V-8 POWER AND HANDLING, PLENTY OF LEG ROOM, GREAT TUNES, RIDES SMOOTH AND
FLAT OUT FLIES DOWN THE ROAD

BREAKS AND INTAKE MANIFOLD ITS PLASTIC, FORD HAS LOST ITS QUALITY RATING
AND SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO TASK FOR ITS CHEAP COST SAVING MOVES AS STUPID AS
THESE, I HAD HEAD AFTER HAVING BOUGHT THE CAR THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD WAS PLASTIC AND WOULD EVENTUALLY FAIL, IT DID, FORD NEEDS TO HAVE THEIR BUTTS WHOOP BUT GOOD FOR PUTTING A REAL BLEMISH ON MADE IN THE USA, NO WONDER THE
JAPANESE ARE KICK THEIR FANNIES IN SALES

The car ran great until the intake manifold failed, big bummer, like the ride and looks, handles well.

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ANY CAR THAT IS BUILT BETTER THAN THE SO CALLED FORD TUFF SLOGAN FORD SUCKS .

Versatile, usable power all over the tach (torque, baby!)I get 27mpg on the highway @ 70+ so I'm at a loss to explain other complaints (keep your foot out of the radiator, maybe??)Great Reccaro type seats, nice ride and wheel feel...it's a big car.

It's a big car! Bigger than the nice lines hide. Ford dealer's total lack of knowledge and an actual disdain for the supercharged version-they really try to break it off inside you on specialized parts and maintenance. The supercharger does make do-it-yourself repairs challanging, but not impossible. Heat and A/C could be warmer and cooler, Auto-trans sometimes shuffles locking into OD. But the worst quality is people not realizing the difference between these and your grandma's regular Thunderbird-even the V-8's are nothing compared to these...!

I'm sorry to see so many kids with these cars-they are truly classics. This is my second one, and I have every scrap of paper from the original build sheet to pictures of it being made at the Cleveland factory! I sold my first one to get this -- it was perfect too, but had more miles on it and this one has never seen rain or snow in it's 60k.(had 10k when I bought it) The orig owner was a TOTAL anal-case who kept it in a heated carpeted shrine-like garage just for it. Mine is exactly like the brochure car except with keyless entry; I've had both, and personally like the cloth over the leather interior (except the back seat doen't fold down on cloth cars). The 89-90 wheels are much nicer looking than the later ones, and it grips like glue with Michelin XGT's on it. My first one had some goodies added (chip, underdrive pulley, exhaust, etc.)and it was quicker, but I'd not do the chip again-the tranny doesn't like the paramaters. Besides, I can if necessary take stock Mustang GT's with only a K&N filter and an underdrive pulley. Overall, this is the best car I've ever owned-and I've had vettes (aggh!), Z-28's, and a 911 Targa. Admittedly, I baby mine but for smile and pride for the buck you can't beat a used Super Coupe.

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80's and 90's Vettes-are junk compared to these. 911 Targa- is much slower and finicky than the SC, but everyone knows a Porsche...

acceleration is good, rides great and has low road noise. Great A/C

my gas bill has gone up. The guy I bought it off of told me he got 30 mpg on a road trip but I haven't hit that mark yet.

I like it. Very comfortable interior. Enough room for 3 friends. Decent sound, great heating and air. But the trans isn't very smooth but that seems to be the most common complaint. I don't have much bad to say about it. Great looks also.

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its the best ive driven I think it is definitely one of the best cars on the road. I get more than enough stares going down the road.

I enjoyed driving the car till the engine blew up.

PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD
not enough head room

Bought the car used . It had 25,000 miles on it.

The paint started falling off after 1 year. The motor went out at 65,000 miles.

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??

Good power for 3.8lt. Comfortable seats, thought mpg was good. (thought)
Fast power windows.

