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1956 Ford Thunderbird

The forerunner to the production Thunderbird was a prototype named the
1953 Ford Vega Roadster commissioned by Henry Ford II.

in 2006 it was sold for $385,000 to private collector Sam Pack, in whose possession it remains:

www.packautomotivemuseum.com/c201.html

Aside from the American Cord-like front fenders with integrated headlights
the Ford Vega has design similarities with a lot of British sports cars:
The 1954_Swallow_DorettiRoadster2, 1954_Jaguar_XK120,
AustinHealey, MGA, & the ac-Bristol,to name a few.


1955 Ford Thunderbird - introduced October 22, 1954 -
the 292 cubic inch (4.8 L) V8 came from Ford's Mercury division:
When introduced, the Thunderbird created the “Personal Luxury Car” market niche,
not to be confused with “Sports Car”, like the Chevrolet Corvette.
- a false hood scoop and a 150 mph (240 km/h) speedometer reflected
optimistic higher performance values that other Fords didn't have.


Here’s a ’55 big block dragster:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa0c1du3FFc


1956 Ford Thunderbird
An outboard spare tire was added to allow for more luggage,
but caused balance and steering issues,
hence it was removed in 1957 and the trunk size increased.


1957 Ford Thunderbird


With a new front-end and BIG taillights



A 1957 Ford Thunderbird clunker I would love to own. Take a test ride:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Tebxw3DF0