Ford Taunus TC suspended with a conventional wishbone suspension, which eschewed shock absorbers and gave the car a soft 'freeway' ride and, with the heavier 6-cylinder engines, a tendency to excessive understeer. Press criticism of the trade-off between the car's road-holding and ride-comfort soon evolved into a more general critique, not convincingly addressed by the manufacturer for several years, that Ford had launched the Taunus TC before they had finished developing it. A telescopic steering column designed to collapse in the event of a frontal collision (rather than penetrate the driver's chest) had been mainstream in competitor models from Opel and Volkswagen for
Triumph Thunderbird into the US market. The 'Thunderbird' name and retro styling recalls the original Triumph company's golden years of the 1960s. It was the first "classic" Triumph to be produced by the resurgent company. The engine, redesigned to give a period look and de-tuned for more torque at lower rpm, was a variant of the 885 cc triple engine. Peak power was down to from . Several variants of the Thunderbird were produced, Triumph T309TT Legend, Triumph T309RC Adventurer, and the Triumph T309RD Thunderbird Sport, which produced a claimed 82 bhp. The Thunderbird was produced until 2003 and the Thunderbird Sport