It’s 1983. You’re a Midwestern middle-class man, mid-thirties, with two kids and a wife. You’ve always driven Fords, but your wife’s rusty 1974 Pinto is in desperate need of an upgrade. She has her eye on a Buick LeSabre Limited Coupe at the local dealership, but as the owner of a 1980 Thunderbird yourself, you kind of like the new “Aerobird.” The two aren’t exactly competitors in the marketplace, but their prices are about the same, so which do you choose?
In general, automotive design departments try not to make big swings, because nobody wants to risk their customer base. Go too far too quickly, and you might scare them off; my dad — who was the hypothetical car buyer I described in the opening paragraph — was one of them. Although he liked the swoopy new 1983 Thunderbird and spent many an hour hanging out at the Ford dealer, he wasn’t quite ready for the jellybean ’80s; after all, his 1980 Thunderbird was one of the most square-rigged cars ever devised by Ford. Also, my mom didn’t like the styling at all, and the car was being bought for her.
Still, not everybody felt that way. Although the new styling was a gamble, it was a risk Ford was almost forced to take if they wanted to continue building their flagship coupe. The 1982 Thunderbird had sold a mere 45,142 units, but sales fairly exploded for 1983, to the tune of 121,999. They’d get even better in 1984 as coupe buyers grew accustomed to the new look, which was actually quite handsome. This 1983 model pictured here is the luxurious “Heritage” edition, but the T-Bird was definitely skewing sportier with the introduction of the Turbo Coupe, a Thunderbird like no Thunderbird before.
The interior wasn’t as controversial as the styling, and it surely wouldn’t have raised my dad’s eyebrows. Aside from a sporty console, the T-Bird looked much like his 1980 model, at least in terms of the dashboard; a completely redesigned dash didn’t come around until 1985. The steering wheel was also basically unchanged from the 1982 ‘Bird, but the velour seats of this Heritage are certainly more luxurious than his base 1980 model’s split bench.
However, I don’t think Dad would have bought the Heritage model with its $12,660 base price. More likely, he would have sprung for whatever base T-Bird was on the lot, as its base price was a far more reasonable $9,629. Regardless, he would have loved showing off the full load of power options on this Heritage: dual power seats, power windows, dual power mirrors, and the premium sound system, an option that my dad certainly wouldn’t have spent the extra money on.
The T-Bird’s trunk (at 14.6 cubic feet of storage capacity) was actually quite spacious considering that the car was not, at 197.6 inches in length, considered big by American standards. It would have had plenty of room for a family of four.
Dad would have most likely demanded the optional 5.0-liter V8, simply because he grew up in an era where power was king. Power is relative, but the 140-horsepower 302 made for a brisk coupe by 1983 standards. I know he would have test driven a 3.8-powered car and considered it, but I don’t think he would have been happy with it.
Nor would he have been happy with a white car; something like this very attractive Midnight Academy Blue would have been more his style.
But as you’ve probably guessed, it was all for naught; Mom prevailed and we ended up with a 1983 LeSabre Limited Coupe (a Custom is pictured above); this Custom Coupe is, however, in such nice condition that it makes an excellent stand-in for Mom’s car. Our LeSabre was Light Brown with a Dark Brown Landau vinyl top, whitewall tires, and wire wheel covers. It was stylish for 1983, but as an image of the past rather than a harbinger of the future as the T-Bird clearly was, at least in terms of styling.
From the outside, the only obvious difference between a $9,292 Custom Coupe and a $9,836 Limited Coupe was the badge next to “LeSabre” on the quarter panel. (Too bad about the mismatched bumper fillers on this otherwise pristine original). I remember that the window sticker totaled $12,400, which included air conditioning, the 307 V8, and a bunch of other stuff that I could probably add up but won’t.
The difference between the Custom and the Limited was all on the inside, where these plush velour seats made the extra money worth it.
And although the LeSabre couldn’t be much more different from a new T-Bird, the dashboard was actually quite similar, and both were arranged in the early 1980s American idiom. Gauges were limited (pun intended) to a speedometer, fuel gauge, and shift indicator, whereas the “idiot lights” were located in an array above the climate controls in the center of the dash. Everything was easy to reach, including the radio, and the big, round clock was located right in front of the passenger. I spent a lot of time looking at that clock on our long summer vacations, pondering out loud when we would finally “get there.” The fake wood was not particularly egregious, and all-in-all, this was an interior you’d expect in a Buick.
The trunk was cavernous, as it should have been in such a huge car: 20.8 cubic feet. The LeSabre was a holdover from another time; at 218.4 inches in length, it was truly a big car by anyone’s standards. The space-saver spare looks absolutely lost in here.
