Novel features included a swing-away steering column for graceful entry and exit and a fabric convertible top that stowed away in the trunk under a reverse-opening deck lid, leaving no visible boot. The lineage seems unmistakable.Īs the pioneer of the personal-luxury category, the Thunderbird promised car buyers a sporty yet sumptuous cockpit, with thickly padded bucket seats and a wide center console (above). The Chrysler Turbine Ghia (check out this rare factory film here) that soon emerged there bears an uncanny resemblance to the Bullet Birds. While the Bullet Bird’s styling is relatively simple and unadorned, there are clever details to catch the eye, including the door handles incorporated into the side trim.įord lead stylist Elwood Engel had a hand in all these vehicle designs, and when he was passed over for promotion to vice-president of Ford styling, succeeding George Walker (Eugene Bordinat got the job instead) Engel departed, taking the top design job across town at Chrysler Corporation. And while the fact is well disguised, the Thunderbird and Continental shared some glass and interior structure, aka black metal. (Learn more about the groundbreaking 1958-60 Thunderbirds here.) And the exterior sheet metal was all new, but with some obvious roots in the 1953 Ford X-100 dream car (read about it here) and the 1961 Lincoln Continental-especially in the nose and grille, as shown above. And the third-generation 1961-63 Thunderbirds, with their pure, projectile-like styling, will forever be known as the Bullet Birds.īuilt on a unit-construction body/chassis with 113-inch wheelbase, the Bullet Bird was similar in size and layout to the ’58-’60 Thunderbird, maintaining a winning formula. The second-generation four-seaters of 1958-60 won the name Square Birds. The original two-seat Thunderbirds of 1955-57 are called the Baby Birds. Somehow, the generations of Ford Thunderbird often manage to inspire nicknames. It also benefitted from product placement, notably on the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip.With their pure, projectile-like styling, the third-generation 1961-63 Thunderbirds have become known as the Bullet Birds. Kennedy's inaugural parade, who appointed Ford executive Robert McNamara as Secretary of Defense. The car was 1961's Indianapolis 500 pace car and was featured prominently in US President John F. The new Thunderbird was well received with 73,051 sold for 1961. It was rated at 300 hp (224 kW) and was mated to a 3-speed automatic transmission. A new engine, the 390 cu in (6.4 L) FE V8, was the standard and only engine initially offered in the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird was redesigned for 1961 with styling that gave the car a unique bullet-like body side appearance. These included a four-seat hardtop coupe, four-seat convertible, five-seat convertible and hardtop, four-door pillared hardtop sedan, six-passenger hardtop coupe, and five-passenger pillared coupe, with the final generation designed again as a two-seat convertible. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was produced in a variety of body configurations. THIS 1961 FORD THUNDERBIRD IS LOCATED IN: LOS ANGELES, CA 90001įord Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 to 19 to 2005 throughout eleven distinct generations.
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