Ford Thunderbird 1955-1959, from Stunning to Clunky in 5 short years.

[PhillyFordGuy]

On 6/1/2023 at 11:29 PM, John Bloom said:

Of all the older collectible cars I’ve had in my lifetime, if you asked me which one just really didn’t live up to my expectations, it would probably be the 55 Tbird.  I have always thought they were good looking and I still do. I was really excited when I got this car, but over the seven or eight years I had it, it just never really impressed me. I was trying to describe this to a buddy who had one as well, and as we were talking he was nodding his head up and down and used  the phrase “kit car”.  I think he was onto something. I used to wonder is it just my example???  but I have since heard from many people who had those early Tbird‘s say the same thing. The build quality just was not up to the standards of what other Makes offered.  I still smile when I see them, but I think I got it out of my system.

 

I can’t really speak about the square birds since I’ve never had one. 

Maybe I could fall again for a 57 Coral sand Bird. 

 

They look great, but are by no means exhilarating to drive.

 

[Ed Luddy]

5 hours ago, Pfeil said:

But what happened to the girl???

He's still married to her. I introduced her to him in 1979.

[1957Birdman]

I think both generations of T-Birds have their advantages and disadvantages. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. looked pretty cool diving his 1958 white T-Bird convertible down the Sunset Strip. The first generation 1955 looked like a chopped, channeled, and sectioned full-size Ford.  It was a high-performance car that was competitive with cars in a similar price range. 

As for the 'exhilaration' factor, I doubt that many popular priced cars from the mid 1950's would check that box if you were to drive them today. It is, in my opinion, a touring type sport car that Ford chose to position as a personal car. In the end that probably hits the mark best.

Lew Bachman

1957 Thunderbird (owned for 26 years)

[Swedish Car Nut]

1958-60 Two seater 😄

[Buffalowed Bill]

" If they had only focused on making the 55 Bird a higher performing car just as it looked with a smallish second row seating option, it may have been a real winner." 

 

To that point that is exactly what Ford did five years later with the 1st gen Mustang. It also added the element of affordability to the equation. 

 

I often ask myself what's in a name (model, or even marque). The passing of a name can either be ignored by the masses or it's demise grieved-Oldsmobile or Plymouth. Some model names are discarded, or moved around, so often that they mean nothing. In the case of the T-Bird was it the name that sold the larger Fords or was the buying public just ready to move on from the two seater and the company just read the market correctly. In the case of the T-Bird I think it was a little of both-what say you? 

[58L-Y8]

The first-generation 1955-'57 Ford Thunderbirds were purely a competitive response to the challenge presented by the Chevrolet Corvette.  It was secondarily a vanity project for Ford Motor company management to challenge GM on every model front.  The two-seat configuration was a given as both cars sought to appeal to growing interest in imported sports cars from MG TC to Jaguar XK.  The clean styling was consistent with the overall design idiom of the cars in that class.  In Ford's case, they presented essentially a sectioned, reproportioned 'custom' version of the full-sized 1955-'56 Ford styling to gain the visually associated sales advantage in the showroom.  But the two-seater market was a volume limited one, Ford was going public with its first stock offering in 1956, thereafter no loss-leaders were going to be carried for long.

 

While personal/luxury concept was perceived as a potential growth segment, expanding passenger capacity to four widened the appeal to a broader market and greater sales volume...and per-unit profits.   By mid-1955 the decision to pursue that market had been made, styling was mandated to develop a 'sporty' personal/luxury design that would appeal to an upmarket clientele which in the tenor of the times had moved beyond clean and purposeful, embracing "Jet-Age" glamorous.  The market spoke, verified the four-seat decision and styling were correct, rewarded Ford with 37K+ 1958 sales, came close to doubling down for 1959: 67K+ and clinched it with 92K+ for 1960.   Thunderbird's success caused GM to take the market segment seriously, developing first the stopgap Oldsmobile Starfire then the Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado, FWD Cadillac Eldorado, plus popular-priced segment Pontiac Grand Prix and Chevrolet Monte Carlo. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by 58L-Y8
syntax corrected (see edit history)

[Avanti Bill]

2 hours ago, Buffalowed Bill said:

" If they had only focused on making the 55 Bird a higher performing car just as it looked with a smallish second row seating option, it may have been a real winner." 

