Vespa days

 John Wayne

Classic Thunderbird info.

Dearborn Assembly plant photos

New bodies from Budd`s Detroit plant

Probably the first thunderbird

 

Photos from Ford Motor Company & Earlybird CTCI

Accident Los Angeles, June 1958

Woman crying to a police officer after car accident

"What shall I tell my husband tonight?"

 Check out the hub cap.

Photos from LIFE Magazine

CTCS ANNUAL MEETING 2006

Classic Thunderbird Club of Scandinavia annual meeting july 2006 in Ebeltoft, Denmark.

Merry Christmas 2010

Why "Thunderbird"?

According to "Palm Springs Life" magazine, the car's final name did not came from the native American symbol as one might expect, but from an ultra-exclusive housing tract in what would later be incorporated as Ranch Mirage, California: Thunderbird Heights  
Prior to naming the car the Thunderbird, Ford asked and was granted permission to do so from Triumph Motorcycles in England who had a Thunderbird model motorcycle of their own at the time.

Detroit Auto Show, February 20 of 1954

                                  Henry Ford 2. Detriot Auto Show 1954

Henry Ford 2. & Brother William Clay Ford

The first photos of the Thunderbird

Its first public appearance was Feb. 20, 1954, at Detroit's first post-war auto show.

The first 1955 Thunderbird came off the line at Ford Motor Company's Dearborn (Mich.) 

Assembly Plant on Sept. 9, 1954.                                                            

The press announcement of the new Ford sports car was on Sept. 23, 1954.

Thunderbird went on sale Oct. 22, 1954 - starting a legend that would grow with each new generation of Thunderbird cars.

Actor Cab Callaway at Chicago Auto Show March 1954

Thunderbirds of Fortuna Classic

                                            1955 & 2002 Thunderbird