With the Thunderbird considered a success, few changes were made to the car for the 1956 model year. In fact, the Thunderbird outsold the Corvette by more than 23-to-one for 1955 with 16,155 Thunderbirds sold against 700 Corvettes. The Thunderbird sold exceptionally well in its first year. Though inspired by, and positioned directly against, the Corvette, Ford billed the Thunderbird as a personal car, putting a greater emphasis on the car's comfort and convenience features rather than its inherent sportiness. The Thunderbird's 102' wheelbase frame was a shortened version used in other Fords and the standard 292 CI Y-block V8 came from Ford's Mercury division. It utilized mechanical components from mass-market Ford models. Though sharing some design characteristics with other Fords of the time, such as single, circular headlamps and tail lamps and modest tailfins, the Thunderbird was sleeker in shape and featured a hood scoop and a 150 mph speedometer not available on other Fords. Production of the Thunderbird began on September 9 of that year, with the car beginning sales as a 1955 model on October 22, 1954. It was a two-seat design available with a detachable glass-fiber hardtop and a folding fabric top. 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. 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. From 1968 to 1998, Lincoln-Mercury marketed rebadged variants of the Thunderbird as the Continental Mark III, Mark IV, Mark V, Mercury Cougar, Lincoln Mark VII, and Lincoln Mark VIII. An American interpretation of the grand tourer, personal luxury cars were built with a higher emphasis on driving comfort and convenience features over handling and high-speed performance. These included 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, with the final generation designed again as a two-seat convertible.įord targeted the two-seat Thunderbird as an upscale model, but the design introduced for 1958 featured a rear seat and arguably marked expansion of a market segment eventually known as personal luxury cars. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was produced in a variety of body configurations. Great lease rates and Financing also available on any of our inventory!įord Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a nameplate that was used by Ford from model years 1955 to 19 to 2005 for a personal luxury car during which there were eleven distinct generations. Thunderbird wire wheels w/ wide whitewalls Improved lower fan shroud and smaller water pump pulley exchange A true classic that features the following:Īir conditioning w/ cooling package comprised of: Stunning in Black over Red with glistening Chrome. A great driving car with Power Steering, Power Brakes, A/C and Automatic Transmission. Frame off restoration was completed in September of 2017 and a mere 299 Miles have been traveled since. & Brakes, Pristineįully Restored and absolutely gorgeous T-Bird. 1956 Ford Thunderbird, Frame Off Resto, Auto, A/C, PWR Steer.

1956 ford t bird