Ford Motor Co., its image tarnished by the continuing flap over the safety of its best-selling Explorer sport-utility vehicle, is preparing to hit the market with two new models intended to polish the corporate logo.
One is an interpretation of a mid-20th century icon, the Ford Thunderbird, now presented as a modern two-seat cruiser that pays sleek but subdued homage to the original roadsters of 1955-57.
FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Wednesday June 6, 2001 Home Edition Part A Part A Page 2 A2 Desk 1 inches; 25 words Type of Material: Correction
Thunderbird hardtop: The removable hardtop for the 2002 Ford Thunderbird adds $2,500 to the price of the base model. An incorrect price was cited in a Highway 1 article on May 30.
The other is intended to become a 21st century icon for Ford's domestic luxury division. The Lincoln Blackwood, which pays homage to "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," is the world's first ultra-luxury pickup truck.
Neither vehicle passes any test that would qualify it as a necessity.
At a base price of $35,495, and topping out at $39,795, the V-8-powered Thunderbird is a peppy two-seat cruiser with a limited 6.9 cubic feet of trunk space that would be fun for a day's drive, perhaps even for a weekend outing that doesn't require many changes of dress. But forget anything requiring driver and passenger to haul more than a couple of mid-size overnight bags.
And the $52,500 Blackwood, with its quartet of leather bucket seats and a 26.5-cubic-foot covered and carpeted "cargo trunk" in place of a traditional pickup bed, is a truck whose real-world duties will be limited to tasks such as carrying Saturday morning foursomes and their clubs to the golf course. Practicality aside--and that's where it must be firmly placed for either of these vehicles to wind up on a serious car shopper's consideration list--each already has shown that it has legs.
Ford intends to build only 25,000 Thunderbirds each year at its plant in Wixom, Mich., and though the inaugural 2002 model won't hit showrooms until late summer, almost the entire first production run is spoken for.
Over at Lincoln, plans are to keep the Blackwood in even more rarefied territory, with production limited to fewer than 10,000 a year. Lincoln dealers reportedly have taken advance orders for about 2,500 with two months to go before the trucks start trickling out of the Kansas City, Mo., plant.
Ford says it considers the Thunderbird to be unique in the market, with no real competitor, although, when pushed, chief program engineer Nancy Gioia lists the Mercedes-Benz 230 SLK, the Porsche Boxster and the BMW Z3 as roadsters in the same price range that might compete for attention.
