>>28573905
don't forget
>DOHC 4.6, straight twin cams all the time with no variable timing like the notorious Ford truck cam problems, sounds just like the slightly revvier, beefier brother of the 2v 4.6 of every greatest police chases video ever
>4-way air ride
>4-way independent suspension
>driver focused interior
>cutting edge at the time HID headlights and neon tail lamp
>actually allowed to be faster than Mustangs of the equivalent year
it's the last hurrah of both the american grand tourer and the personal luxury car, however you want to split it- i'd say the latter since it's still a Thunderbird sibling at heart. honestly the single really bad part about it is the 4-speed AODE, the same old slushbox as in a crown vic, mustang, f-150, etc., but i'm pretty sure ford didn't actually HAVE any better automatic trannies yet, at least none that would take the torque since iirc the standard (non explorer/j-mod) 4R70 is really right on the edge of safe input torque with the 4-valve V8s. that, and for some reason they never offered it with an LSD, despite that being an option for damn near everything else they put the 8.8" rear into
