Historiography: A Proud Bird

Sixty years ago, Ford introduced a magical car that would elevate it to new heights. Not only that, it became a cultural icon through most of its iterations.

Before the fall of 1954, Ford was locked in battle with General Motors that forced two mergers between competitors, the end of passenger car production for another and sent Chrysler back to the drawing board. The battle was fueled by price and sales volume. For each Ford sold in the early 1950s, a Chevrolet would match it or beat it. The two top value brands in the USA played this dangerous game of Top Trumps when a Post-World War II society was cashing in on their G.I. Bills for new homes and cars. The economy was booming, which enabled this sales war between Ford and Chevrolet. It also helped the other brands at their respective OEMs – Buick and Mercury was locked in their own sales war and Cadillac quietly tried to outdo Lincoln.

Both companies figured they could not sell just sedans and wagons for eternity. They needed something else to satisfy a new kind of driver.

The veterans of the European theater in World War II brought home a different taste in automobiles from the battle zones they fought in. The roadsters they saw were smaller, more nimble and quite agile. From the ruins of factories overseas, they began to import these machines across the Atlantic. Though they served a niche, the interest was quite high for those who needed a second vehicle outside of the big American car.

Smaller American automakers experimented with their own versions of these roadsters. Nash partnered with Healey of Great Britain with a Pininfarina-designed roadster that sold for a few years. Kaiser went with coachbuilder Darrin on their own two-seater. Though they fueled interest among sports car enthusiasts of the time, they did more to spur on the big two towards developing their own answer to MG, Triumph and Jaguar.

Chevrolet was first with the Corvette. A story that we are very familiar with and continue to celebrate today. However, Ford's answer would come a year later. It made a bigger noise than the Chevrolet made out of fiberglass.

The Thunderbird arrived as the entire industry underwent massive changes. It was the centerpiece of the greatest year in the American auto industry. Ford knew it had a hit when the first ones appeared in print and on television.

The Thunderbird's look was stunning. Though it had some of Ford's signature design features, its lower and shorter body created a massive impact on the eye. It also came with two options – hardtop or convertible roadster. The hardtop could be removed with a set of tools and some help to store inside the garage. The porthole window was an option on the hardtop model, as well.

Power came from a Mercury engine – a 292 cubic-inch Y-block 8-cylinder. In 1955, power was just under 200 horsepower. The next year, displacement was raised to 312 cubic inches with power going up to 215 horsepower. Along with some revisions to the bumper and other details, power was again raised to 245 horsepower for the 312 cubic inch V8.

The two-seat T-Bird was a success, as it outsold the Corvette in 1955 by a 23-1 margin. Though it was the first two-seat Ford since 1938, it would the last until 1982. It was not that the two-seat T-Bird was a failure. Ford saw something else beyond the roadster. They never intended for the Thunderbird to become another sports roadster. Their aim was to inject luxury onto the segment to separate it from the Corvette and its European rivals. Ford's marketers called it a "Personal Luxury Car."

For 1958, the roadster grew larger and added a rear seat to the mix. The larger Thunderbird also had bolder styling compared to the regular Ford models. The second generation model was viewed as a complete opposite of the innocence that marked the 1955-57 roadsters.

The second generation Thunderbird would test consumers whether they truly wanted a personal luxury car with a rear seat rather than the two-seat roadster. The first year was marked with the first downturn of the American economy since before World War II. Though Ford went through some rough waters by introducing a fifth brand – Edsel – and saw slower sales across all remaining brands, the Thunderbird actually gained sales. Sales shot up 16,000 units over 1957 and Motor Trend named the T-Bird its Car of The Year. These were two signs of approval that Ford actually made the right move for is personal luxury car.

Though the second generation proved that changing the formula worked well, they had something else on the table. The days of fins and overstyling were coming to a close. Subtlety would mark the new decade. Sleeker looks were about to come into vogue and the American auto industry would take the lead in this movement. It also helped that this country elected a President in 1960 that would mark the changing of the times.

It would be serendipitous that the 1961 Thunderbird would preclude Senator John F. Kennedy's election to the nation's highest office. One would say that it reflected a future ideal that would mark its time on Earth. The car was pure "Camelot."

