Ford Will Halt Production Of T-Bird

Like drive-in movies and hula hoops, the T-Bird has faded into American nostalgia, and pretty soon you won’t be able to buy one.

The Thunderbird - one of the best-known brand names in the automobile industry - is going out of production until after the year 2000.

Ford Motor Co. said the luxury sports coupe is a tough sell. In the age of minivans and sport-utility vehicles, the current 1997 Thunderbird is doing quite badly.

Ford will extend production of the 1997 model, priced at $18,395, through the year. The 1998 model was to have debuted this fall, but now there won’t be a new Thunderbird until a totally revamped one comes out after 2000.

The Thunderbird was an instant classic when Ford brought it out in 1955 to compete the Chevrolet Corvette, which the T-Bird outsold the first year. The two-seater T-Bird appealed especially to teens and was featured in the 1960s Beach Boys song, “Fun, Fun, Fun,” whose hard-driving protagonist has “fun, fun, fun, till her daddy takes the T-bird away.”