The 140-horsepower Oldsmobile 307, a worthwhile $225 option, was what spoiled Buicks for my dad forever. Not only was it lethargic (the 2.41:1 axle ratio in our three-speed automatic car didn’t help), but ours was a lemon straight out of the gate. Mom’s new LeSabre stranded us a preposterous seven times, once on an Ontario highway hundreds of miles from our Michigan home; my dad took off with a truck driver to get help, leaving us in the car with the doors locked. (It was a time before cell phones.) Every time the car failed, the dealer would replace the distributor under warranty.
In retrospect, I don’t know how that could even happen. After the first two tries, one would expect that other avenues would be explored, but it took two years and someone from corporate to accurately diagnose the problem. Apparently (I was eight years old and not quite as well-versed in engine design as I am today), the cam bearing bores in the block were not true, and therefore, the camshaft and distributor gears were misaligned. Eventually, all hell would break loose in the distributor and we were stranded. I recall some very tense conversations between my dad, a mechanic, and the dealer’s service manager, but they finally replaced the engine in 1985.
Today, Dad would have gladly taken advantage of lemon laws and bought a new Thunderbird with the proceeds. After two years of dealing with a lemon, he was disenchanted with the Buick for good reason, and I can say in hindsight that his dalliance with the General ended with this car (although he likes riding in my myriad 1950s and 1960s GM products, especially the Buicks).
But the Buick stuck around until 1990, when Dad bought Mom a 1988 Mustang GT Convertible that they still own. I date this picture of our actual car to 1988, when as an eleven-year-old, I clearly wasn’t up to the task of framing a picture correctly. When Mom got her Mustang, she and Dad sold the LeSabre to my grandfather, who drove it until his death in 1995. My cousin then bought the car, and in an attempt to drive it around my uncle’s rural property, he somehow managed to burn the thing to the ground, thus ending the hapless Buick in the most spectacular manner imaginable.
And Dad finally did get that T-Bird, a 1987 model with the fuel-injected 5.0, in December of that year. By that point, he loved the new styling; it just took him a year or two to grow accustomed to it. I ended up driving this car in high school and college, and I still miss it every time I see an ’80s Aerobird. Still, in retrospect, the LeSabre would have been a very nice car if we had gotten a good one, and I’m not sure that Mom made the wrong choice at the time.
So, let’s say it’s 1983. You’ve been shopping at the local Buick and Ford lots, and it’s time to make a decision. Which one of these disparate coupes are you taking home, a LeSabre or a Thunderbird?
Related Reading
Vintage R&T Road Test: 1983 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe – (My) Eco Boost Pioneer (by Paul N)
Auto-Biography: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe – EcoBoosted EgoBooster (by Paul N)
Curbside Outtake: 1983 Buick LeSabre Limited – The Lights Are On But Nobody’s Home (by Paul N)
A great question! I would have chosen the Thunderbird hands-down in 1983, but then again, I was in my early 20s and liked the direction Ford started heading with this new design. The Buick was hopelessly old-fashioned for me. Although I later owned one of those Buicks for a very short time (an 85 Limited coupe) in the late 90s.
FWIW, my mother was probably a decade older than your parents – she split the difference and got a Crown Victoria in 1985. All of the traditional cues of the Buick but with the Ford running gear that had a good reputation for the time. Her Crown Vic was an excellent car during the time that both she and (later) I had it.
Give me the Buick (the white one). It looks exactly like we European imagine a classic American two-door. Only those damn wire wheels have to go. Give me road wheels.
I have no doubt “we” (I was too young to have any input on decisions) would have taken the T-bird; my father did have one, although a later 10th generation.
I can’t call the Buick old, it seems to me well representative of American cars at the time; it was the T-bird that was a big leap ahead in style and this is something that we would have appreciated at the time.
The interior was also much more modern looking, even though not revolutionary, and as I recall, my father never owned a car with a bench seat, so one more reason for picking the T-bird
Given that the T-Bird and LeSabre were completely different cars, from a kid perspective I would have picked the Ford. From a parental perspectiove get the big Buick, although in our case it would have been an Olds 88, likely maroon because my mother was on a maroon car kick at that time. She has since moved on to pearl white as her chosen color.
Thunderbird. I’ve very little love for Malaise era American road barges, and the Buick looks straight out of that playbook. The Ford looks comparatively modern and svelte inside and out.
I’d be a toddler in that year, however, so wtf would I know? Mom and Dad on the other hand, would likely have been drawn to moderately used mid-late 70s Saab 900s and Volvo 144s. They’d never touch either of these domestic biggies.
Great read, Aaron. And great question. I probably would have been Team Thunderbird – trimmer size, sportier aura, fresh styling – which probably would have been seen as heresy in the city that HQ’d Buick. I’m sure the LeSabre would have been more comfortable for a larger family, but say I didn’t have one.
