I pulled into the parking lot and found a space. It was right next to a new T-Bird. It was all black with a removable hard top. Two things I noticed. Next to my 4X4 Ford F250 Diesel it was quite small. Bigger than our S but still smaller than I expected. With the V-8 it should scat. With a few Mustang-like modifications we may have to watch out!!!

I also noticed that the top didn't fit real snug. It looked good on all sides but the back. Looked like there was a spacer or something and it was just a straight drop from the edge of the top to the car. It would have looked better if it were flanged or angled or something. Anyway, they didn't ask me!

The car looked nice. I had a perfectly restored 56 with the removable HT in the late 80's. It had the 3 speed and 312ci. A dog to say the least! Looked good, fun to drive, but hot (that's why the floor vent was installed in 56), and not much get up and go. The new one has that same round port hole (cool).

I like the new model better than my old one. However, I sold the 56 at a profit. You'd never do that with the 2002!

 

A while back as I was driving on Hwy 1 just south of the HWY 1 FISHHOOK off of HWY 17 I saw 4 brand new T-Birds. All had Dearborn, MI plates. All were driven by middle age people, and looked to be headed down to Monterey. They were following each other. This was before the official release date of the car. They looked pretty good. I thought the rear end looked a little funny almost like it was driving backwards. But still a very nice looking car.

 

I saw the identical Black w/Hardtop up here in September during the national hot-rod invasion. I agree, it looked great, not retro at all!

 

The good news: 252 HP and comparable torque; the bad news: 3800+ pounds (w/hardtop).