought used, 1 year old, to replace an ‘86 Tempo that had constant issues with that dumb computerized carburetor. Downsized or not, my mom was used to small cars and was always nervous driving it in town and parallel parking it. She also backed it into the side of my dad’s new unmarked blue Caprice turning around in our own driveway. It wasn't any better than the Tempo, reliability wise, although they have a good reputation generally. Most of my memories of it are waiting around for a tow truck in various parking lots. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 17:22

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Was vinyl supposed to be cheaper? Wouldn’t that be worse in like every possible way? Here’s a photo I took that shows how those headlight covers work on a Lincoln , which is cool.

The Fox body was good, but its looks aren’t the best part and haven’t aged as well as the contemporary Mustang. Really, I don’t think most of the T Birds aged well because they were so wrapped up in their own era; nevertheless most sold very well because they were what customers wanted.

WilliamsSW > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 17:22

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I would argue that it’s the 2nd or 3rd best looking generation. First is best, and I really like the square birds, then yours.

They went to hell with the 5 mph bumper.

Then again, I remain convinced that American auto design peaked around 1965, so take that with a grain of salt...

fintail > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 17:35

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That’s pretty crazy, something like that as an unmarked car. I suppose you’d be pretty stealthy in it though. That thing would have seemed more old fashioned than the T-Bird in 1985.

My mom’s Tempo was an 85 GLX - fuel injected. Amazingly, it stayed in the family with various drivers and was finally let go at 190K miles in 1999 - still running strong. I recall it eventually had some quirks with computer controls, but only had a few running issues, and I don’t think it ever needed a tow. The car took a lot of young driver abuse, I remember the neutral drops and low gear running I’d do in it, and it came back looking for more. My mom later had a 3.8 Taurus that lost a headgasket well before 100K miles I think , which made her mad so she went to Toyota, hasn’t looked back.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 17:47

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No you misunderstood -- the '63 64 is my favorite version, not whatever the heck that photo is...

ranwhenparked > fintail 03/27/2020 at 18:23

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They bought some weird cars, he had an ice blue Dodge Shadow 3-door hatch for awhile, too. The public works guys ribbed him on that pretty bad. Also remember a sandalwood beige Lumina sedan with Recaro seats.

SmugAardvark > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 18:24

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For me, the worst of the bunch is probably the 7th gen model, followed closely by the late-series redesign of the 5th generation. The “beak” on the ‘70 and ‘71 models just looks out of place to me.

fintail > ranwhenparked 03/27/2020 at 19:51

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That Shadow was maybe the cheapest domestic car at the time.  Early Luminas are interesting in a way, somehow unattractive yet somehow not, maybe as they are so glassy and have an odd dashboard/pre-airbag steering wheel.

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 20:06

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I have no idea what they were on when they came up with that. Of course, by the 4 or 5 year mark, most of them were just stuck permanently open.

John Norris (AngryDrifter) > Jim Spanfeller 03/27/2020 at 21:52

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Of all the thunder b ird generations I like your's the  best.

Jim Spanfeller > John Norris (AngryDrifter) 03/28/2020 at 00:27

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Thanks!