The styling of these LeSabres didn’t do much for me back then, but there was nothing offensive about it, either. You haven’t experienced a plush velour interior until you’ve ridden in the pillow-topped seating of a 1980s Buick.
Thanks Joe,
There were definitely more Buicks per capita in Flint than anywhere else in America, but I’m sure someone, somewhere drove a Ford. 🙂
I was 34 y.o. then building a house with no funding for a new car and driving a split window VW van, but would have chosen the T-bird with the turbo 4. Two years later I was given a car allowance through work and went with a well optioned Honda Accord which was a wonderful car for the next six years.
In the spring of 1990, just before I graduated from HS, I bought a 1984 5L Tbird. My grandparents had a silver 1984 Buick 2 door. Last car they owned before their passing in 1989.
My dad wasn’t the plush-car type and my mom wanted to go as small as possible after armwrestling his glass shop’s Armstrong-steering, 3 on the tree, 8′ bed ’79 C-10 around as the only family car. So neither of these would be on the shopping list, it would be between an Escort and an Omni/Horizon (like what Mom ended up getting a few years later) in ’86, with the Chevette likely off the shopping list due to small, light rwd cars being bad in snow.
The T-Bird for me. Although the effects of GM’s poor quality in the ’80 weren’t fully understood yet, no surprise the Buick needed a new engine so soon
My parents had a 1988 Ford Thunderbird LX, and my in-laws had a 1984 Buick Electra coupe, the LeSabre’s bigger sibling, so I experienced both concepts at 20. The T-Bird would have been my choice if it were not the primary family car. If it was going to be the family car, then the LeSabre sedan would have been the choice. That said, if I could have waited to buy a car, then I would have bought the new 1985 Buick Electra sedan.
Given that I actually bought a Thunderbird (Turbo Coupe) in 1983, my answer is self evident. And the LeSabre would have been absolute anathema; it looked extremely old fashioned in So California at the time, and 30 year old yuppie me I wouldn’t have been caught dead in it.
The Aerobird was very popular in CA and was the key product that determined the very different trajectories for Ford and GM in that pivotal and trend-setting state. The aero-Fords were very much accepted as reflecting what American cars could be if they were forward-looking and innovative whereas GM’s boxy and broughamy-look cars were rejected and before long, GM’s retail sales of passenger cars in CA were in terminal decline. And of course the Taurus propelled Ford to even greater success in CA. It would be interesting to have sales stats from just CA for the decade of the ’80s (and ’90s) to see just how extreme the difference was between the trajectory of Ford’s and GM’s passenger car sales there.
I do actually have that data, by brand though not by model. I’d have to compile it into some more legible form.
Give my the Buick. I do also like this T-birds, but the wheelbase is too short.
I wonder what the T-Bird/Cougar would have looked like on the Mark VII’s 108-inch wheelbase.
Tough question. By this point in time, Cindy had already cycled through a 79 Mustang that her dad traded in when the entire HVAC system failed. She was up to an 83 Mustang that, by 15,000 miles, was becoming very problematic. Then toss in the 84 Cougar the in laws bought that also had a ton of engine issues (both had the 3.8 Essux) and I might have begrudgingly opted for the Buick.
I don’t think any family suffered the issues we did with all our Ford products though out this time period (85 Mercury Capri-same engine-spun a bearing; 88 Sable wagon new transaxle at 6k; 89 Tracer-auto trans failure)
But I really did like the new Thunderbird and drove a few thinking we may end up with one. It never happened. Great story!
It shouldn’t be difficult. For a luxury ride, with tones of room, giant trunk, the Buick. For being sporty, possibly better mileage, the T Bird. For example, I took my friend in my 1980 Olds 98 down a dirt road that was rough. The car floated down the road. The T Bird would have felt every bump
Being totally in love with all things B Body, I would choose the Buick in a heartbeat. That interior looks a lot more inviting than that of the Thunderbird.
In reality, I wouldn’t have bought either. Huge coupes like the Buick have enormous doors that are a major pain in tight parking lots.
I remember those doors being awfully heavy! My dad was a teenager in the sixties, and the idea of a four-door (back then) was less than zero. But then again, he still drives a Mustang today, although I think he might like his (four-door) Bronco Sport better.
Thunderbird for me. Not the luxury of my Dad’s 1965 T-Bird but very right-sized for 1983, futuristic styling, great car for its time. A shame the Buick was not reliable because I’m sure it was roomier and more practical for your family at that time.
I agree. It would have been a great car if it would have run well from the get-go; I imagine most of them did.
I would have said neither and gotten a Regal or Cutlass Supreme. Maybe a Grand National if I could swing it, those were A LOT more $$$$ back then.
