Rounded headlights, the distinctive oval egg-crate grill and a generous strip of chrome bordering the wrap-around wind screen on the concept make a direct link to the roadster that became an American automotive and popular culture icon.

``The new concept car is an indication of where we're headed with the Thunderbird when it goes back into production for the new millennium,'' said Ford chief executive officer Jac Nasser.

Ford showed the Thunderbird, painted in what it called sun-mist yellow, at the opening media day of the North American International Auto Show. The car displayed on Sunday was a two-seater with a removable hard-top. It has 18-inch spoked aluminum wheels and a hood scoop integrated into the hood.The interior is covered in black andyellow leather. Instrument panel gauges are white with turquoise dial pointers.

Ford has said the Thunderbird will be built at its Wixom Assembly plant in Wixom, Michigan. Analysts expect the car to go into production in mid-2000 and be offered for sale later that year as a 2001 model year.

An analyst Christopher Cedergren at industry consultant Nextrend, said the car has likely tested well in market research, and Ford could decide to pull the programme forward six months if it wanted. ``It's going to be like the Beetle,'' Cedergren said. ``People are going to be standing in line waiting for that thing.'' Ford will offer the same V-6 and V-8 engines that will be in the new Lincoln LS luxury sedans, Cedergren said. Annual production volume could be 25,000, but could hit 60,000 units. The price will likely be $30,000 to $40,000, he said.

The Thunderbird's roots date back to October 1951 when Ford executive Louis Crusoe was visiting Paris and wondered why Ford did not have a sporty car like those he saw ondisplay. The project was launched. Some of the early name considerations were: Hep Cat, Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout, Savile, El Tigre and Coronado.

First introduced in 1954 as a 1955 model with a base sticker price of $2,695, the Thunderbird became an instant smash hit. More than 3,500 orders were placed in its first 10 days on the market. Three years later, Ford turned the Thunderbird into a four-seater to appeal to the growing numbers of families with children.

The sporty Thunderbird soon became a symbol of a youthful America in the 1950s and 1960s. It was featured in the Beach Boys hit ``Fun, Fun, Fun.'' A blond-haired Suzanne Sommers was immortalised in a Thunderbird in the movie ``American Graffiti.''

But the Thunderbird got bigger through the 1960s and 1970s and moved away from its original design. Sales continued to dwindle into the 1990s as the market for two-door cars fell and demand for sport utility vehicles increased. Ford discontinued the car with the 1997 model after 42 years and totalsales of more than four million.

Although the Thunderbird concept harkens back to the original, Ford's vice president of design, J Mays, denies the car is part of the ``retro'' styling trend. Instead, the car is what Ford calls ``modern heritage.''``While the Thunderbird concept is loaded with heritage cues, it is a decidedly modern machine,'' he said.Cedergren at Nextrend said the Thunderbird was another example of domestic automakers realising the marketing blunders that saw them stray too far from the strong original brands of their past. ``If the Thunderbird had remained true to its form, the Thunderbird that's going to be at the show would be the Thunderbird we would have right now,'' he emphasised.