Where do i start: purchased in 1995, in 1996 replaced driver side window motor, 1996 with less than 36,000 miles had to place rotors and drums, 1998
had to replacehead gaskets along with that the heads needed machined (warp)
2 water pumps, also had to replace drivers side automatic seat belt motor.
1999 transmission slipping in second $$$$$$$, costly repair. 2000 once again had change head gaskets, on top of all this recalls for fuel lines,
head lamp wiring replaced, now with 92,000 miles on it (2001) i plan to buy great quality Honda.

This is the worst automotive purchase i've ever made.
Had to many Mechanical problems, would'nt recommend to an enemy.

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Could possibly be good for parts car: interior, would'nt recommend anything else. Can you say, ENDLESS MONEY PIT!!!!!!!!!!

4.6L V8 engine
Good ride and adaquate seating room
One of the best looking cars ever made
Low maintenance - have not had problems with any of my Thunderbirds
Fun to drive

None

This is my second 97 Thunderbird. I still own another 97 and a 95, previous also owned a 94. They are just fun to drive, adaquate leg room in both the front and rear, all have had a 4.6L V8 and none have ever given any trouble. My 95 was purchased new and now has 95,000 miles on it with nothing done except normal maintenance. Both 97's are laser red and I still get compliments on their looks. This was the best buy that Ford ever had.

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1997 Thunderbird - owned 3 years (still own)
1995 Thunderbird (owned 7 years)
1995 Thunderbird

The only good quality to this car is - it looks good. THAT IS IT!!

THE WHOLE ENTIRE CAR!

This car has been nothing but trouble from day 1. I should have known that after only owning the car (purchased brand new) 3 weeks, the engine had to be pulled out and head gaskets replaced. Not to mention since then, intake manifold, which I was not aware that this was the problem until reading other comments on this site. When all of the anti-freeze leaked out, the dealer neglected to tell me exactly what the problem was, "They just fixed it under the extended warranty". 2 days after this repair, had problems with the torque converter, another extended warranty repair. Also am on my 2nd set of rotors, windshield molding kept popping out when driving down the highway, etc., etc.. This car has been an absolute nightmare. NEVER AGAIN WILL I PURCHASE A FORD PRODUCT!!! It is quite obvious that they used cheap parts on this car & now I am paying the price!! Honda will be getting my business from now on.

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My husbands 1990 Mazda 626 with 117,000 miles runs way better than the 1997 Ford T-Bird with 65,000 miles.

reliability!- With 300,000 kms, I had one break-down(the turbo).
mileage- average 37 mpg with 45 mpg on longer trips(not bad for 220 HP!?)
handling- out-cornered most cars half its weight, love that computer controlled suspension. controlled slides at 100+ mph are child's play.
comfort- smoooooth ride, even at extreme speeds. I routinely set the cruise at 135 mph with-out a worry, it'll still dodge cars with minimal effort.

you can't rebuild the turbo! it's gotta be replaced, which runs $2400 and up. I found a used one from some guy in Texas for $800 after ALOT of searching!
Replacing tires becomes a regular thing. its just way too easy to light em up and keep burning until the car can't be seen in the smoke.

I not sure if it's a weakness, but this car is HEAVY! (almost as much as a Crown Victoria), though you'll never notice, the brakes and suspension compensate for this extremely well, at high speeds it's as easy to handle as any light weight car.

The best car I've ever owned! For a 2.3L, 4 cyl., it had a lot of balls. kept up with a porsche 911 until we both hit our top end.
cars raced include: 88 Camaro Iroc- he gets the jump, but I get him before the quarter mile
86 porsche 944- close, about a car length behind me on the quarter
90 Nissan 240sx- way behind
92 300ZX- half a car-length behind him
a couple of Mazda's- hahahaha!!

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84 Camaro Z-28- to much gas for less power. when it reached top end, the T-Bird had alot left to go.
240sx- although it's half the weight and supposedly almost as powerful, it still couldn't beat the T-Bird on any track, with a number of different drivers. also to small and uncomfortable in the cockpit(I'm 6'2", I need the space.)

