1955 Thunderbird
edited by David Barth, 10 January 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado. Photos were taken in January 2009.
Ford had to respond quickly to compete with Chevrolet's Corvette in the sports car market. Unlike the fiberglass
Corvette body, the Ford body would be steel. The Ford would have a V-8 engine and other competitive
features.
Several names were offered for the two-seater, so Lewis D. Crusoe proposed a contest in which Ford Motor Company
(FoMoCo) employees would suggest names. Alden "Gib" Giverson, a stylist and native of the Southwest, suggested
"Thunderbird." In Native American mythology, the Thunderbird helped humans by flapping its wings, bringing thunder,
lightning, and rain to end a drought. On February 15, 1954, the name was made official.
The styling of the car is pleasing. The frenched headlamps gave it a forward-thrusting look at the front, while
the crisp tail fins seemed to give it a hip flair. Vision over the hood was good, and a modern-looking dashboard
featured a tachometer, "idiot lights" to monitor oil pressure and the electrical system, and a clock with a sweep
second hand.
Fender skirts were fitted with chrome moldings on their lower edtes, and typical headlight bezels
were plain. The engine was a new, cast-iron overhead-valve 292 cubic inch V-8 with dual exhausts and a four-barrel
Holley carburetor. It successfully combined low-silhouette styling, good performance, and excellent road ability.
The key features that made the Thunderbird look like a Ford product were a long hood and a short rear deck, and a
low profile.
At the time these photos were taken, this car was on loan from Patricia Forney.
