1955 Ford Thunderbird
The Ford
Thunderbird is a car manufactured in the United States by the Ford Motor
Company. It entered production for the 1955 model year as a two-seater
sporty car; unlike the superficially similar (and slightly earlier)
Chevrolet Corvette, the Thunderbird was never sold as a full-blown
sports car. Ford described it as a personal luxury car, a description
which named a new market segment. In 1958, the Thunderbird gained a
second row of seats for greater practicality. Succeeding generations
became larger and more luxurious, until the line was downsized in 1977
and again in 1980. Sales were good until the 1990s, when large 2-door
coupes became unpopular; production ceased after 1997. In 2002, a
revived 2-seat model was launched, was available through the end of the
2005 model year.
Three men are
generally credited with creating the original Thunderbird: Lewis D.
Crusoe, a retired GM executive lured out of retirement by Henry Ford II;
George Walker, chief stylist and a Ford vice-president; and Frank
Hershey, a Ford designer. Crusoe and Walker met in France in October
1951. Walking in the Grand Palais in Paris, Crusoe pointed at a sports
car and asked Walker, 'Why can’t we have something like that?'
Walker
promptly telephoned Ford's HQ in Dearborn and told designer Frank
Hershey about the idea. Hershey took the idea and began working on the
vehicle. The concept was for a two-passenger open car, with a target
weight of 2525 lb (1145 kg), an Interceptor V8 engine and a top speed of
over 100 mph (160 km/h). Crusoe saw a painted clay model on May 18,
1953, which corresponded closely to the final car; he gave the car the
go-ahead in September after comparing it with current European trends.
Unlike the Corvette, the Thunderbird was never a full-blown sporting vehicle; Ford's description was personal luxury car, and the company essentially created this market segment.
Unlike the Corvette, the Thunderbird was never a full-blown sporting vehicle; Ford's description was personal luxury car, and the company essentially created this market segment.
There
was some difficulty in naming the car, with suggestions ranging from the
exotic to the ridiculous (Hep Cat, Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout,
Arcturus, Savile, El Tigre, and Coronado were submitted among the 5,000
suggestions). One serious suggestion was Whizzer. Crusoe offered a $250
suit to anyone who could come up with a better name.
Stylist Alden
"Gib" Giberson submitted Thunderbird as part of a list. Giberson never
claimed his prize, settling for a $95 suit and an extra pair of trousers
from Saks Fifth Avenue.
According to Palm Springs Life magazine,
the car's final name came not from the Native American symbol as one
might expect, but from an ultra-exclusive housing tract in what would
later be incorporated as Rancho Mirage, California: Thunderbird Heights.
The
car was shown at the first postwar Detroit Auto Show on February 20,
1954. The first production car came off the line on September 9, 1954.
It went on sale on October 22, 1954) as a 1955 model, and sold briskly;
3,500 orders were placed in the first ten days of sale. Ford had only
projected building 10,000; eventual 1955 sales were 16,155.
As
standard, the 1955 Thunderbird included a removable fiberglass top; a
fabric convertible top was an option, although commonly specified. The
only engine option was a 292 Y-block V8. The exhausts exited through
twin "bullets" above the rear bumper, as was the fashion.
For the
1956 model, Ford made some changes. To give more trunk space, the spare
wheel was mounted outside, Continental-style; the exhausts were moved to
the ends of the bumper. Air vents were added behind the front wheels to
improve cabin ventilation. To improve rear-quarter visibility with the
removable hardtop in place, "porthole" windows were made available as a
no-cost option. An optional 312 Y-block V8 was made available for those
that wanted more performance.
1956 sales were 15,631, the lowest of all three 2-seater Thunderbird model years.
For
1957, a more radical restyle was performed. The front bumper was
reshaped, with heavier sides, "bullets" at the ends of the grille, and
the section below the grille dropping down. The grille was larger. The
tailfins were made larger, more pointed, and canted outward; larger
round tail-lights were fitted. The spare wheel moved inside the trunk
again, which had been redesigned to allow it to be mounted vertically
and take up less space. The side "Thunderbird" script moved from the
fins to the front fenders. The styling was so influential, the later
British Anglia bore an uncanny resemblance to it. The Corsair was
heavily influenced by the later "Bullet bird" of 1961-63.
1957 sales were 21,380, including three extra months of production because the 1958 models were late.
The 1957 Thunderbird would be the last two-seater Ford ever built and sold to the public until the 1982 Ford EXP.
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