Inspired with the look of European sports cars, and envisioned as a rival to General Motor’s Corvette, the style of Ford’s Thunderbird progressed from notion to model in a year. A contest was held to name the inaugural 1955 model, just prior to it’s unveiling in 1954. Among the 5000 ideas received, “Thunderbird”

(referred a Native American legendary bird with supernatural strength and power) was offered by a young Ford stylist. He won bragging rights along with Saks Fifth Avenue new suit.

The Thunderbird was designed for comfort and smooth, effective performance. Its birth produced the market niche recognized since as the “personal luxury car” market. Although it shared some styling uniqueness with its Ford siblings, as a modest tailfin and single spherical head and rear lights, the Thunderbird was renowned by its significantly sleek and athletic style. Features such as its 150 mph speedometer and a faux scoop hood, inferred its capability to reach speeds that other Fords could only imagine. The 1956 Thunderbird is the rarest of the first-generation models.

Several minor design changes mark the ’56. Most notably, the chubby tummy was moved to a continental-style back bumper, developing an extended silhouette and bigger trunk space, and, later in the making year, porthole side windows had been added to the lift-off leading. This instance is definitely an early version from the ’56 within the Ford factory’s Fiesta Red. Using its white and red upholstery it was, also is, a vintage method to journey boulevards. Owner John Rogers has already established a passion for cars considering that childhood. He limits his gathering to rare, special edition models, but he produced the best when getting the Thunderbird. “It’s a United States icon,” he states. “Growing up it was the car I constantly wished I had, as opposed to things I was actually driving at that time.”