The latter feature flashed the individual segments of the broad, horizontal tail lights in sequences from inside to outside to indicate a turn. Several features intended for the new generation were delayed until 1965, when front disc brakes became standard equipment and sequential turn signals were added. Total 1964 sales were excellent: 92,465, up nearly 50% from the previous year. The tonneau cover and wire wheels of the Sports Roadster remained available as a dealer-installed option, although only 50 were sold. The revised 'bird was initially offered as a hardtop, a convertible, or Landau, with vinyl roof and simulated landau irons. Contemporary testers felt that the Buick Riviera and Pontiac Grand Prix were substantially more roadable cars, but the Thunderbird remained the leader of the market segment. The softly sprung suspension allowed considerable body lean, wallow, and float except on smoothly surfaced highways there was an export suspension package available as special order. 315 bhp engine needed nearly 11 seconds to push the heavy T-bird to 60 mph (96 km/h), although with enough room a top speed of about 120 mph (200 km/h) was obtainable. The Thunderbird's sporty image had by that time become only an image. Dimensions changed only fractionally, and the suspension, engine, and transmission remained as before, but continued efforts to minimize noise and vibration from the unit body led to a weight increase of some 244 lb (110 kg). Giberson never claimed his prize, settling for a $95 suit and an extra pair of trousers from Saks Fifth Avenue.Īccording to Palm Springs Life magazine, the car's final name came not from the Native American symbol as one might expect, but from an ultra-exclusive housing tract in what would later be incorporated as Rancho Mirage, California: Thunderbird Heights.įor 1964 the Thunderbird was restyled yet again, discarding some of the rocket-ship styling cues of the previous generation in favor of a more squared-off, "formal" look. Stylist Alden "Gib" Giberson submitted Thunderbird as part of a list. Crusoe offered a $250 suit to anyone who could come up with a better name. There was some difficulty in naming the car, with suggestions ranging from the exotic to the ridiculous (Hep Cat, Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout, Arcturus, Savile, El Tigre, and Coronado were submitted among the 5,000 suggestions). Unlike the Corvette, the Thunderbird was never a full-blown sporting vehicle Ford's description was personal luxury car, and the company essentially created this market segment. 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. The concept was for a two-passenger open car, with a target weight of 2525 lb (1145 kg), an Interceptor V8 engine and a top speed of over 100 mph (160 km/h). Hershey took the idea and began working on the vehicle. Walker promptly telephoned Ford's HQ in Dearborn and told designer Frank Hershey about the idea. Walking in the Grand Palais in Paris, Crusoe pointed at a sports car and asked Walker, 'Why can't we have something like that?' Crusoe and Walker met in France in October 1951. Crusoe, a retired GM executive lured out of retirement by Henry Ford II George Walker, chief stylist and a Ford vice-president and Frank Hershey, a Ford designer.
Three men are generally credited with creating the original Thunderbird: Lewis D. In 2002, a revived 2-seat model was launched, was available through the end of the 2005 model year.
Sales were good until the 1990s, when large 2-door coupes became unpopular production ceased after 1997. Succeeding generations became larger and more luxurious, until the line was downsized in 1977 and again in 1980. In 1958, the Thunderbird gained a second row of seats for greater practicality. Ford described it as a personal luxury car, a description which named a new market segment. It entered production for the 1955 model year as a two-seater sporty car unlike the superficially similar (and slightly earlier) Chevrolet Corvette, the Thunderbird was never sold as a full-blown sports car. The Ford Thunderbird is a car manufactured in the United States by the Ford Motor Company.
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