1958 Ford Thunderbird

When the Ford Thunderbird entered production in the mid-1950s (first introduced in February of 1953, a month after the Corvette), it wore a sporty two-seat convertible body but unlike the Corvette, it was aimed at a new market segment called 'personal luxury.' Using mechanical components from Ford's parts bin, the Thunder rested on a 102-inch wheelbase and standard power was from a 292 cubic-inch Y-block V8 from the Mercury division. The 16,155 units sold during its inaugural 1955 year far exceeded the 700 Corvette sales.

The first generation of the Thunderbird lasted from 1955 through 1957 with mild updates along the way. An all-new design was introduced for 1958, pushing the 'personal luxury' theme even further. Two additional seats were added to the rear and the amenities reserved for full-sized vehicles were bestowed upon the mid-sized Thunderbird.

The first-generation Thunderbird had been very successful, especially when compared to the Corvette, but rather than rest on their laurels, management approved a major redesign for the second generation. Change was a popular theme through the 1950s within the automotive industry, with designs emulating the accomplishments of the space race, with aircraft-inspired interiors, towering tail fins, and plentiful amounts of chrome highlighting and accenting design cues. The amount of available horsepower on production engines began to exceed 300 bhp, with displacement growing to equally impressive sizes, complemented by the use of fuel injection and other modern advancements.

With their fingers on the pulse of change throughout the industry, Ford management and especially Robert McNamara felt the Thunderbird sales could reach new plateaus if it could appeal to families. To this end, the Thunderbird gained rear seats. The styling of the all-new Thunderbird, known as the 'Square Bird', was attributed primarily to Joe Oros, whose talents were later applied to the 1964 Ford Mustang. Elwood Engel had also presented a design but it was rejected. Following minor revisions, it would later become the 1961 Lincoln Continental.

To accommodate the rear seats and to provide maximum interior space, the '2nd Gen' Thunderbird used modern unibody construction with a wheelbase size of 112-inches, an overall length of 205.4 inches, and a width of 77 inches. It stood 52.5-inches tall and its ground clearance measured 5.8-inches. Due to its lower stance, it received a higher drivetrain tunnel that was incorporated into a center console dividing front and rear seats. The console housed minor controls, switches, and ashtrays.

Power was sourced from Ford's new 352 cubic-inch FE-series V8 engine with a cast-iron block, overhead valves, a 10.2:1 compression ratio, and a Holley four-barrel carburetor. The engine offered 300 horsepower at 4,600 RPM making it one of the most potent production engines of its era. It was backed by a three-speed manual transmission, with overdrive or Cruise-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission optional. The suspension setup was conventional with the front being independent, with coil springs and unequal-length A-arms. In the back was a live axle with trailing arms and coil springs. Ford had planned to offered air springs for the rear, but this never made it into production. The rear suspension, which was designed to accommodate the air springs, was later replaced by leaf springs in 1959. Stopping power was provided by drum brakes at the front and rear.

Sales of the second-generation Thunderbird were placed for September of 1957, but due to delays, sales were pushed back to December 20th. The new design was controversial with some buyers who were hoping Ford would continue to the two-seater theme. Motor Trend was impressed with the new design and awarded it the 'Car of the Year' trophy, becoming the first individual model line to do so. Up to this point, Motor Trend had bestowed the award on an entire company rather than just a model line.

The popularity and acceptance of the all-new Thunderbird were reinforced by the awards it received and in the showrooms. Although it had lost three months due to delays, and the 1958 economy was very poor throughout the market, sales of the Thunderbird were strong, and it was one of only two cars to increase in sales that year. A total of 35,758 units of the Hardtop coupe were sold with a factory base price of $3,630. Sales of the convertible body style did not start until June of 1958, resulting in 2,134 examples sold at a base price of $3,915. During its production lifespan, lasting until 1960, sales eclipsed the previous generations four times with a total of 198,191 units sold.

The design was unique but followed a similar mold to its Ford siblings, with a large, one-piece bumper surrounding a honeycomb grille. There were four circular taillights, a Thunderbird script on the front fenders, and a squared-off 'C' pillar. The doors carried five cast-stripes at the feature line.

Minor changes continued for 1959, including leather upholstery being offered for the first time. A new 430 cubic-inch MEL-series V8 with 345 horsepower joined the options list, and the previous honeycomb grille was displaced by a horizontal bar grille theme. The side stripes of the 1958 model were replaced by a chrome arrow. Sales nearly doubled, with a total of 67,456 units being sold, including 10,261 convertibles.

Among the most significant changes for the 1960 Thunderbird (and the final year for the 2nd Gen) was the addition of a third tail light in the rear cluster. An optional sunroof became available known as the 'Golde Edition' and 2,530 examples were so equipped. Total sales set another record with 92,843 units sold.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2021