The twin taillights were a modern design of the Thunderbird’s traditional long horizontal taillights and had traditional Thunderbird emblems on each taillight. The new Thunderbird had a traditional front luxury car grille that was sculpted to blend with the Thunderbird’s new aerodynamic styling and contours. However it did have the traditional Thunderbird long hood and short decklid exterior proportions. 35 was better than most aerodynamic high priced 2-seat European sports cars at the time. The new 1983 Thunderbird was a big gamble for Ford since it had sleek aerodynamic European styling and didn’t look like any other American luxury car on the road at the time. The 1983 Thunderbird just like its predecessor, the eight generation Thunderbird, was built on Ford’s rear-wheel drive Fox body platform. The new radically redesigned ninth generation 1983 Thunderbird was Ford’s bet on what 1980s luxury car buyers wanted. However by the early 1980s it was apparent that the Thunderbird needed to change course again in order to stay relevant during the 1980s decade. As the 2-door personal luxury car segment reached its apex in the late-1970s, the Thunderbird led the pack. The Ford Thunderbird during its long production life was a trendsetter and always seemed to evolve into a luxury car that was always relevant during the changing times.

88 ford thunderbird super coupe