Porthole Authority WeBlog

Great to see you and Dot have a Blog. IMO you 2 are the most knowledgable and helpful Tbirders around.

In my small town in NJ - 6 blocks square - we have 5 Retro birds - blue - black - red - grey - cashmere

Thank you Bill, Dot is the knowledgeable one... I just look things up. She's on vacation and I've been busy lately so posts are sparse right now.
You must be in the high rent district (grin). We don't have that many Thunderbirds in my city of 30,000.

Not to mention an additional out-of-town, but still local grey one that occasionally cruises through with a surfboard sticking out of the passenger seat.

Rusty!! I didn't know you cruise Lansing, IL, please stop in for some ice cream. Oh.... you meant you cruise those six blocks in New Jersey...?

quickdraw - I'm on vacation all the time - just traveling too much lately. Rusty, glad to see you pop in and check this out with your usual sense of humor.
Since being up here, we've seen 3 early 'birds on the road and only two retrobirds. Should see more on Sunday in the little town of Eatonville, WA

It's often been said that you can get the best deals on the last day of the month. For whatever reasons, eight of the top 10 days for Thunderbird sales came on the last day of the month.
Date Sold___# Sold
3/31/2004.......569
7/31/2003.......406
9/30/2003.......224
11/30/2001......198
4/30/2002.......191
2/28/2002.......187
7/30/2003.......175
3/31/2003.......174
5/10/2003.......173
6/6/2003.........167

Hey Rusty, looks like the surf will be up with that storm building in the atlantic. Make sure you dry your board before putting it in your front seat . . . otherwise you will have the only grey with the sand interior :)

Quickdraw what is this about Lansing, IL? Do you mean Gaety's Ice Cream? I'm about 2 miles from there! I'm picking up my 2002 turquoise bird this Saturday!! Your website is a wealth of wonderful information!! Can you tell I'm excited??

Yep, Gaety's right on Ridge Road... Are you from Lansing or still there?

I meant to say that I live about 2 miles from there.

Alison,
I just moved from Lansing to St John, IN but my Lansing house hasn't sold yet... where are you buying your 2002 "Thunderbird Blue"? (not turquise ). I need to find out if my wife is selling mine without telling me because I have the same color.... Are you are getting it from a dealer with some sort of warranty or private party?

I am getting it from a private party in Highland Park, IL. We have dinner just about every Saturday at Theos on Indianapolis Blvd. in Highland. Hope to have the car there this Saturday!!

If I knew where it was and about what time you'd be there I might get a chance to drive by & say hello. But I can't find Theos address, would it be under another name?

It used to be called Alexanders. 9144 Indianapolis in Highland. We get there about 6:30. Would love to meet you!

Harry, missing you on TBT,RBS said I might find you here.
Glad you and Dot put this together.
I saw George and Dot at the picnic last Sunday, they had the inca; George still had the top up when we met at Starbucks to cruise up there together, he got enough grief there to "Re-Engineer" the trunk space so they could put it down.

Alison, Family obligations will probably prevent me from meeting you this Sunday but Im availabe the rest of the year.
Hi Skip! Good to see you! I miss you guys too.

Popular days for ordering and taking home a 2002-2005 Thunderbird:

ORDERING:
Wednesday........18,154
Tuesday............12,691
Thursday...........12,523
Monday.............12,134
Friday...............9,310
Saturday............2,770
Sunday................516

BUYING..(taking home):
Friday..............12,493
Saturday..........10,978
Monday............10,618
Wednesday.........10,614
Thursday..........10,462
Tuesday...........10,393
Sunday.............2,346

Not Sunday, tonight! But we are there just about every Saturday night. Got the new baby home safe and sound:)

Alison,

It was nice meeting you & Frank last night...
Heres some data on your car...
Order Date: 5/16/2002
Date Built: 6/19/2002
At Dealer: 7/1/2002
Sold Date: 9/28/2002

Your 2002 Premium Thunderbird Blue/Blue hardtop/full color interior is one of 3,776 made like that.

Wow, thanks for that info Harry. We enjoyed meeting you too and hope to see you again soon. I took my 76 year old mother for a ride today. She was in 7th heaven too:) I don't think she's been in a convertible in over 30 years.

I am new to this great site! I purchased an 05 T-Bird Limited edition this past October. Cashmere color w/hard top etc. It is beautiful. I have number 325 of 1500 made of this color. I would like to find out where the other numbers are! Is there any way I can do this through this site? TKS!! Loreen

Loreen, Ford didn't keep track of the glove box serial numbers but you may find other owners of the cashmere special edition on the two forums on the web:
www.thunderbirdnest.com or www.thunderbirdtalk.com

Loreen, Give me the last five digits of your VIN and I can tell you what day your car was built.