Simplicity and sleekness marked the third generation Thunderbird. The wedge front end saw shapes that were never seen before on any car. It lent to an extraordinary side profile that allowed the roof – hardtop or soft convertible – to simply sit on top of this sleek body. The 1961 model brought back those single round taillights that marked the original some six years prior. It was simply nothing more than stunning to look at.

Power also reflected the new design with a 390 cubic-inch V8 putting out 300 horsepower. By the end of its run in 1963, power would scale up to 340 horsepower. A 3-speed Ford-O-Matic was the only choice for Thunderbird owners.

There was a feeling that the third generation Thunderbird was simply too good to be a Ford. It exuded design features that just happened to be found on another new car introduced at the same time – the Lincoln Continental. Some have said that the Thunderbird was better off being sold as a Lincoln than at a Ford dealer. The affect that T-Bird made during the era of Kennedy was that luxury, opulence and the imagination found its way on a car that captured the spirit of that moment in history.

As with Ford design, the Thunderbird went through another evolution towards a boxier look, while maintaining its signature wedge front end. For 1964, the Thunderbird sharpened some key design signatures – a flatter rear end with a larger taillight cluster and the introduction of the Landau roof profile. The latter only showed one window opening for the door, while closing off the B and C pillars onto one solid panel towards the rear of the car.

By this time, the Thunderbird attracted some company in its segment. For 1963, Buick introduced its Riviera. If one car upped the ante on the new segment, the Riviera became the T-Bird's biggest threat with its cleaner lines and elegant aura. For 1966, Oldsmobile introduced a front-drive coupe – the Toronado. While the Riviera upped the design game by upping its size and sharpening its style, the Toronado injected new driveline technology and a fastback coupe look. Other models, the 1963 Studebaker Avanti, 1965 Rambler Marlin and 1966 Dodge Charger, tried to get into the new segment. The Avanti was the closest rival – along with the older bodied Hawk – both the Marlin and Charger had other targets in mind in the burgeoning muscle car field. Neither of the latter two could match the personal luxury air of the T-Bird, Riviera and Toronado.

It was because of GM that Ford was ready to shock everyone again. For 1967, a fourth generation Thunderbird was introduced. Riding on a frame that is shared with full-sized Fords, the Thunderbird took on a massive transformation, including a wide mouth grille with hidden headlamps, a full-width taillight cluster and the first four-door model in its history.

This would also be the most powerful Thunderbird ever. At the top of the options list was a 429 cubic-inch V8 that was built for 385 horsepower. However, it would be too much to power the Thunderbird in that tune, so Ford took consideration for insurance reasons to tune the 429 down to 360 horsepower. In other words, you still had a muscle car inside of a personal luxury car.

The 1970 model arrived with one dramatic change up front. The wide mouth grille and hidden headlamps were shelved in favor of a beak. The beak gave the T-Bird an animistic style that defined the car's future. That car – one I fondly remembered from my own childhood – became the most dramatic vehicle produced in the dawn of the new decade. A lot was carried over from the 1967, but there were many updates made inside and out to further cement the allure of the 1970-71 models.

The significance of the fourth generation Thunderbird was that it spawned something a lot more significant – a Lincoln. The Continental Mark III was built off of the same frame with its own design elements – no panels were shared with the less expensive Thunderbird. The Mark III was a byproduct of the growth in personal luxury cars – namely a response to the front-drive Cadillac Eldorado that was introduced for 1967.

The T-Bird also gained some direct competition. Pontiac introduced their 1969 Grand Prix on the mid-sized platform, followed by Chevrolet's Monte Carlo for 1970 on the same chassis. Chrysler upgraded the Dodge Charger for 1971 to compete with the Monte Carlo and Grand Prix, while keeping an eye on the larger, more established Thunderbird. However, Ford's marketers did not see the T-Bird on the Grand Prix/Monte Carlo/Charger's level. It still had the Riviera and Toronado in its sights. Both GM cars would grow onto full-sized platforms and go through its own design changes for 1971. The boat-tailed Riviera would a shot to the T-Bird's bow when it stunned everyone in the industry.

