Friday, March 20, 2009

Cover- March 2009


The 1955 model had a removable hardtop with a 102 inch wheelbase chassis that was 175.3 inches overall. The engine was a Mercury 292 cubic inch V-8, exclusive to the Thunderbird line, which had 198 horsepower with the automatic and 193 horsepower with the manual transmission.


The first Thunderbird came off the Dearborn assembly line October 22,1954 and had at least 4,000 orders waiting on the first day of production. Over 16,000 units of the 1955 Thunderbird were ultimately sold. The car sold for a base price of $2,695 with the convertible selling for $2,765 and was available in five colors: Thunderbird Blue, Raven Black, Snowshoe White, Goldenrod Yellow, and Torch Red. All cars had vinyl upholstery matching the exterior paint color.


This month, we feature another one of the several Ford Motor Company Thunderbird advertisements included in The Thunderbird Anthology CD. Note that the "history" indicates the 1st 1955 production date as: October 22, 1954. Most references record this date as being September 9, 1954 (the S/N 100005 once owned by the late George Watts). The remains of the 1955 bearing S/N 100004, found in a Pennsylvania field in 1974, bore Data Plate information showingAugust 25,1954 as the production schedule. - Editor

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