![]() ![]() The 1961 Thunderbird models celebrated the early 1960s in a very distinctive way and were another home run for Ford in total sales numbers. The 1961 Thunderbird’s style reflected the car’s evolution into a distinctively new look that bore little resemblance to the ’60 T-Bird.įord smoothed out the lines on the 19 61-’63 T-Bird and added new curves along the way. Square Birds were built for three model years from 1958-60 when the dawn of a new decade (the 1960s) meant the dawn of a new style for the fabulous Thunderbirds. Its generous amount of sheet metal and chrome is sculpted into a distinctive late 1950s-era style that is unique to the Square Bird era. The bigger 1958-’60 T-Bird, with its complete cosmetic makeover and back seat, has come to be known as a “Square Bird” in car hobby circles. Plus the sales figures for the ‘58 Thunderbird showed a massive increase from 1957 to 1958 numbers. The ’58 Thunderbird was bigger and bolder than a ’57 model-plus the ’58 T-Bird now had a back seat, four headlights and a huge weight advantage over its predecessor.įord wanted to steer the Thunderbird into a luxury model so the beefy ’58 T-Bird fit the bill to a tee. The 1958-’60 Thunderbird was a complete departure from the 1957 T-Bird model. The first-gen Thunderbird has come to be known as a “Baby Bird” because of its smaller size relative to subsequent Thunderbird models. They wanted to cultivate a carefree swinging single image that was unencumbered by marriage and a subsequent post-war kid explosion when they bought a two-seater car. The first-generation T-Bird was a two-seater car that was built to compete with the first-gen Chevy Corvette for a potential buyer who wanted a vehicle that reflected their sporty self-image. The interesting part of the Thunderbird equation were the bird nicknames given to the early portion of the T-Bird model era.įor example, the original Thunderbird debuted in time for the 1955 model year and retained the same style through the 1957 model year. ![]() The design changes from generation to generation were very significant when Ford decided to remodel their famous bird and the photos showed the changes between the original Thunderbird by direct comparison to the second-gen T-Bird. MyStarCollectorCar received some excellent photos of vintage Thunderbirds this past week. ![]()
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