Many of the models you’re likely to see today have been restored to pristine like new showroom condition and if you wish to bid on one the price tag is not cheap. The 55 being the first year model may be the most valuable because of milestone status. The 1955 Ford Thunderbird is obviously a rare and valuable collector car. Where to Find Serial Numbers on Classic Carsįirst Generation Ford Thunderbird Collector Cars Story of the 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Retractable Hardtop See the following Auto Museum Online articles on the links below… If you started adding options that price could balloon another $1,000. Base price for this Thunderbird was $2,700. This was regardless any price difference. This far surpassed Chevrolet Corvette sale for that year. To illustrate how good demand was, Ford had planned on selling only 10,000 units. ![]() This was Independent front suspension using coil springs and a solid rear axle on leaf springs.Ībout 16,000 1955 T-Birds were sold. Suspension for the Thunderbird was really no different than other Ford cars. With the manual gearbox the horsepower was 193. The car equipped with the automatic could deliver about 198 HP. The automatic was named the “ Ford-O-Matic“. The engines on these first generation Thunderbirds were Mercury 292 cubic inch V-8’s.īoth three speed automatic and three speed manual transmissions were offered with the 55 T-Bird. There were eleven generations in all from 1955 to 2005. The first generation of Ford Thunderbirds were the 1955 through 1957 model years. Burnett, chief passenger car engineer for Ford, is that ‘although the Thunderbird has the performance and attributes of most sports cars, management also felt that it should have a few more comforts to make it more appealing to a wider segment of the public.'” The thinking behind this, as brought out in a discussion with W.R. Motor Trend, in regards to the new Ford Thunderbird, pretty much summed up Ford managements goal for the automobile…”Ford prefers to call it a ‘personal car. Really not a bad idea at all when you consider there was a market for a part sport car-part luxury coupe. This fact probably led Ford to create a new automobile niche called the “ personal luxury car“. The two cars were really tow different machines from the exterior body material to the interior appointments. They were competing head to head, but as mentioned above, Ford appeared to put more creature comfort features into their Thunderbird. Corvette would add a V-8 as an option for the 1955 model.Īnother important thing to note was that the Ford Thunderbird was not really built solely as a sports car like the Chevy Corvette. The first Corvette had a straight six engine and the first Thunderbird came with a V-8. First off, the Corvette was had a fiberglass body. When you note that the Thunderbird was created to compete against the two-seater Chevy Corvette, you have to also point out the differences between the two cars. It’s been said that Ford had some 4,000 pre-orders for the 55 Thunderbird. This new automobile from Ford generated so much excitement that the company sold their first cars in October 1954, about one month ahead of schedule. On top of that the car had a removable hardtop. ![]() Add to that performance and you had an all around sports car that had more creature comforts than the British imports. This was a sporty two seat roadster that emphasized passenger comfort. The 1955 Ford Thunderbird was introduced to the public at the 1954 Detroit Auto Show. As a result, when the Ford designers were given the job of designing the Thunderbird a lot of work had already been completed. ![]() Designing for what would be the Ford Thunderbird began during the first years of the 1950’s. At the same time the economy was humming along fine and sport cars even as second vehicles were popular. All they had to do was look at the British MG and it’s success in North America. ![]() Interestingly enough, Ford was well aware of the popularity of two seat sports cars prior to Chevrolet coming out with the Corvette. The first 1955 Ford Thunderbird was built in September 1954 in Dearborn, Michigan.Ĭhevrolet introduced it’s Corvette at the 1953 Metrorama. The winning employee, a Ford stylist, won a suit from Saks Fifth Avenue. As a side note, the “ Thunderbird” name was drawn from an in-house contest at Ford Motor Company.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |