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Ford Thunderbird: 1st Generation

Ford Thunderbird: 1st Generation
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The first generation of Ford Thunderbird was a two seat convertible created in response to the Chevrolet Corvette, and would be sold for model years 1955-1957.

The back of a pink 1956 Ford Thunderbird with a continental kit appears on the cover of the 2017 book Soon To Be Ex by Jacqueline Newman.

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History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Automotive Industries page on 1 August 2021, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The first generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a two-seat convertible produced by Ford for the 1955 to 1957 model year, the first 2-seat Ford since 1938. It was developed in response to the 1953 Motorama display at the New York Auto Show, which showed the Chevrolet Corvette. The Corvette in turn was developed in response to the popularity of European sports cars among Americans.

Dubbed a "a personal car of distinction" by Ford, this appellation was also used by the motoring press at the time. The car built upon the heritage of the bespoke roadsters of the 1930s, yet was constructed largely of existing components, marking the first step toward the evolution of the personal luxury car as a mass market segment in the United States. While light weight for its era and fitted with a standard V8 engine, the Thunderbird focused more on driver comfort than speed, and was not a direct rival to either the Corvette or European sports cars. The Thunderbird proved more suited to the American market than the Corvette, with sales of 16,155, versus 674 Corvettes in 1955. This remained the only two-seat convertible Thunderbird until the eleventh-generation was unveiled in 2002. The design of this generation of the Ford Thunderbird was the direct inspiration for the Auto Union 1000 Sp sports coupe.

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Reference Desk

The Crittenden Automotive Library's "Reference Desk" is a collection of materials that cannot be shared due to copyright restrictions. Information from these resources, however, can be shared. Go to the Reference Desk page for more information.

Type	Title
2003 Book	Standard Catalog of Thunderbird 1955-2003 by John Gunnell; Krause Publications

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Photographs

	Subject:  Ford Thunderbird Source:  www.cepolina.com View photo of Ford Thunderbird - 97KB
	Subject:  Ford Thunderbird Source:  www.cepolina.com View photo of Ford Thunderbird - 60KB
	Subject:  Ford Thunderbird Drawing Source:  Premier Model Kit Box View drawing of Ford Thunderbird - 199KB
	Subject:  2002 AACA Fall National Meet at Hershey Artist:  Ken Eberts Car:  1956 Ford Thunderbird (foreground) Event:  AACA Eastern Division National Fall Meet Source:   View 2002 AACA Eastern Division National Fall Meet (Hershey) - 1956 Ford Thunderbird - 85KB
	Subject:  1997 AACA Fall National Meet at Hershey Artist:  Ken Eberts Car:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Event:  AACA Eastern Division National Fall Meet Source:   View 1997 AACA Eastern Division National Fall Meet (Hershey) Poster - 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 102KB
	Subject:  Custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of Custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird - 3.9MB
	Subject:  Custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of Custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird - 3.9MB
	Subject:  Custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of Custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird - 3.9MB
	Subject:  1956 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  New Berlin Quaker Steak & Lube Cruise Night: 18 July 2013 View photo of 1956 Ford Thunderbird - 1.9MB
	Subject:  1956 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  New Berlin Quaker Steak & Lube Cruise Night: 18 July 2013 View photo of 1956 Ford Thunderbird - 1.3MB
	Subject:  1956 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  New Berlin Quaker Steak & Lube Cruise Night: 18 July 2013 View photo of 1956 Ford Thunderbird - 1.8MB
	Subject:  1956 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  New Berlin Quaker Steak & Lube Cruise Night: 18 July 2013 View photo of 1956 Ford Thunderbird - 1.9MB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3,234KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3,395KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3,289KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3,092KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3,229KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3,079KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 2,996KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 2,947KB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3.5MB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3.7MB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 3.7MB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2012 The Cars Time Forgot View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 2.7MB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 2.7MB
	Subject:  1957 Ford Thunderbird Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 2.8MB
	Subject:  Modified 1957 Ford Thunderbird Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2010 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird - 1,824KB
	Subject:  Modified 1957 Ford Thunderbird Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2010 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird Model - 3,507KB
	Subject:  Modified 1957 Ford Thunderbird Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2010 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird Model - 3,291KB
	Subject:  Modified 1957 Ford Thunderbird Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2010 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet View photo of 1957 Ford Thunderbird Model - 3,289KB
	Subject:  "Scary Canary" Ford Thunderbird Drag Race Car Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2011 Attack of the Plastic View photo of Ford Thunderbird "Scary Canary" Drag Race Car Scale Model - 1,849KB
	Subject:  "Scary Canary" Ford Thunderbird Drag Race Car Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2011 Attack of the Plastic View photo of Ford Thunderbird "Scary Canary" Drag Race Car Scale Model - 1,863KB
	Subject:  "Scary Canary" Ford Thunderbird Drag Race Car Scale Model Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2011 Attack of the Plastic View photo of Ford Thunderbird "Scary Canary" Drag Race Car Scale Model - 1,758KB

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Merchandise

Type & Item #	Name	Details
Metal Body Model Kit Revell 85-1582	American Dreams '56 Thunderbird	Aqua 1:25 scale
Model Kit - AMT T392	1957 Thunderbird	Modern Classics, 1:25 scale
Pre-Painted Model Kit - Revell 38395	1957 Ford Thunderbird	ProShop, 1:25 scale, Light Blue
Die Cast - Matchbox 96089-0910	1957 Thunderbird	Great Drivers, 1:63 scale, Yellow
Die Cast - Matchbox K9483-0910	1957 Thunderbird	MBX Metal, 1:63 scale, Yellow

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Article Index

Date	Article	Author/Source
30 September 2014	California Man Convicted of Concealing Thunderbird in Montana Bankruptcy Case	U.S. Attorney’s Office
23 January 2015	Former Hamilton Man Sentenced to Prison for Bankruptcy Fraud	U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana

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