Sam's Fox ThunderCats

ThunderCats Concepts Throughout the years, there were some interesting interpretations of what the Thunderbird and Cougar could be. Here are a few strange things I've dug up:

1984 PPG Indycar Series Pace Car Concept

This strange but beautiful 'Bird was created for a series of concept cars commissioned by the PPG Indycar race body. The series also included vehicles from GM and Chrysler, such as Camaros, Daytonas, and Fieros. Although this concept never saw production, you can clearly see some cues that made it to the '87 model: Flush glass, aero headlights, blacked-out trim, etc. This particular concept is one of my favorites, and I would love to build a T-Bird to look just like it. Note the rear spoiler integrated into the quarter panel.

1987 Turbo Coupe Concept

This photo, taken from a 1984 issue of Car and Driver magazine, shows what the '87 Turbo Coupe was to have looked like. The body is pretty much identical to the '84 production model, but under the hood was said to be a twin-turbo 3.8 V6 putting out 250 horsepower. This one didn't see production either, but the parts required to make stock '83-'86 T-Birds look like this became available through a few aftermarket companies.

1990 Cougar XR7 Convertible

Apparently, in 1990, Mercury was considering a convertible version of its MN-12 based Cougar XR7. For some unknown reason, they decided not to produce the car. Pity - it would have made a nice ride. Photo courtesy of Eric Dess @ CoolCats

1963 T-Bird Wagon

OK, I know this ain't a Fox T-Bird, but neither is that '90 XR7 a Fox Cougar, so there. I saw this for sale on E-bay, and just thought it was so weird and cool that it deserved a place here. If ever there was a good application of Ford + GM (Ford T-Bird, Vista Cruiser roof), this is it!

1985 T-Bird Wagon

And yes, I know this car doesn't even exist. I drew this one day in high school, during chemistry class, I think. I was fantasizing over turning a 1985 T-Bird into a Nomad-esque wagon. What would have set this one apart, though, is that the entire rear wagon roof would have been made from fibreglass, and it would have been removable. Note the Topaz-like tail lights - my ex girlfirend had a Topaz at the time, and I liked the way the tail lights faded to black. In retrospect, I would rather have installed '87 T-Bird tail lights with a sequential signal light flasher. If I ever hit the lottery, this car may yet come into existence :)

If you've got any photos or drawings of unique T-Birds, Cougars, or Mark VII's and would like them to appear here, e-mail 'em to sammy@accesscable.net