The eleventh generation of the Ford Thunderbird (internally codenamed M205) is a two-seat convertible manufactured and marketed by Ford from 2001 to 2005 for model years 2002 through 2005. It followed a five-year hiatus of the Thunderbird after the 1997 discontinuation of its tenth generation.
Evoking the exterior styling of the earliest Thunderbirds, the eleventh generation features a removable hardtop with a prominent porthole window, power folding fabric top, and vinyl tonneau cover. Sharing mechanicals with the Lincoln LS and using Ford's DEW platform, it has a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout with a 3.9-liter (240-cubic-inch) V8 engine and a five-speed automatic transmission.
Part of a retro-styling trend in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the concept was introduced by Ford in 1999. The production model debuted two years later, winning the Motor Trend Car of the Year award for 2002. Despite this, the eleventh-generation Thunderbird never achieved its sales projections and was discontinued after 2005. After studying alternatives, including the closely related Lincoln MK9 concept, Ford declined to introduce subsequent generations of the Thunderbird.
The eleventh generation reach a production of just under 70,000 over four model years. Critics attributed the lackluster sales to poor marketing.
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