i got a copy/paste email from a buddy of mine about an sve thunderbird made in 1997...
In 1997 high performance Thunderbirds were released. The four prototypes produced by Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering division came with Cobra "R" brakes and wheels, a Tremec 5-speed manual transmission, and featured a 4.6 liter, DOHC V8 engine similar to that found in the SVT Mustang Cobra. The SVE Thunderbirds also came with a cowl hood to accommodate the Eaton supercharger sitting atop the modular motor. However, this high-performance Thunderbird was not to be, as Ford not only pulled the plug on this project, but on the entire Thunderbird/Cougar line to close the 1997 model year.
is there any truth to this? i've looked all over and can't find anything on it.
I heard something about that before and I think it was on http://www.tccoa.com
Yes it's true. One of the cars was in Carlisle this year. I took a few pics of it.
I believe they pulled the plug on the Performance T-Bird to focus on the Mustang and Lightning.
You know...web searches work wonders...
http://thunderbird.stangnet.com/svtbird.htm
Hell, I thought those things were all crushed.
I have an issue of Hot Rod from '97 with one of those in it, and it said in that article that two of the four had already been crushed and the other two would be shortly.
i knew that there was an svt t-bird, but the way he was making it seem was that svt and sve were two separate entities.
There was one running around where I live. It was built from the FMS catalog. They pulled the plug but you could still get all the parts. Oh ya and I want that hood.
I believe they also had a Talladega version of the super coupe but I can’t validate that either dose anyone know.
I've got an old MMFF mag with a homemade SVT T-bird in it. 4.6 DOHC Supercharged. It even say that this is the car ford should have made.
Just like how they should have put the 5.0HO in our Fox Tbirds. Fact is, Ford just couldnt bring themselves to have the Tbird challenge their flagship car, the Mustang.
And its still their problem i kinda hate the mustang for this reason.
A SVT T-Bird concept was out there (for possible production for 1998), but when the MN12 platform was killed, so were the plans for the SVT.
http://www.tccoa.com/articles/clipings/tbirdarticle.jpg
http://www.tccoa.com/articles/clipings/thunder.jpg
They work hand in hand but the majority of the actual work is done by SVE. They do all of the engineering & prototype work. When the product is finished and ready for production it is then marketed by the SVT department.
I was looking forward to the SVT Thunderbird and was disappointed when the project was canceled.
Brent
:cougarsmily:
The one at Carlisle was supposedly a fifth one that was undocumented, sort of a prototype for the prototypes from what I understand. The others were dismantled IIRC.
I drove one at the Dearborn proving grounds in 1997. Cars were FREAKING awesome. Too bad they didn't make them. s.
B/S... Basically it boils down to the fact V8 performance was assumed to be on the wain in the late 80s... Even the Probe was slated to be the next Mustang in '89... IF it wasn't for the fact Hot Rod and a few other magazines encouraged their readers to write to Ford, protesting the FWD sidewinder, the Mustang as we know it would have been gone... This is also why the Mustang was virtually unchanged from '87-'93... When the Stang FWD idea was dropped, there was NO other design in the works...
You can hate em all you want, but if it were not for the Stang there would likely be maybe 5% of the 5.0 performance parts that are now available...
When the 5.0 returned to the Tbird in 91' it WAS the HO....
I respect you quite a bit TC50 but i believe that the mustang is half of fords problem at the current. They spend all their R&D money on the stang nothing can be better than the stang they are too focused on the car. The mustang and the F-150 (from what i have seen/understand) are fords best sellers,while ford neglects other "Lesser" cars. So i will hate them and i will continue to hate them.
Personally, I think that car was a fake. So many things about it seemed wrong.....
I did say supposedly LOL!
I still like the stang, and am hoping praying for a cougar to come off the platform all the same. True, the mustang has supplied us with allot of aftermarket parts, and true, because of the stang our luxery sport cars suffered a bit, ok quite a bit, but all the same, it's made our better made cars much more affordable to boot. So, love or hate our cousin, we have benefitted from it to some degree or another.