Posted by admin | Posted in Folk Artists | Posted on 19-07-2010
Tags: american classic cars ocala, american classic motor cars, american classic motors, american classic wheels, american classical league, audio, books, design, free, history
The Ford Thunderbird – An American Classic
The Ford Thunderbird has been hailed as an American icon, preserved in film and song. The Beach Boys, the popular rock group of the 60, put the Thunderbird to music in their song, "Fun, Fun, Fun"
"And she goes have fun, fun, fun
til her daddy takes the T-Bird "
One of the Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson, originally owned a 1955 T-Bird. He is now in the Museum Hollywood Star Cars in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, fully restored with the Beach Boys' autograph on the cover.
The T-Bird is also known for his film debut in American Graffiti.
The T-Bird was originally designed to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette. The years following World War 2 witnessed the return of many veterans of the European front. While in Europe they had seen and fallen in love with European sports cars. U.S. manufacturers took note of this and the Chevrolet Corvette market. Thus, Ford challenged to produce a competitor.
Three men have been most instrumental in the creation of the original T-Bird. Lewis D. Robinson was a retired GM executive, however, Henry Ford II prompted him to join Ford. George Walker was Ford's chief designer and vice president. Frank Hershey was a designer for Ford.
Crusoe and Walker were visiting Paris when Crusoe saw a sports car in the Grand Palais. They were impressed by the design and then called Walker Frank Hershey in Dearborn. Hershey has started working on the design. It should be in an open car that seat two passengers. It is equipped with a Interceptor V8 engine and be capable of reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
Although designed to compete with the Corvette, it was not a true sports car. Ford has designed as a personal luxury car.
For some reason, they encountered difficulty in creating a name for the car so Crusoe offered a prize, a $ 250 suit, to any person who has submitted an acceptable name. A stylist, Alden Giberson, entered in a list with Thunderbird included.
The idea behind the name is controversial. Some sources say he has been nominated for the Native American god of rain and prosperity. Palm Life Magazine said the name comes from an ultra-exclusive neighborhood of homes. It is also reported that Giberson got the idea when he attended an illusion of a bird struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.
The Thunderbird first meeting with the American public at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1954. However, it has not been available at dealers until October 1954. This model was a two-door convertible with a V8 engine that could cruise between 110 and 120 miles per hour. The high standard was fiberglass, but a cloth hood was an option. With four seats so on and press the button interior doors, the T-Bird was actually a small personal luxury car not a sports car.
But probably call it the American public at the time and in the first ten days of sales, dealers received 3,500 orders. Figure total sales for 1955 amounted to 16,155 as Ford has achieved its goal of exceeding the Corvette.
Later, however, owners "classics" might complain about the lack of a back seat and small trunk. This would lead to modifications and a new generation T-Birds, however, the "Little Bird" remains an American icon.
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