Door handles were blended more closely with the upper belt molding and the door trim was changed to incorporate a built-in armrest. There were also minor changes to emblems and ornaments, and a standard rectangular outside mirror. No mechanical changes occurred, and there were only a few styling differences - vertical hash-marks added to rear fenders, "Thunderbird" script on the door projectile, a square-mesh grille with full-width horizontal bars and six taillights instead of four. The base figures were $3,755 for the hardtop and $4,222 for the convertible. The 1960 Thunderbirds were down very slightly in weight but up in price. The Thunderbird roofline had been applied to large Fords in 1959, and stylists were concerned that it was losing its originality.īut sheet metal changes were not feasible from either a cost or merchandising standpoint, according to Ford Division committee minutes, "Similarly, partial revision to existing surface, i.e., roof, front end, bumpers, etc., did not provide enough visual difference to warrant the required expenditure of funds." The Bird was in its last year of a styling cycle, and it was felt wiser to withhold serious changes until 1961. To get a low sports-car look, we took 10 inches out of the then-standard car height." The four-seat 'Bird was a huge commercial hit, too, far more successful than the two-seater ever was.įor model year 1960, Ford Styling had proposed a number of revisions to the now-two-year-old Squarebird design. The Squarebird sat 52.5 inches off the ground. When we were working on it, the standard automobile sat maybe 61 inches off the ground - shoulder height. "Take that car and stick it in front of your house today. Though all of these were considered, all were rejected.Ĭhief Thunderbird body engineer Bob Hennessy claims the "Squarebird" was revolutionary. Furthermore, it earned this honor without relying upon the technological dead-ends of the era: air suspension, fuel injection, supercharging, and retractable hardtops. Sales increased again with 92,843 sold for 1960.In fact, it may well be one of the outstanding American automotive achievements of the decade. Dual-unit round taillights from 1958 to 1959 were changed to triple-units after the fashion of the Chevrolet Impala. It was the first individual model line (as opposed to an entire company) to earn Motor Trend "Car of the Year" honors.įor 1959, the car received a new grille and a newly optional, 350 hp (261 kW) 430 cu in (7.0 L) MEL V, sales climbed even higher to 67,456 units.įor 1960, the Thunderbird was given another new grille and other minor styling changes along with a newly optional manually operated sunroof for hardtop models. This success spawned a new market segment, the personal luxury car. The new Thunderbird began a sales momentum previously unseen with the car, selling 200,000 units in three years, four times the result of the two-seat model. As a result, the car was redesigned as a four-seater for 1958. From 1968 to 1998, Lincoln-Mercury marketed rebadged variants of the Thunderbird as the Continental Mark III, Mark IV, Mark V, Mercury Cougar, Lincoln Mark VII, and Lincoln Mark VIII.Īlthough the 1955–57 Thunderbird was a success, Ford executives-particularly Robert McNamara-were concerned that the car's position as a two-seater limited its sales potential. An American interpretation of the grand tourer, personal luxury cars were built with a higher emphasis on driving comfort and convenience features over handling and high-speed performance. 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.įord targeted the two-seat Thunderbird as an upscale model, but the design introduced for 1958 featured a rear seat and arguably marked expansion of a market segment eventually known as personal luxury cars. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was produced in a variety of body configurations. THIS 1960 FORD THUNDERBIRD IS LOCATED IN: NORTH BILLERICA, MA 01862įord 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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