1955 Ford Thunderbird Convertible

Thunderbird: derived from southwest American Indian lore for a mythical bird glimpsed only briefly in the clouds and responsible for thunder and lightning, a symbol of power, speed and good fortune. After seeing GM's first Corvette falter in popularity and sales, the Ford men set to planning a radically different personal car; all-steel body rather than fiberglass, equipped with a new and powerful V-8 rather than a warmed-over old fashioned 6-cylinder, roll-up windows with power assist optional rather than plastic side curtains, and a well-fitting cloth top with hard top optional rather than Corvette's clumsy cloth top. And, the choice of a manual 3-speed transmission or optional Ford-O-Matic rather than only a 2-speed autoshifter, high style interior and selection of exterior colors rather than only white and red, and much better performance.

Thunderbird for 1955 was a much more exciting car priced almost $600 less than Corvette and sales took off; 16,155 sold in its first year compared to 315 in Corvette's first year and 3,640 its second year. The new Thunderbird was described in the automotive press as 'a revolution in personal transportation...a genuinely new idea in cars that will influence the shape of things to come.' Even when priced comparably in 1955 when both Thunderbird and Corvette were equipped with V-8 engines, T-Bird sales far exceeded Corvette that saw only 674 produced.

This 43,000 original mile California car in Golden Rod Yellow is an example of what made Thunderbird so popular a half-century ago; beautifully restored to as-built configuration with its original body, chassis and driveline.