Ford Thunderbird
The Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for model years 1955 to 2005, with a hiatus from 1998 to 2001.
Ultimately gaining a broadly used colloquial nickname, the T-Bird, the model was introduced as a two-seat convertible, subsequently offered variously in a host of body styles including as a four-seat hardtop coupe, four-seat convertible, five-seat convertible and hardtop, four-door pillared hardtop sedan, six-passenger hardtop coupe, and five-passenger pillared coupe, before returning in its final generation, again as a two-seat convertible.
At its inception, Ford targeted the two-seat Thunderbird as an upscale model. The 1958 model year design introduced a rear seat and arguably marked the expansion of a market segment that came to be known as personal luxury cars, positioned to emphasize comfort and convenience over handling and high-speed performance.
Overview
The Thunderbird entered production for model year 1955, marketed as an upscale, "sporty" two-seat convertible rather than as a sports car, per se — averting direct competition with the Chevrolet Corvette. With the 1958 introduction of second row seating, the Thunderbird led a new market segment, the so-called personal luxury car. Subsequent generations became successively larger until the line was downsized, first in 1977, again for 1980, and once again in 1983.By the 1990s, the Thunderbird's core market, the large two-door coupe, had fallen almost completely out of favor. Production ended with model year 1997, resuming for model years 2002–2005 as a smaller two-passenger convertible.
From its introduction in 1955 to its termination in 2005, production reached over 4.4 million.
Development
A smaller two-seater sports roadster, named the Vega, was developed in 1953 at the request of Henry Ford II. The completed one-off generated interest at the time, but had meager power, European looks, and a correspondingly high cost, so it never proceeded to production. The Thunderbird was similar in concept but was more American in style, more luxurious, and less sport-oriented.Credit for the development of the original Thunderbird is given to Lewis Crusoe, a former GM executive lured out of retirement by Henry Ford II; George Walker, chief stylist and a Ford vice president; Frank Hershey, chief stylist for the Ford Division; Bill Boyer, designer for the Body Development Studio, who became the manager of the Thunderbird Studio in the spring of 1955; and Bill Burnett, chief engineer. Ford Designer William P. Boyer was the lead stylist on the original 1955 two-seater Thunderbird and also had input in the following series of Thunderbirds that included the 30th Anniversary Edition. Hershey's participation in the creation of the Thunderbird was more administrative than artistic. 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?" Some versions of the story claim that Walker replied by telling Crusoe, "Oh, we're working on it..." Although if anything existed at the time beyond casual dream-car sketches by members of the design staff, records of it have never come to light.
Walker promptly telephoned Ford's HQ in Dearborn and told designer Frank Hershey about the conversation with Crusoe. Hershey took the idea and began working on the vehicle. The concept was for a two-passenger open car, with a target weight of, a Ford Y-block Interceptor V8 based on the forthcoming overhead-valve Ford engine slated for 1954 model year introduction, and a top speed over. 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. After Henry Ford II returned from the Los Angeles Auto Show in 1953, he approved the final design concept to compete with the then-new Corvette.
The name was not among the thousands proposed, including rejected options such as Apache, Falcon, Eagle, Tropicale, Hawaiian, and Thunderbolt. A Ford stylist who had lived in the southwest submitted the Thunderbird name, a reference to the mythological thunderbird, a supernatural bird of great power and strength of the North American indigenous people.
At the time, Ernest Breech, then chairman of Ford Motor Company, was a member of the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. According to club lore, he asked its permission to use the name, which was granted.
Generations
First generation (1955–1957)
The Ford Thunderbird was introduced in February 1953 as a response to Chevrolet's new sports car, the Corvette, which was publicly unveiled in prototype form just a month before. Under rapid development, the Thunderbird went from idea to prototype in about a year, being unveiled to the public at the Detroit Auto Show on February 20, 1954. It was a two-seat design available with a detachable fiberglass hardtop and a folding fabric top.Production of the Thunderbird began on September 9 of that year, with the car beginning sales as a 1955 model on October 22, 1954. Though sharing some design characteristics with other Fords of the time such as single circular headlamps and tail lamps, and modest tail fins, the Thunderbird was sleeker in shape and featured a hood scoop and a speedometer not available on other Fords. It used mechanical components from mass-market Ford models. The Thunderbird's wheelbase frame was a shortened version used in other Fords and the standard Y-block V8 came from Ford's Mercury division.
