Ford's pretty little roadster is back.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

DETROIT _ The 2002 Ford Thunderbird may look like a sexy blast from the past, but it shares about 60 percent of its parts with the modern Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type.

Run through the most storied cars in automotive history and there aren't many survivors whose modern forms can still send a nostalgic shiver through car lovers.

The Corvette, which I'd argue remains the most identifiable, quintessentially American car the world over, is boldly reclaiming its birthright as it nears its 50th anniversary. Ford has the Mustang, whose current status is more open to argument.

But several venerable cars, from the Cutlass to the Continental, have had their distinctive styles battered out of shape and their images tarnished over the years.

That's certainly the boat the Thunderbird was in by the time Ford mercifully laid it to rest in 1997. I still remember a reader who insisted that fact was wrong. The T-Bird, he was certain, had faded away sometime in the `80s. I directed him to a photo of the `97 model. "That's not a Thunderbird," he mumbled, corrected but not entirely convinced.

In a way, the kind reader was right: That was no Thunderbird.

Consider Ford's error corrected.