The Ford Thunderbird: 70th Anniversary and Most Interesting Facts

On this day exactly 70 years ago, Ford Motor Company introduced the public to a new two-door sports car. Six months later, in the fall of 1954, it debuted on the market as the Ford Thunderbird.

For the anniversary of one of the most famous cars in American history, we have collected the most interesting facts about it.

His name is always misinterpreted

Yes, this is the most common mistake. Thanks to someone else, Thunderbird is called a petrel. Well, it seems logical Thunder – thunder, bird – bird. In fact, Thunderbird is literally the “bird of thunder” from Native American mythology. A huge creature that makes thunder and throws lightning.

Well, the English word for petrel is Pelter.

Thunderbird was a response to the Chevrolet Corvette

An interesting story is that the first Corvette, introduced in 1953, forced Ford to hurry up with its response. Therefore, I developed the car in literally one year. If the Chevrolet sports car sold very sluggishly, then there was a queue for the T-bird.

Already during the presentation of the model at the Detroit auto show in February 1954, Ford collected over 3,500 orders. The company’s management hoped that they would be able to sell 10 thousand cars a year, but in 1955, 16,155 copies of the “thunderbird” were shipped to customers. For comparison, only 700 Corvettes were sold during the same period.

Thunderbird is a sports car only in the American sense

Beautiful, but not particularly fast. This is the best way to characterize a T-bird. Yes, even the first-generation model was equipped with a 4.8-liter V8 engine producing 180 hp, but the relatively high weight and shortened chassis of standard Fords did not make the Thunder a real sports car.

In corners, the car lost to all European roadsters and the Corvette too. But on the highway it could accelerate to 180 km/h. Although the speedometer was calibrated right up to 150 mph (240 km/h).

The main complaint about the model was its spaciousness

The first generation Thunderbird was produced only in a two-seater version, and for this the car was criticized the most. Dealers even offered a special factory option – a folding seat in the trunk, where you could put children or teenagers.

The option was called Bird Nest – “Bird’s Nest” – and was in some demand. However, the Ford team learned from their mistakes. The second generation of the T-bird, like all subsequent ones, with the exception of the very latest, was already equipped with two rows of seats.

Production of the Ford Thunderbird continued until the 21st century

When conceiving a new car as a response to the Chevrolet Corvette, Ford management did not expect that they had hit the bull’s eye. The Thunderbird became the epitome of the stylish, comfortable and relatively inexpensive American coupe/convertible for decades to come. The car has gone through as many as 11 reissues – read: generations – and its production was completed only in 2005.

The last 11th generation Thunderbird, production of which was completed in 2005

Source: Ford

The total population of “thunderbirds” was 4.4 million souls.

2024-02-19 06:35:23
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