Connecticut may not have lots of Birds, but there are three within about 4 blocks here in West Hartford. A Torch Red 2002, a Merlot (2003?) and mine, an Evening Black 2003.

The funniest part is I knew both the other owners before I moved to the neighborhood and before we all owned Thunderbirds! I guess great minds think alike.

Hi Harry, So this is where Dot has been hiding you! Good to see your still around and keep up the good work.

Dot, the last 5 numbers are 04961, Thank you.

Quickdraw, oops, you can tell I am new to this site. my note to Dot should have gone to you, so sorry. (04961)digits from vin. Thanks!

Dot, Thank you for the web addresses. I knew Ford didn't keep track of where the numbered cars are, I am hoping to find their location etc.,(for fun and curiosity) hopefully starting with the sites you provided me.Tks for fast answer. Oh,ignore vin#'s :)

Loreen,
5y104961
Order Date: 11/30/2004
Date Built: 1/27/2005
At Dealer: 2/22/2005
Sold Date: 4/26/2005 Sold by Matthews-Currie Ford, Nokomis, FL

Hi,
My Mother is a gorgeous avid Georgia Bulldog Football Fan and her custom, classic Bulldog Red Thunderbird was stolen at a mall here in Warner Robins thursday in broad daylight. I just wanted to have some ideas of what I could do about her loss as the police report want be ready until Tuesday. Any information on stolen cars and where I could find the car or what they do with it after they zip the window and hotwire it.... would be greatly appreciated. I am sad because that TBird was her baby and she just recently was in hospital....driving for the first time. God Is My Pilot. Thanks for letting me share. In addition, any suggestions, photo's,keychain, women TBird memorablia brochures or emails would be awesome. Thanks again, Donna (sad)

I think I figured it out, Harry.

Quickdraw, How many Black 2005s were sold with silver hardtops?

No black 2005s were built with silver hardtops... that wasn't an allowable option was it?

mmm, yes, it was available for the black.

OOPS!!! My error, sorry, Yes there were 20 of the 2005 Blacks made with Silver hardtops...

wow! rarer than the Neiman Marcus edition and the Inca Gold!

Just got a 2004 light ice blue 'bird. Any way to find out total production numbers for 2004? Thanks

sure, eduardo,just visit this page:
http://www.portholeauthority.com/thenewtbird/2005/photos.html

Hi Dot and Quickdraw, As I told Dot in a E-mail I just bought Linda a 2004 Thunderbird it is merlot with light sand soft top. It also has a Merlot hard top. I'm looking for the stats on this bird the VIN# is 1FAHP60A54Y112106.This bird now makes it nest in central Indiana. Thanks for your help!!! Mike

Linda's a lucky woman!
Order Date: 5/12/2004
Date Built: 6/15/2004
At Dealer: 7/14/2004
Sold Date: 4/21/2005 Originally sold by Tasca Ford, Cranston, RI
Your merlot, merlot hardtop, sand interior, SST, 7 spoke chrome wheels is one of 1,332.

Quickdraw, Thanks for the info!! She is very happy with the Thunderbird. Thanks again Mike

Hi Quickdraw & Dot,

I posted a message on a thread on the porthole website, but Dot referred me here as a better place to reach Quickdraw and get an answer. I appreciate the help from both of you. I've listed the original message below. Thanks!

"Please check 1FAHP60A93Y106520 for me. I just picked up my '03 last week and I'm interested in its history."

Chip
Dunwoody, GA
'70 Landau
'03 Black / Saddle

Chip,
1FAHP60A93Y106520
Order Date: 10/26/2002
Date Built: 2/17/2003
At Dealer: 3/5/2003
Sold Date: 8/25/2003 Orignally sold by Thomaston Ford, Thomaston, GA. Your Premium 2003 black, black hardtop, saddle interior, no SST, 7 spoke chrome wheels is one of 80 made like that.

Quickdraw,

Thank you for looking the information up! I really appreciate your help!!

Quickdraw,

I have another favor if you don't mind. I'm trying to figure out how many '03s were produced in the Black / Saddle combination. I have a VIN from '03 with the SST. Although this is not my car, could you run 1FAHP60A83Y105861 through and let me know so I have the production figures for all '03 Black / Saddle Tbirds? Thanks.

There were 539 black with saddle interiors made.... 17 of those did not have hardtops, 93 didn't have the SST, and 10 were deluxe instead of premium.
The VIN you gave me, 1FAHP60A83Y105861, premium 2003, black, black hardtop, saddle interior, SST, was one of 428.

Quickdraw,

Thanks again. You're the best! I really appreciate the information. It will be great to have all this documented for the history of the car.

Do you have any idea how many T-Birds were sold in Virginia (total for '02 through '05)?

Elle,
Tbirds sold in VA:
2002 = 780
2003 = 333
2004 = 420
2005 = 257
How many have you spotted? (grin)