Though inspired by and positioned directly against the Corvette, Ford advertised the Thunderbird at launch as a "personal car of distinction" and put a greater emphasis on the car's comfort and convenience features rather than its inherent sportiness.
The Thunderbird sold exceptionally well in its first year, outselling the Corvette by more than 23-to-one in 1955 with 16,155 Thunderbirds sold against 700 Corvettes.
With the Thunderbird considered a success, few changes were made to the car for the 1956 model year. The most notable change was moving the spare tire to a Continental-style rear bumper to make more storage room in the trunk and a new 12-volt electrical system. The addition of the weight at the rear caused steering issues. Among the few other changes were new paint colors, the addition of standard circular porthole windows in the fiberglass roof to improve rearward visibility, and a Y-block V8 rated at when mated to a three-speed manual transmission or when mated to a Ford-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission; this transmission featured a "low gear", which was accessible manually via the gear selector. When in Drive, it was a two-speed automatic transmission. Low gear could also be accessed with a wide-open throttle. In 1956, Ford also added its new Lifeguard safety package.
The Thunderbird was revised for 1957 with a reshaped front bumper, a larger grille and tailfins, and larger tail lamps. The instrument panel was heavily restyled with round gauges in a single pod, and the rear of the car was lengthened, allowing the spare tire to be positioned back in the trunk. The V8 became the Thunderbird's standard engine, and was rated at an increased. Other, more powerful versions of this V8 were available, including one with two four-barrel Holley carburetors, and another with a Paxton supercharger rated at . Though Ford was pleased to see sales of the Thunderbird rise to a highest ever 21,380 units for 1957, company executives felt the car could do even better, leading to a substantial redesign of the car for 1958.
Second generation (1958–1960)
Although the 1955–57 Thunderbird was a success, Ford executives—particularly Robert McNamara—were concerned that the car's position as a two-seater limited its sales potential. As a result, the car was redesigned as a four-seater for 1958.Despite being released mid-model year, the new Thunderbird began a sales momentum previously unseen with the car, selling 200,000 units in three years, four times that of the three-year two-seat model run. This success spawned a new market segment, the personal luxury car. It was the first individual model line to earn Motor Trend "Car of the Year" honors.
It was offered in both hardtop and convertible body styles, although the latter was not introduced until June 1958, five months after the release of the hardtop. The new Thunderbird was considerably larger than the previous generation, with a longer wheelbase to accommodate the new back seat. The increased size also increased the car's weight by. Along with a new, more rigid unibody construction was new styling, including quad headlights, more prominent tailfins, a bolder chrome grille, and a larger, though nonfunctional, hood scoop. The engine was the new FE V8, available with a three-speed manual or automatic transmissions. The mid-1958 model year sales were 37,892 units, an increase of 16,000 over the previous year.
For 1959, the Thunderbird featured a new grille and a newly optional MEL V8 engine. Sales increased to 67,456 units.
For the 1960 model year, the grille was again redesigned along with minor styling changes. A new option was a manually operated sunroof for hardtop models. The dual-unit round taillights featured on the 1958 and 1959 were changed to triple-units. Sales increased again, with 92,843 sold in 1960.
Third generation (1961–1963)
The Thunderbird was redesigned for 1961 with styling that gave the car a futuristic bullet-like body-side appearance. A new engine, the FE V8, was the standard and only engine initially offered in the Thunderbird. It was rated at and was mated to a three-speed automatic transmission. The new Thunderbird was well received, with 73,051 sold for 1961.The car was 1961's Indianapolis 500 pace car and was featured prominently in US President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade, who appointed Ford executive Robert McNamara as secretary of defense. It also benefitted from product placement, notably on the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip.
A vinyl-roofed Landau option with simulated S-bars was added to the Thunderbird for 1962 as was a Sports Roadster package for convertible models. The Sports Roadster included 48-spoke Kelsey-Hayes-designed wire wheels and a special fiberglass tonneau cover for the rear seats, which gave the car the appearance of a two-seat roadster like the original Thunderbird. The Sports Roadster package was slow-selling due to the high price of the package and the complexity of the tonneau cover.
Newly optional for 1962 was a version of the V8 equipped with three two-barrel Holley carburetors. For 1963 only, The engine was only available in cars equipped with factory air conditioning.
Few other changes were made to the Thunderbird for 1963, as Ford prepared to introduce a new version for 1964. A horizontal styling line was added that ran from the front of the car back through the door. Small diagonal chrome bars were added in this area on the door. Alternators rather than generators were a new feature on all 1963 Thunderbirds.