The 'Bird Takes Flight
May, 1983
Ford's original 1955 Thunderbird, now a coveted classic, began life as a Johnny-come-lately answer to Chevrolet's first Corvette. Built on a cut-down sedan chassis, the 'Bird was barely 20 months in gestation from management approval to public introduction in the fall of 1954. A check of the records shows that it one-upped Corvette's "Blue Flame Six" (the 'Bird came loaded with a 198-hp, 292-cubic-inch V8) and handily outsold its crosstown rival ten to one that first year. But Ford saw...
