On October 22, 1954, Ford released its new Thunderbird to a waiting public anxious to see the new sports car from Dearborn. Ford predicted it would sell about 10,000 Thunderbirds during its first year of production, but on that autumn day alone, Ford dealers wrote orders for more than 4,000 cars. The stylish new two-seater was a big hit, and by year’s end a total of 16,155 Thunderbirds had been produced. And so began one of America’s most successful, desirable, and storied model lines of all time.
Today, the Thunderbird represents all that was great with Detroit back in the day. Be it the so-called small ’Birds, the practical square ’Birds, the sleek bullet ’Birds and just about every Thunderbird model produced since, each and every model has a distinct…
