Ford Thunderbird (ninth generation)

The ninth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury coupe that was manufactured and marketed by Ford for the 1983 to 1988 model years. In response to the sales downturn of the 1980–1982 Thunderbird, the model line underwent one of its most substantial redesigns for the 1983 model year. While the Thunderbird remained as a personal luxury coupe (to minimize overlap with the Ford Mustang), Ford transitioned its role, emphasizing performance and handling over outright luxury and comfort content. As a design leader for Ford, the ninth-generation Thunderbird marked the introduction of highly aerodynamic body design for Ford vehicles in North America (reducing its drag coefficient from 0.50 to 0.35), followed by the 1984 Ford Mustang SVO and Ford Tempo and the 1986 Ford Aerostar and Ford Taurus.

Sharing the Ford Fox platform with the previous generation, the 1983 Thunderbird adopted a shortened 104.2-inch wheelbase. Sharing a chassis with the Mercury Cougar (replacing the previous Cougar XR7, offered solely as a coupe), the Thunderbird was also a counterpart of the Continental/Lincoln Mark VII (1984-1992). The 4.9L V8 (5.0L, by Ford) made its return for 1983, coupled with the first (and only) four-cylinder Thunderbird. Powered by a variant of the Mustang SVO drivetrain, the 2.3L Thunderbird Turbo Coupe was developed as the highest-performance version of the model line for the entire generation.

As with its predecessor, the ninth-generation Ford Thunderbird was produced in Atlanta Assembly and Lorain Assembly (in Hapeville, Georgia, and Lorain, Ohio, respectively). For the 1989 model year, this generation was replaced by the tenth-generation Ford Thunderbird, as the MN12 platform replaced the Fox platform.