For 1972, the Thunderbird further grew onto a 120.4-inch wheelbase and weighed more than 4,400 pounds. It was simply huge, even for American standards. By 1973, the only engine available was a 460 cubic-inch V8 – the largest in Ford's history. Horsepower was down due to new Federal emissions standards, therefore it felt sluggish and yielded horrific fuel economy.

The timing for the huge fifth generation model was off. The OPEC oil crisis was on and it began to affect large car sales. To offset the Thunderbird's largess and slowing sales, Ford introduced a mid-sized version – the Gran Torino Elite. It looked like a Thunderbird, but it rode on the Torino's frame and had plenty of cues from its mid-sized brethren. The Elite gained some sales, which would eventually foretell the T-Bird's future.

By the end of the 1976 model year, the Ford Thunderbird was an extremely long car that weighed as much as today's Ford Explorer ST. It progressed from a two-seat roadster/coupe that outsold the contemporary Chevrolet Corvette 23-1 to a victim of the OPEC oil crisis. In-between came “Camelot” and some adventures into the first "four-door coupe" – decades before Mercedes-Benz introduced the CLS-Class.

The oil crisis ended, but not without some significant changes in the automotive industry. Downsizing was the key to compete in this market. General Motors struck first by introducing smaller B- and C-Body full-sized cars across all five brands. Ford also had a downsizing plan, as well. All they had to do was redesign a stop-gap model introduced in 1974 into the latest generation of an American icon.

That stop-gap model was the Gran Torino Elite – later dropping the Gran Torino name for 1975. The 1977 Thunderbird picked up where the Elite left off. A cleaner design welcomed many back to the fold, including the return of hidden headlights. The "beak" remained, now made tastefully for the latter part of the decade. Its roof line was compelling with an “opera window” on the B-pillar and a pane of glass that ran almost flush at the C-pillar. That would become its signature for its three-year run.

The V8 engines became smaller – the 5.0, 5.8, and 6.6-Liter kind. Prices came down by $2,700 from 1976. The result was incredible sales for the mid-sized Thunderbird. Its apex was reached in 1978 with a record of 352,000 units sold. Though far from the dramatic two-seat roadsters of the 1950s and the symbol of "Camelot" of the early 1960s, this seventh generation Thunderbird brought back the excitement of those eras in a concentrated and dramatic package.

The mid-sized platform was due for downsizing to the Fox platform by 1980. It was Ford's response to GM's downsized A-Bodies, which included a quartet of personal luxury cars that began a very successful run well into the new decade. The result was perhaps the least memorable Thunderbird in its history. The boxy design and lack of character spurned customers away. It would also be the first V6-powered Thunderbird ever. The result was a severe tumbling of sales down to five digits by 1981.

By the dawn of the 1980s, designer Jack Telnack began to reshape the look of Ford's products. In his mind, the boxy designs that would drive Ford into the new decade would not cut it. In fact, Telnack openly criticized the 1980 Thunderbird in front of everyone at Ford.

Instead, Telnack turned to aerodynamics to transform the next generation of Ford automobiles. Such design ideals would play a significant part in this new design language. The roofline was rounder, more fastback-like. The front end was shaped with the wind, as did the rear deck. Curves would dictate interior design, as well. Efficiency was important, that it would still include a V6 and a V8 to the mix. But, to answer Buick's return to turbocharging – they considered a four-cylinder turbo engine as their answer.

The first result of Telnack's aerodynamic design movement in North America was the 1983 Thunderbird. Again, the reaction was complete shock. Some consumers did not understand the new T-Bird, while others – myself included – embraced the bold new design language as the arrival of the future. There were some familiar traits on the new aerodynamic Thunderbird, but a scan across the entire car would see the only carryover was that it was built on the same Fox platform as the previous shrunken model.

Alongside the 3.8-liter V6 and 5.0-liter V8 was a 2.3liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. No Thunderbird before would offer such an engine combination – let alone a four-cylinder. The Turbo Coupe also brought back the manual gearbox, something that has not been offered since the 1950s on a Thunderbird. While the outside of the Thunderbird attracted the curious, the interior did not fully catch up. That would take another couple of years for that to happen – a curvy dashboard and a new level of equipment that would match the exterior and the aspirations of the new Thunderbird. By 1985, the aero T-Bird became a complete package – Turbo Coupe, included.