When I read these articles about 80s and back American cars, I’m always surprised at the numbers. As someone who was born in the early 90s, who became of driving age during the Obama Administration, and who has generally purchased foreign cars…it is difficult for me to comprehend a) how much of the market they owned, in the first place and b) the volumes the Detroit 3 were doing on what would be considered niche models. The 1982 T-bird did ~45,000 sales?! And that was a *bad* year?! The 2025 Mustang barely eked out 45,000 units in 2025, and that was mostly because of a big Q4 sales push on FoMoCo’s part. And I couldn’t imagine a coupe anything doing 122,000 units in The Year 2026, as the T-bird did for 1983. Insanity!
As far as these two choices, you hit on something else here, too. Ford moved to the 80s aero styling before GM (and Chrysler), and did a decent job. If your choice for a particular model year was between one of the new aero Fords and one of GM’s squared-off, late-70s-originated designs (and you weren’t loyal to/an employee of one or the other company), you might pick the GM car just to have something unquestionably handsome and also familiar. But plenty of people did go for the aero Fords. And after GM’s second wave of downsizing…it became clear that GM had lost its design mojo completely. The mid-late-80s GM cars weren’t so much aero as they were unfortunate, shrunken, rounded pastiches of their forebears. Compared to that, a jellybean/aero Ford was hardly a bad choice.
In ’84 I wanted to buy a slightly used ElDorado but couldn’t afford it. I considered the new T Bird, I preferred the fastback, but my Wife chose the new Cougar. The “I’ll be seeing you” advertising campaign really made the Cougar seem like something special. For the record, the Cougar was a fine car, smooth and quiet and no major problems in the six years that we owned it.
An easy choice: the T-Bird. My parents bought a 1985 based on my rec and my mother loved it. The V-6 offered plenty of snap for her. Eventually they moved up to a Lincoln Mark VII because of their positive experience.
Thank your mom. My wife had an ’84 T-Bird. Oh it was a nice ride, when it ran and until it quit. Engine electronics were horrendous on the V6. First we experienced runaway fast idle. Never knew when it would do it. Might be while stopped at a light, might be while driving on the highway. It could go 65 mph without your foot on the throttle. Dealer finally got it fixed. Later it started flooding out. Could barely keep it running. Dealer figured that out too. Then it barely ran at all, this was in 1994. Dealer had it for two weeks. Kept swapping out every component that Ford’s diagnostic computers said to replace. Never did get it to run. Dealer finally called Ford for help. Ford’s reply? “That the old ignition system. Nobody here knows anything about it.”
And forget those plastic hubcap inserts. Lost those things left and right. And talk about hot. You would think a white car with light blue interior and window tint would be cool inside. Nope. Get in during the summer and prepare to die. I think a big part of the problem was the aero design. All of the glass was slanted (even the window glass) which increased the amount of sunlight that got inside.
Did I mention the aero design? Notice how the sides of the car are also rounded? Now drive it in a strong cross wind at highway speed. Those rounded sides acted a bit like a wind. You could feel the car trying to lift in a cross wind. NASCAR proved that. When cars were square, a sideways stock car skidded. Those aero T-Bird’s getting sideways resulted in them getting airborne.
Put me in the T-Bird camp, as the ‘83 Aero Bird was the first of many T-Birds I would own from 1983 thru 1997.
Ironically, around the same time, my Dad would inherit my great uncle’s last car, a 1984 Buick LeSabre with the same engine as your Dad’s, Aaron, and even in the same color, if the color in your photo is correct. It was kind of a rose/brown metallic kind of color.
It’s probably the same color, Rick. I believe it was offered in 1983 and 1984.
Buick hands down, I wasn’t ready for the eighties. I would have had mine with 5 of those gorgeous Buick road wheels, no wheelbarrow spare wheel for me.
With a trunk that big, was it that necessary to save room like that ?
Given it’s a choice of 2 door vehicles, the 1983 Thunderbird. I’m generally not a fan of 2 door cars but the difference between a Thunderbird and a Fox body LTD would be enticement.
I couldn’t buy the LeSabre because the steering wheel wasn’t centered in front of driver if the car had the plush velour interior. Instead, it would sit three inches to the left. My father’s drove me crazy. I don’t think of myself as an obsessive driver, but there’s some things I cannot tolerate. This was one of them. A total deal killer.
The 1983 TBird is a Fox body. That’s solid. It was what the future looked like. While I wouldn’t be thrilled with the Fox body interior, it looks amazing and there wouldn’t have been any competition.
Ford made GM look so damn obsolete during the 1980s. GM rides were frumpmobiles from the last decade. GM’s PLCs were formal dork rides even years after Ford unveiled the new look. GM blew the decade selling Xcar disasters and shoebox styles from 1977. Below – a 1988 Buick Century.