Ford’s first sporty personal car is still fun, fun, fun

by Sam Barer

We’ve reached the 1950s in our ongoing celebration of Ford’s 100th birthday. No doubt, its best creation of the era was the first generation Thunderbird.

In post-war America, people became enamored with the fun sports cars from Europe, but domestic manufacturers only produced vehicles that were neither small nor nimble. Chevrolet rushed its Corvette showcar to production in 1953, beating Ford to market.

Seeing Corvettes struggle to earn media and market respect, Ford took its sweet time to produce its own sports car, taking to heart complaints regarding the Corvette’s flimsy design, poor weather protection, underpowered six-cylinder engine and overall lack of comfort. Ford concluded Americans wanted more than a rickety sports car, they wanted a luxurious personal car.

The sleek two-seat 1955 Thunderbird upped the ante with roll-up windows, power features, and a powerful V8 engine. It quickly became the car that tugged at the hearts of American men and women alike. GM even benefited from increased Corvette sales when the sleek T-Bird focused media attention on the new domestic sports car segment.

Back in 1958, Olympia resident Evelyn Morgan received a 1956 Thunderbird as a gift from her husband, Ernie, on their first wedding anniversary. As owners of Casey’s Tavern in Lacey, a watering hole popular among Saint Martin’s students, the T-bird could be found parked outside on sunny days for decades.

Evelyn’s daughter, Sally Hicks, grew up in the 1956 T-bird. While Americans were listening to the Beach Boys sing about “Fun Fun Fun” in a T-bird, Sally knew about the allure of the ‘Bird firsthand. On her sixteenth birthday in 1961, she even passed her driver’s license test in it.

Evelyn passed away in January. Sally, now the legal owner, has found renovating the Thunderbird to be a good method of celebrating her mother’s passion for the vehicle.

Sally’s car is the most original ‘55-‘57 Thunderbird I’ve seen in many years. It still proudly wears its factory-applied paint: Peacock Blue body with contrasting Colonial White hardtop. The matching turquoise interior is perfectly aged, and the mechanicals are stock. It has an impossible to duplicate patina, which makes it more valuable to many collectors than an over-restored car.

As with all 1956 models the car has a continental kit, solving the complaints directed at the 1955’s lack of trunk space. Its hardtop correctly does not have opera windows. Those were phased-in later in the year to remedy large blind spots.

One quickly understands why these cars are generally associated with woman drivers (such as Suzanne Sommers in “American Graffiti,”) upon getting into a T-bird. The hardtop, small doors and industry-standard large diameter steering wheel require a dainty frame to clear. So break out the shoehorn – I’m going in.

The interior is upscale for sports cars, with turned aluminum and liberal use of chrome. Circular tachometer and clock cleverly flank each side of the half-moon speedometer. The AM radio offers both “town” and “country” settings.

I turn the dash-mounted ignition, the engine turns-over and falls immediately into a quiet purr. Grabbing the automatic transmission lever sprouting from the floor, I pull it into drive. I navigate the steep gravel road down to the street, on which the Thunderbird can spread its wings. The 312 cubic inch V8 serves just 215 horsepower, but the prodigious torque sling-shots the 3100-pound car on demand. When new, T-birds were feared stoplight bandits, especially 1957 models with the rare 300hp supercharged “F-code” option and manual transmission.

The Thunderbird’s reputation as a boulevard cruiser comes courtesy of its supple ride and relaxed demeanor. Getting into the throttle and attacking the twisties, though, the car responds with surprising handling, even on its 30-year-old bias ply tires. Steering is similar to early Corvettes – somewhat vague, but well weighted and more communicative than other contemporary American production cars. Body roll is minimal and brakes bite well, but are notorious for fading as quickly as a California sunset.

As the Beach Boys said, T-birds ensure “fun, fun, fun.” Despite its capabilities and admirable sales of more than 53,000 Birds through ’57 (compared to 4,640 units in Corvette’s first three model years,) Ford brass turned the car in four-seat tourer in search of a larger market for 1958. Proving history repeats itself, citing reasons of inadequate market, Ford recently announced the demise of the modern two-seat Thunderbird at the end of 2004 -- its third model year.

This Thunderbird will forever nest with Sally’s family. She intends the heirloom to be passed to son Jason, and then to grandchildren, Lauren and Spencer.

Sam Barer writes for Apex, an Olympia, WA based freelance writing company. To submit a car for a future “Sound Classics” story, email soundclassics@apexstrategy.com

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