V-8, RWD, dependable, lotsa low end power, ergonomics are perfect except for the radio

Cup holders were designed by preschool children, PhD in electronics needed to get a tape to play, automatic transmission is easily confused, engine starts to loose steam over 3000 rpm. Looks like every other car on the road.

I love this car! V-8 and RWD! I have had very few problems in the 2 years I've had this car, and none of them were major (ie, left me on the side of the road, unable to drive). I routinely get 27-28 mpg on the highway, and this is from a V-8 automatic! This car is a nice compromise between the Crown Victoria (too big to be anything but a luxury car), and the Mustang (too small for a 6' person like me to feel comfortable in, and too much of an all out sportscar). It's the perfect blend of sportscar and luxury sedan.

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Mustang-Papa bear, too brawny.
Crown Vic- Mama bear- too soft
Thunderbird- Baby bear- Just right.

Great power, incredible smooth ride, even at 90+ mph. You might almost confuse it for a luxury car, but it's too much fun for that. Someone else commented that they wouldn't want to put two adults in the backseat for a road trip, but I've done that on several trips to Vegas (about four hours from my house) and my passengers *look foward* to it. My wife and I recently drove from LA up to Portland and Seattle, covered about 2,500 miles round trip, and we were comfortable the entire time.

I can accelerate around just about anyone else, and I can even surprise some of the sports cars every so often. For the power, the car is awfully quiet.

If you put 1,000 monkeys in a room with computers for 1,000 years, they could probably design a cup holder. Well, apparently Ford came up with too few monkeys and too little time. I'm also having some VERY strange pseudo-slippage transmission issues that, of course, I couldn't duplicate in front of a mechanic when the car was still under warranty. I know I'm going to pay for that someday. It's getting worse. When I bought the car, I experienced the brake wobble that everyone else mentions. I had the rotors resurfaced/replaced twice, to no avail. When I replaced the brakes, the problem went away. The MAF sensor also had to be replaced. So did one of the brake light fixtures ($300! Thank goodness THAT was still under warranty). Cornering seems a bit...troublesome at times, but I've also never owned a rear-drive vehicle drive, so that could be in my head. I've also had to replace a spark plug wire that was bad, and boy was *that* expensive. But overall, I'm still happy with what I got for my money.

One issues I do have is performance parts. I've got a relative who does performance modifications on Mustangs, and he wants to hook me up. But he's had a hard time finding equipment for my car. Go figure.

I am in love with my car. Don't tell my wife. I knew when I was teenager that I loved to drive, but I'd owned hand-me-down vehicle up to this point, and I'd forgotten the fun. Now, Vegas runs are a pleasure again. This car has the looks and the power I'd hoped for. I've put about $1500 into a sound system as well ('99 Panasonic head unit with CD, 5x7" Boston Acoustics in the front, 5x7" Kenwoods in the rear driven by a new Eclipse 36401 amp with 40 watts RMS at 4ohms, dual 10" Crunch DS-10s in the trunk driven by a DHS 300 watt amp). It reminds me of current car commercials where they show people taking long routes home or driving around the block multiple times just because they enjoy being in their car so much. There are days when I just don't want to park it.

It isn't without its problems, and I'm worried about future maintenance issues. I've had the car for just under two years now, and I've put 38,000 miles on it (I bought it at 61,000 miles).

But I'd still recommend picking one up. What you get for the price makes it more than worthwhile.

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Everything I drove before this car was a 4-cylinder, so it's hard for me to make any real comparison. When I was shopping for this car, I test drove a '95 Mustang, which has the same engine. Much to my surprise, I wasn't happy with the size of the car, and found that a true sports car wasn't really what I was looking for. The Thunderbird turned out to be the perfect compromise between sports and luxury. I'm sad that these are no longer being made in this style, because I'd probably buy a newer one for my next car. As it is, I hope to keep this one for many years.