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It’s back.

After a four-year absence, Ford has brought back the icon, a vehicle the automaker not so modestly calls a “living legend.” This keeps a promise Ford made when it dropped the Thunderbird from its fleet after the 1997 model year.

If you want to get your hands on one, however, be advised that only 11,000 will be built this year, only 25,000 next year, and those with their names on the waiting list in preparation for its return number 17,000–and counting.

Chris Theodore, vice president of North American Cars for Ford, said production will be kept low to ensure demand exceeds supply to maintain value for buyers, profits for dealers.

Theodore, one of those responsible for bringing the PT Cruiser to life at DaimlerChrysler before joining Ford, said Thunderbird won’t mimic that car by raising production to meet demand.

Ford’s 2002 Thunderbird version of the 1955-1957 two-seater goes on sale in August/September at $34,595 or more, depending on whether you settle for the power convertible top or add the removable hardtop with side porthole windows and a few other goodies.

What you end up paying, of course, also will depend on how much profit the dealer will settle for.

If dealers padded profits by $5,000 and more on a Chrysler PT Cruiser that started at about $15,000, you can only imagine what they’ll ask for a car starting at $34,495.

Consider that the original ’55 Thunderbird cost $2,695, or $195 more than the removable hardtop costs today.

The ’02 Thunderbird unveiled to the media here this week blends design cues from ’50s and ’60s models to come up with a nostalgia piece.

In the styling department, Thunderbird is a head turner, with the look of the ’50s upfront, the ’60s in back. The ‘Bird boasts a familiar and distinctive decorative hood scoop, spread wing “Thunderbird” emblems on hood and deck lid, oval head and taillamps and the same namebadge on the rear quarter panel used on the ’55 model.

The ‘Bird looks its sportiest with top down, most appealing with the hardtop in place. That top takes a special tool to unlatch and then two folks to lift the 85 pounds and place in its wheeled cart for storage.

And whether convertible top is up or hardtop fastened, side and rear vision is good with minimal blind spots.

However, in the time spent testing the Thunderbird here, we found you have to account for the “thunk factor” when entering or exiting the vehicle when the convertible or hardtop are in place. The “thunk” is the sound your head makes when hitting either top, which sit low over the doors. It’s the same problem most suffer when getting into or out of an Audi TT coupe.

Ford expects 97 percent of buyers will opt for the hardtop, so if you are taller than, say, 5 feet 8 inches, you should first purchase a good solid helmet.

But we digress.

Ford pulled off the new machine inexpensively by building it off the same platform as the Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type luxury sedans and using the 3.9-liter, 252-horsepower V-8 from the LS as the power source.

“Thunderbird is not a sports car, and it is not a luxury car. It is a sit-back-and-relax, cruise-in-comfort, fun-to-drive, easily recognizable, rear-wheel-drive V-8 powered car,” Theodore said.

The 3.9 has been tuned for quicker off-the-line response than in the LS sedan, but don’t expect to leave a patch of radial tread on the pavement. No supercharger, but Ford officials don’t rule one out, saying Jaguar intends to supercharge its S-Type sedan soon and that application could then find its way into the ‘Bird.

The 3.9 didn’t need to take deep breaths when maneuvering the mountains here.

The suspension is tuned for soft, but not sloppy, ride and alert, but not razor sharp, handling. While the ‘Bird weighs about 3,750 pounds, same as the original, you don’t feel a lot of weight in the wheel or have to ht to control those pounds on twisting roads.

Anti-lock brakes are standard, traction control a $230 option.

Noteworthy features include a quick-response power top.

“Most power tops work in 13 to 20 seconds. Our goal was that if parked at the light and you want the top down or it starts to rain and you want the top up, to be able to do it in 8 to 10 seconds,” said Nancy Gioia, chief engineer for Thunderbird.

The ‘Bird comes with lower deployment force front air bags as well as side air bags in the seats “that will still offer head protection in a side impact with the top down,” Gioia said.

With the top down, the tonneau cover can be added by pressing six snaps. But word of advice to the homecoming queen or politician riding in a parade: You can’t sit on the tonneau cover without damaging the glass rear window on the convertible top. But there’s a ledge to hold small items directly behind the seat backs. The wall that helps form that ledge will hold up to a 250-pounder waving at the crowd.

Two sets of golf clubs will fit in the snug trunk, Ford insists, but expect a tight squeeze because storage is abbreviated to accommodate the mini spare and battery under the floor.

Because this isn’t a luxury car per se, a couple items are missing–heated seats and a navigation system, neither offered or even considered. And since it’s not a sports car, there’s no manual transmission, and none is planned.

Couple gripes other than the “thunk factor” are that the outside mirrors could be larger, and the steering column has a power tilt and telescoping feature. But we’d prefer that the ‘Bird offer the power adjustable brake/gas pedals available in many other Ford cars and trucks. They motor to you so that you don’t have to move your seat closer to the steering column.

And not a gripe, but a warning–the ‘Bird is offered in red, black, white, yellow and blue, the latter a turquoise like that on the original ’55 and the nicest of the color schemes. But blue and yellow will be offered only the first year “and then dropped and never offered again,” Gioia said. Each year a couple new exterior colors will be added to keep the vehicle looking fresh.

One of the problems with Thunderbird over the years is that Ford couldn’t leave well enough alone and the car underwent a variety of image changes. The original two-seat, personal luxury car not only grew in size and weight, it also added a couple more seats and even a couple more doors.

“We lost focus,” Theodore says of nearly constant fiddling with the machine. “What’s amazing is that the name still carries a special image with consumers after all these years, but when you mention Thunderbird, what people think and talk about are those ’55-’57 ‘Birds built more than 40 years ago.

“What people tell us they appreciate most about the new one is that it is true to the original image,” he said.

Chances for the new ‘Bird to add seats and doors?

“Over my dead body,” Theodore vowed.

Standard equipment includes gas-charged shocks; variable-effort power steering; four-wheel independent suspension; all-season, 17-inch radials; dual power mirrors; color-keyed bodyside and rocker-panel moldings; speed-sensitive wipers; air conditioning with dual driver/passenger controls; AM/FM stereo with in-dash six-CD player and clock; delayed accessory shutoff; leather-wrapped steering wheel; power tilt/telescoping steering column; power windows/door locks; rear-window defroster; remote keyless entry; power, leather bucket seats; cruise control; locking glovebox; and trip odometer.

Options are limited to $2,500 for the removable hardtop with portholes and glass rear window with defroster, $230 for all-speed traction control and a variety of interior decor schemes that match the exterior, packages that run from $295 to $800 depending on how wild you get with “inspirational yello, “torch red,” Thunderbird blue or black accents to steering column, shift lever, instrument panel, seats, and door trim.

If you ordered one, chances are you can get a Chrysler PT Cruiser sooner than a Thunderbird–for probably half the price.