 

To that point that is exactly what Ford did five years later with the 1st gen Mustang. It also added the element of affordability to the equation. 

 

I often ask myself what's in a name (model, or even marque). The passing of a name can either be ignored by the masses or it's demise grieved-Oldsmobile or Plymouth. Some model names are discarded, or moved around, so often that they mean nothing. In the case of the T-Bird was it the name that sold the larger Fords or was the buying public just ready to move on from the two seater and the company just read the market correctly. In the case of the T-Bird I think it was a little of both-what say you? 

Keep in mind that the 57 F code thunderbird was supercharged and over 300 hp.  They blew away the Fuelie Corvettes at speed week in Daytona in February of 57.  I have a speed certificate for an F code going 160+ MPH with Danny Eames at the wheel signed by Bill France Sr.  By July of that year NASCAR outlawed Supercharging and Fuel Injection for being unfair competition.  I think it would be totally unfair to discount these cars as not being competitive sports cars, the only thing stronger may have been European exotics though I know of none in the 300 HP range for 57. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Avanti Bill (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

Lots of stories of how the car came to be, so I looked it up on Wikipedia and found another story.

 

A smaller two-seater sports roadster was developed at the behest of Henry Ford II in 1953 called the Vega. 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.^[4] Hershey's participation in the creation of the Thunderbird was more administrative than artistic.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 2,525 lb (1,145 kg), an Interceptor V8 engine based on the forthcoming overhead-valve Ford V8 slated for 1954 model year introduction, and a top speed over 100 mph (161 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. After Henry Ford II returned from the Los Angeles Auto Show (Autorama) 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 (the original name of the P-51 Mustang), Falcon (owned by Chrysler at the time),^[5] Eagle, Tropicale, Hawaiian, and Thunderbolt.^[6] A Ford stylist who had lived in the southwest submitted the Thunderbird name.^[7] The word "thunderbird" is a reference to a legendary creature for North American indigenous people. It is considered a supernatural bird of power and strength.

Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, also lays claim to being the inspiration for the name of the car. According to it, Ernest Breech, a Thunderbird Country Club member who was then chairman of Ford Motor Company, was supposedly deeply involved in the creation of the Thunderbird. Breech, it is claimed, asked the Club's permission to use the name, which was granted.^[8]

[Buffalowed Bill]

On 6/4/2023 at 2:13 PM, Avanti Bill said:

Keep in mind that the 57 F code thunderbird was supercharged and over 300 hp.  They blew away the Fuelie Corvettes at speed week in Daytona in February of 57.  I have a speed certificate for an F code going 160+ MPH with Danny Eames at the wheel signed by Bill France Sr.  By July of that year NASCAR outlawed Supercharging and Fuel Injection for being unfair competition.  I think it would be totally unfair to discount these cars as not being competitive sports cars, the only thing stronger may have been European exotics though I know of none in the 300 HP range for 57. 

I was just commenting on another contributor's response. I like both the early Bird and the contemporary Corvette. Two totally different beasts. I've never owed either but have been around both in my youth. Neither one was better then the other-just different. At my age I just enjoy seeing and remembering when they were just a used car.

[John348]

I saw a few on Sunday at a show on Long Island, don't see to many so I took a few photos

 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I like 55 - 57 Tbirds enough to consider one.  Just not sure I like one better than anything in house at the moment and we are at the absolute limit for me anyway, of 3 hobby cars.  A willow green 56 though...

 

A friend had a squarebird in HS, his dad had a bodyshop connection and they cleaned it up but tough to get the rockers to look right, they used a lot of filler as I recall.  Duals with cherry bomb like mufflers, I do recall a pretty stable car for high speed highway cruising.  The hood scoop looks cool but a lot going on in that design.

 He wrecked it one night, and I think he had to replace the nose as a unit which was kind of weird. A design flaw I think was windows crack if you leave them halfway down and shut the door.  Say last time I saw that car the rockers were rotting again.  I wonder where it is today..