![]() ![]() This alteration provided greater luggage space while enabling the spare wheel to be relocated in the boot, a move that improved the handling. A more thoroughgoing re-style for 1957 saw the adoption of a longer tail section featuring prominent fins. Understandably, there were few alterations made for the '56 season, the most obvious being 'portholes' in the hardtop and the relocation of the spare wheel to the outside of the trunk in 'Continental Kit' style, while a 312ci, 215bhp Thunderbird Special V8 was added to the engine options. Its success took Ford by surprise: 16,000 were sold in the first year when a total of only 10,000 had been expected, and the production run over three years exceeded 53,000. Introduced in two-seat 'personal car' form, the Thunderbird was intended to appeal to image-conscious younger customers, and beat the Corvette hands down in the sales war thanks to its superior V8 engine and greater refinement. In its '55 Thunderbird configuration, the latter displaced 292ci (4.8 litres) and produced 193bhp, while the 'Ford-O-Matic' equipped versions were more powerful still. Conceived to challenge Chevrolet's Corvette sports car, the iconic Thunderbird debuted in October 1954 and was one of the first models produced with Ford's new overhead-valve V8 engine. ![]()
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