The good news was a return to sales on the Thunderbird. Yet, it never reached the numbers that the 1978 Thunderbird earned. However, there was something significant about this particular generation. It would become the first car I ever rented – a 1985 Thunderbird with the standard V6. It would also be the first "new" car I ever drove in the shape of my father's 1984 V8-powered model – possibly the upscale Heritage model. In some way, the Thunderbird became an influential car in my collegiate years towards shaping this work decades later.

The personal luxury car segment was going strong. The popular part of the segment still had the quartet of A-Body coupes from GM, now called the G-Body. It seemed that the Thunderbird and the Mercury Cougar were evenly matched up with the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Buick Regal, Pontiac Grand Prix and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Chrysler withdrew from the segment by 1982, though they were developing an answer off of the K-Car platform. That took form in the 1987 Chrysler LeBaron coupe. Little did anyone know that it would be the convertible version that would steal a little bit of thunder from Ford and GM. Both companies already had convertibles, but not in direct competition to the LeBaron. The LeBaron also went head on with the Thunderbird with its 2.2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. However, Ford won the horsepower race with 155 against Chrysler's 146 in 1987.

After a revision in 1987 to shore up some aerodynamics, there was one last Thunderbird to introduce. A new platform was developed for the new Thunderbird with more premium targets in sight – namely the BMW 6-Series and the newly introduced Acura Legend Coupe. The tenth generation Thunderbird took on the latest Ford aerodynamic design language, eliminated the grille entirely – something the 1987 Turbo Coupe employed – and made it larger and heavier. It would be the first supercharged Thunderbird since 1957. However, by 1997 it was finished after eight years of languishing on Ford lots. Along with it was the personal luxury coupe segment.

Was that the end? Not entirely. Ford bought Jaguar and began transforming it to embody quality while maintaining its old world charm. As part of the plan, a new rear-drive platform was introduced spawning the Jaguar S-Type and the Lincoln LS mid-sized premium sports sedans. To complete the deal, Ford dealerships received a retro-designed Thunderbird from the same platform. It was one of those models that looked great as a concept car at auto shows, but failed to move customers at the showroom.

Though it had design paeans from the 1955-57 roadsters, it was simply too long and too big to really pay homage to the original. By 2005, the retro Thunderbird lost favor again with the motoring public. It never gained the numbers Ford was hoping for. Fifty years after it made its debut, the Thunderbird was shelved for good.

Telling the Thunderbird story requires understanding the trends in the marketplace during each generation. It also told how the Thunderbird was really one step ahead of everyone else. If not by design, but by advances underneath its silky skin.

Though I caught the Thunderbird bug in 1970, it would take another fourteen years to fulfill it. By 1985, a Thunderbird became a car I thoroughly enjoyed. So what if it only had the V6 and a few luxuries? My short stints in them stretched out the miles between Reseda and San Diego, along with a stint on a trip in the Bay Area.

The Thunderbird was an integral part of my early driving experience. It was relevant back then when the personal luxury coupe still had a market and loyal followers. By today's standards, two-door mid-sized coupes were practical, except for those wide doors creating interesting contortions for getting in the back seat. Let alone, the length of those doors were no conducive to tight parking gaps.

It would take one car to supersede the Thunderbird with its perch in my automotive experience. Ironically, it would also be shaped by Jack Telnack and his team – the first generation Ford Taurus.

By looking back at the original from 1955, the Thunderbird story was one of triumph in forging a new automotive segment in this country. It evolve by breaking the rules and inspiring its rivals to try to trump the T-Bird. When the competition thought they caught up to it, Ford went back and moved the bar further.

That car – the Thunderbird – is a relic of a past that banked on the greatness of the nation. It came from brighter days and survived the challenges it faced along the way. When it was all done ten years ago, Ford looked forward with no regrets.

For this work, it came at the right time. In accumulating driving experience and needing to experience what a new car was like, the Thunderbird became the first car that fulfilled that need. It captured the essence of what it was like to live on the “other side” of contentment. It opened the door of what would be possible in life.

It all lead to this work…thirty years later.

Truth be told – and in many ways – the Ford Thunderbird was indeed the right car at the right time.

All photos by Randy Stern