When the car reached production in 1955, Thunderbird’s 4.8-litre V8 was sourced from Ford’s Mercury marque, putting out reasonable 198 hp. Although Ford claimed the size of the car was determined by looking at European counterparts, namely Jaguar XK 140. The frame itself was a shortened version of the components used in other Fords of the era, it was adapted to match the exact length of the wheelbase of the Corvette, 2.59 m. The secret to such swift development was using off-the-shelf components of models from Ford and its subsidiaries. Ford developed the car so rapidly, that in February of 1954 it was officially presented to the public in the Detroit Auto Salon.
Actually, there was no sports model developed at that moment, but Walker shared the idea with the headquarters in Dearborn, US and by the time Walker and Crusoe returned, the car was already being developed.Īnother version of this story is not as romantic, it suggests that the development of Thunderbird began in early 1953, immediately after the Corvette prototype was presented. Walker, responsible for the development of new models, said that there was something very similar in the works. Crusoe and George Walker were visiting Paris and admiring European sports cars, and Crusoe suggested that Ford should make something like that. Ford states that the idea was conceived in 1951 when their executives Lewis D. There are two versions of the Thunderbird’s origin story and you are welcome to make your own judgement. This overlap of sportiness and creature comforts meant that Ford has discovered a new niche, which they named the “personal car”. While the 1955-1957 Thunderbird resembles Chevrolet’s sports car in many ways, it offered higher level of comfort to its passengers. Ford introduced the Thunderbird roadster as a direct competitor to Chevrolet Corvette.
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