The Thunderbird was Fords opportunity to make a fast 2 seater, along the lines of a Solstice or S2000 in my eyes, but they made it a big ol’ luxury cruiser with 250 HP, and a “last stand” in it’s final years of production bumping it to 280 HP. I mean, they originally meant for luxury cruisers, but they could have done something with it. I’ll have to dig up the pic of the Saleen Thunderbird that never came to be.
Edit: The ONLY new T-Bird I would drive.