Most of you won't find much to agree with in Doug's assessment of our cars. Doug makes some valid points, but he grossly underestimates the beautiful lines of the car, and the cool factor.
I watched and listened quite carefully to Dogs
'Review' of the T-Bird. Twice, in fact.
Yes, the T-Bird was a limited run.
Yes, certain things attributable to the car's design and construction could have been done differently.
And yes, I will agree that certain corners may have been cut by Ford with regard to the car's construction.
However, at the same time, I can spend short or long periods of time in "any" car and come up with what I feel are shortcomings. I don't care if it is a $20,000 car or a $100,000 car. Shortcomings exist.......always.
My father, starting in 1955, used to buy a new T-Bird convertible every other year (until the convertibles no longer existed). None of those were perfect, either. But they were fun and kept him quite happy for many years. Once the convertibles no longer existed he stopped purchasing the T-Birds, but he always continued to say that if the convertibles ever came back, he would buy one once again. Once the return was announced, as somewhat of a surprise and unbeknownst to him, I ordered a red one for him, with every single option available, including the red lift of
hard top. Upon its arrival at the dealership, I took my office assistant with me and we drove the car to my father's home and simply left it sitting in his driveway on that nice sunny day, keys and all. Seeing his face when he went home that day and both saw and learned that the car was his ended up being one of the most enjoyable days of my life.
So......Doug, don't try to convince me that the come-back and quality of the T-Bird was full of too many shortcomings to justify its existence, or its cost. That particular come-back provided me with one of the most joyful and pleasant days of my life. To this day, the car has never seen so much as even a sprinkle of rain, or even a partly cloudy day. Although my father has passed, the car now remains in one of my garages, and it will always be cared for just as it was when in his possession and garage.
Nothing is perfect, Doug. Nothing. Whether a car, or something else. Despite that fact, the short run of the return Birds brought smiles to thousands of faces. Thank Ford doing that, Doug. Don't simply sit back and focus on what you have spent so much time on doing nothing but provide criticisms.
J. R. G.
