The original Ford Thunderbird, which debuted in 1955, sat only two passengers.
Even back when this car was new it was more like a relic from a bygone era than a modern automobile. With it being a rear wheel drive coupe with a V-8, it could've been something out of the 1950's. Save for its "modern" sheet metal and overhead cam V-8.
Many credit Ford with creating the personal luxury coupe with their updated, four passenger 1958 Thunderbird.
Back in 1996, the Big Three were still churning out big coupes but the end was near. Ford ended Thunderbird and Cougar production in 1997, the Lincoln Mark VIII phased out in 1998. General Motors followed suit, systematically eliminating their fleet of coupes one by one through 2007 when the Monte Carlo was fitted for a noose.
Throughout the much of the 1960's and 1970's, Thunderbird was a "dressed down" Lincoln Continental Mark. That changed in 1983 when Ford introduced the "Aero Thunderbird" based on the popular "Fox" platform. This 1996 Thunderbird is based on a midsize platform, introduced in 1989, that was exclusive to Thunderbird and Cougar.
What happened to the coupe? Simple. SUV's. Coupe buyers, being fashion conscious first and foremost, for there is certainly no practical reason to have a two door car with an all but impossible to access rear seat, found SUV's as fashionable as coupes and SUVs had the added benefit of profound practicality.
Rear seat access has never been a strong suit of a coupe. Tougher yet, at least for adults, is getting out once you're back there.
No matter how solid an automobile this Thunderbird was, being a slave to fashion has its limitations. For instance, getting junior into a car seat, never an easy task when you have full access, is even tougher if access is compromised. The coupe lifestyle can get old. Real old. Been there, done that.
Ford ended production of Thunderbird in 1997. A two passenger Thunderbird, which aped "retro" styling cues popular at the time (the car resembled a '55 Thunderbird), appeared in 2002 and was sold through 2005.
Coupes were rarely anything more than their sedan brethren with two fewer doors and a raked back windshield. That whimsical styling, however, gave at least the impression that the car was more than an appliance. Sadly, today, as good as cars are, their lack of styling lends them to be little more than soulless appliances. Fantastic appliances but still soulless.
They don't make them like this anymore.
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