2003 Thunderbird Hardtop Colors

Blackbird2003

Blackbird2003

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Last seen
Joined
Aug 8, 2021
Thunderbird Year
2003
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My wife and I bought this car in July from a family friend. It has 42,000 miles and after replacing the battery, sending the ABS module out for repair, replacing a leaky valve stem, and replacing a missing fastener on a brake heat shield, the car is becoming a joy to drive. We have put about 1000 miles on it. We are considering purchasing a hardtop for it, but can’t decide on what color. Any suggestions?
 

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Blackbird2003 said:
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My wife and I bought this car in July from a family friend. It has 42,000 miles and after replacing the battery, sending the ABS module out for repair, replacing a leaky valve stem, and replacing a missing fastener on a brake heat shield, the car is becoming a joy to drive. We have put about 1000 miles on it. We are considering purchasing a hardtop for it, but can’t decide on what color. Any suggestions?
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Silver
 
Blackbird2003 said:
View attachment 19355
My wife and I bought this car in July from a family friend. It has 42,000 miles and after replacing the battery, sending the ABS module out for repair, replacing a leaky valve stem, and replacing a missing fastener on a brake heat shield, the car is becoming a joy to drive. We have put about 1000 miles on it. We are considering purchasing a hardtop for it, but can’t decide on what color. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Black
 
I think it is a personal choice. If you're a purist you'll stick to the same color as the main car or you can do contrasting, such as red or maybe silver.
I am a purist as you can see in my photo. Whichever you choose it will be right...enjoy the ride.
 
Beautiful car! I saw a black one with a silver top last month and I thought that color combo was outstanding!
 
My wife and I recently test drove a black 2002 without hard top and ended up passing on it because it had a little over 100,000 miles and a prior salvage title as well as not including the hardtop which I really want. We see more black Thunderbirds than any other color so I wanted something different and considered the option of getting a hardtop in a different color or getting a black one and having it wrapped in vinyl. I was thinking satin silver to look like the Nieman Marcus edition. A vinyl wrap should cost less than repainting the top plus you have the benefit of being able to peel it off and go back to the original finish if desired.
 
I like red top with the black car. Still true to 50's style. But, are you sure you want one? I have had my bird for 4 years and only put the hard top on twice. And, just for a couple days. I live in north Texas so it is year round convertible weather. In the summer you can go top down in the morning and in the winter you can do it in the afternoon. If not then drive the truck.
 
JohnS said:
I like red top with the black car. Still true to 50's style. But, are you sure you want one? I have had my bird for 4 years and only put the hard top on twice. And, just for a couple days. I live in north Texas so it is year round convertible weather. In the summer you can go top down in the morning and in the winter you can do it in the afternoon. If not then drive the truck.
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Hello John, actually not completely sure we need one. We live outside Chicago and have no plans to drive the car during the winter months or when there is any salt residue still on the roads. We drove it around all day last Saturday and it was to chilly to put the top down. It got me thinking about more headroom and less road noise during cool weather, plus the “new” look of a hardtop. I have never driven or sat in a car with the hardtop on so not sure how different it would be.
 
There is more headroom for sure. However, the hardtop has noises of its own and doesn't really dampen the road noise .
 
My 05 with 112K miles has been my daily driver since new 17 yrs ago. I live in a 4 seasons climate. The HT goes on late October & off in late March.
The switch does give the feeling of having 2 different vehicles, which is just another unique feature of this car. I guess it's the portholes.
There is an entirely different feel to the car, the sounds even road noise is different, certainly quieter.
 
Blackbird2003 said:
View attachment 19355
My wife and I bought this car in July from a family friend. It has 42,000 miles and after replacing the battery, sending the ABS module out for repair, replacing a leaky valve stem, and replacing a missing fastener on a brake heat shield, the car is becoming a joy to drive. We have put about 1000 miles on it. We are considering purchasing a hardtop for it, but can’t decide on what color. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
A hardtop is nice in the winter. We live in Southern California and use the converible in the summer. Anyway it's a beautiful car ether way.
 
I took off my hardtop about a year ago, and it is probably never going back on, but I'll keep it for resale at some point. I drove the car from purchase in March 2019 until November 2020 with hardtop on, felt cramped and the sight lines were very limited with those portholes. The convertible top had no issues with the limited snow we got, and with the heated seats and heater on, I was comfortable with the top down even in 40 degree weather. That kind of temp doesn't linger long here in El Paso, and with the cloth top, unlike the old-school vinyl convertibles ( I had a 73 Mustang vert, and still own a 69 Cutlass vert), you don't have to worry about putting the top up or down and cracking it. What about a Gold top? It would be kind of a Hurst look.
 
I bought a 2002 black Tbird a few months back (2nd one I've owned) and kept the black hardtop it came with on for the first 2 months. The slightly less headspace (getting in and out of car unless your shorter than about 5'7") was quickly apparent and came back to me. So off the top came and here in southern OK I'll probably just keep it off as car is garaged. I have been tempted to repaint the hardtop though in either white or red as I think those combinations work well with the black car. Red especially if you have the red/black interior like mine. But it's all personal choice !
 
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