Welcome aboard! I'm not sure why you say that "not many seem to like it." On the contrary, all of my friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. love it (but not a much as me!) Just wait until you drive it around and hear the comments -- from little kids up to senior citizens, men and women, all races, etc.....
1. The
hardtop is quite easy to take on and off, but with a "catch", which is it requires two people to do the job. The top weighs 85 pounds and is an awkward shape for one person to lift, so I doubt that even Arnold Schwarzenegger could do it by himself. There are aftermarket lifts that you can get so that one person could do it. I think the lifts have been talked about on other discussion threads. You might want to do a
search on "lift" or something similar.
2. Can't say about the 911. Maybe someone else knows. But the T-bird is quite generous in its seating (I found the seats to be particularly wide, adding to a less-than-optimal lateral support). The storage shelf behind the seats is pretty small you can put a small cooler back there. Some people (guys over, say, 6'2") have had some trouble with the headroom. You can do a
search on that topic as well.
3. What's so special abou the T-bird blue? Several things. One, the official color name is "Thunderbird Blue", thereby the only color that carries the namesake. Second, it's a 2002-only color (i.e., it's being discontinued after the 2002 production year). Third, and perhaps most important, it is extremely beautiful and very eye-catching. Ford could have done a better job of matching the interior blue leather to the exterior paint. The interior blue isn't the same georgeous color at the exterior, but it gets the job done.
P.S. my T-bird is Thunderbird Blue! I got the partial color interior and I'm really glad I did. IMO, the full color is somewhat overwhelming. I realize that most T-birders got the full color interior, so a lot of people probably wouldn't agree with me on that point. The cool thing is that it really doesn't matter. Just get what you like. I hope you love your new T-bird as much a I love mine!
One last thing -- another discussion pointed out that the final T-bird will be produced in August. It would be really cool if you got vehicle #25000 -- the very last of the 2002's. Good luck!