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101 Cars: Ford Thunderbird
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SPEED Staff  |  Posted June 23, 2008   Charlotte, North Carolina
The original T-Bird wasn't a sports car, but it was damned sporty. (Photo: SPEED)

You can't do a book about iconic cars without including the original, two-seat "Baby Birds." Volumes have been written about them, and with good reason. Not because they were any sort of technical marvel - far from it, really - but they wore a million jigawatts of style, and did so when America was primed for something fun. The original T-Bird wasn't a sports car, but it was damned sporty. It wasn't a luxury car, but there was a lushness about it. It spoke of youth and the freedom of the American road, and it had a look and proportion that captured the fancy of American car lovers. It has never let go. The first-generation T-Birds have appeared in countless movies and television shows, inspired their own Beach Boys song, were raced with moderate success, and have been customized and canonized. There's even a U.S. postage stamp dedicated to them. They didn't sell all that well at the time, but just as the car was remodeled into a four-seater for 1958, people recognized the original as an instant classic, and it has remained so since. The driving position is strange: the seat is low (or the floor is high), and the huge steering wheel feels close to your chest. The dash and instruments are nicely detailed, but there's a terrible blind spot with the hardtop in place, hence the porthole window that appeared for 1956. The Ford Y-block engine was never the performance match of the new-for-'55 small-block Chevy, but it ran well enough considering the T-Bird's mission in life as a cruise bomb. Don't expect sports car handling either, as the drum brakes were barely adequate, and the two-speed automatic dimmed what power the engine put out. But it didn't matter: the idea was to drape either your left arm on the driver's door or your right arm around your honey, and just cruise. What's the hurry? The dual four-barrel carb models (called E-Code) and the rare, 300-horsepower Paxton-supercharged model (logically enough, the F-Code) are rare and highly collectible; it's just a question as to the extent and for what price. Ford tried to re-create the Thunderbird's original magic with a faithful yet modern "retrofuturistic" T-Bird redux from 2002 to 2005, but once the initial demand was filled, sales lagged, and the Bird went back into hibernation. Some things are just best left in their own time.

Specifications
Engine: 312-ci OHV V-8 (1957, single four-barrel carb)
Horsepower: 245
0–60 mph: 10.0 seconds
Top Speed: 115 miles per hour
Price New: $3,019 (1956, convertible)
Value Now: Varies based on year, powertrain, and condition. Tired, rusty runners start around $10,000. Well-restored dual-quad models can top $100,000.
Ford Thunderbird Photos



Claim to Fame

Symbolized the youthful enthusiast of the 1950s


Soundtrack

“Fun, Fun, Fun (Now That Daddy Took the T-Bird Away)" by the Beach Boys


Perfect Passenger

Suzanne Somers, who played the blonde in the white '55 in American Graffiti


Behind the Wheel
Two-seater Baby Birds are constantly churning in the marketplace. Try eBay, any auction, or your local Thunderbird club.


Did You Know?
Although the two-seater became an instant classic, the new-for-'58 four-seat "square bird" outsold 1955, 1956, and 1957 put together.


The Perfect Drive
Cruise night at your local burger joint. Leave the hardtop at home.



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T-Bird Trivia: What TV show featured a Red Thunderbird Convertible? What movie featured a famous blonde driving a Thunderbird? Leave your own trivia in comments!

If you had a Thunderbird we want to hear about it.

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