This is the car that started the personal luxury car market segment. Before
the 1958 Ford Thunderbird appeared on the scene, luxury cars were all big,
sports cars were all small and somewhat utilitarian, and compact cars were
almost unheard of. All of that changed with the new four passenger Thunderbird.
Smaller than the traditional luxury cars most were accustomed to at the
time like the Cadillac, Lincoln, or Imperial, the compact T-bird provided
all the luxury and convenience items one would expect in a luxury car,
but in a new smaller size that was easier to park and manipulate in congested
areas. Just the thing for those who wanted to stand out from the rest of
the crowd at the country club or resort. The sporty new four passenger
T-bird was powered by a new 352 Interceptor V-8 engine with 300 horsepower,
enough to move it swiftly from a stop, although most would not call it
a high performance car. And that didn't matter, because most didn't buy
it for its performance, but rather for its prestige.
So revolutionary was the personal luxury car concept, the 1958 Thunderbird
was awarded Motor Trend Magazine's coveted Car of the Year designation for its compact size, and
unique interior, which provided individually adjustable seats up front,
separated by a functional panel console that ran down the middle of the
car between the seats and housed controls for the optional heater, radio
speaker, and power windows, along with ash trays for front and rear passengers.
A padded instrument panel was standard, and featured brushed and highly
polished ribbed aluminum trim to dress up the panel. Plush loop pile carpeting
ran door to door, and the door trim panels and rear side panels were covered
in soft vinyl. The seats featured pleated vinyl or cloth inserts with vinyl
bolsters color keyed to match exterior paint colors.
The change between 1957 and 1958 was so revolutionary, production of the
1957 Thunderbird was carried over for a few extra months to allow additional
time for the new Wixom Assembly Plant to gear up for production of the
new 1958 car. It was a bit strange to see the 1957 Thunderbirds advertised
right next to the all new 1958 Ford models, but Ford wanted to keep the
car in front of the public, and this was the best way to do it. The new
Wixom plant was built specifically for the assembly of the Lincoln and
Continental automobiles, but had enough production capacity to handle the
new Thunderbird as well. The Lincoln and Continental were all new for 1958
as well, and featured a unitized body just like the Thunderbird, so building
these unibody cars at the same location would allow for strict attention
to quality control, and would spread the costs out over an additional car
line as well.
On February 13, 1958, the new Thunderbird Hardtop was formally announced,
and became an instant sensation. Movie star Dick Powell filmed a television
commercial for the car, and it was featured in many popular television
shows of the time as well as appearing in a few hit movies. (For details,
see our Movie and TV-Birds pages—links in this article will open in a new window.) The Thunderbird
Convertible, with its unique power top that lowered into the luggage compartment
and didn't require a top boot, was delayed until June 1958 due to production
issues.
Classic car enthusiasts today refer to the 1958-60 Thunderbirds as "Squarebirds,"
in recognition of the somewhat square, sculptured lines of the car. Long
before these cars were even 10 years old, the little two seater Birds were
considered classics, which led to strong interest in the series that followed
them. In the Fall of 1968, two men in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Don Brix, Jr. and
Don Harris, Jr., formed a club dedicated to the Squarebirds, and this club
has now grown into a large international organization that today welcomes
Thunderbirds of all vintages. The result of this early collector interest
is a lot of these cars survive today, and a wealth of knowledge about them
exists since interest in collecting them occurred when they were relatively
young.
Compared to other cars of the time, the Squarebirds are quite nimble to
drive, but few would describe them as agile. They are a bit burdensome
to stop and steer, but this is more a reflection of the time rather than
anything else. The rear coil spring suspension of 1958 was a bit unstable
as it was designed to accommodate Ford Aire air suspension, which (thankfully)
never made it into production. Most cars offering an air suspension system
during this time experienced severe issues with it. Most notable was the
exclusive Cadillac Eldorado Brougham series, the most expensive American
car made to date. Owners would sometimes discover their cars sitting very
close to the ground, and were forced to idle the engine for long periods
to "pump up" the air bags before they could depart. Not a good
thing for an expensive luxury car, which resulted in numerous complaints
from owners, causing most of the cars to be modified to remove the air
bags and replace them with conventional coil springs when they were still
fairly new. For this reason, very few original air suspension Cadillac
Eldorado Broughams still exist today. For 1959, the T-bird's handling was
greatly improved with the incorporation of rear leaf springs which provided
much better ride and handling characteristics.
There are many car lines that have existed over the years because of the
success of the 1958 Thunderbird. These include the Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado, Cadillac Eldorado, Continental Mark III, and to a lesser degree, the Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevrolet Monte Carlo,
and perhaps even to some extent the Ford Mustang, Mercury Cougar, Chevrolet
Camaro, and Pontiac Firebird, as the compact T-bird proved there was a
market for specialty two door coupes, a segment that would flourish during
the sixties.
There is no doubt that the little Squarebird almost by itself changed the
automotive landscape in the late fifties, and had a huge influence on many
models during the sixties as well. That's quite a responsibility for a
car that was so controversial when it was first announced. Many fans of
the little two passenger Thunderbirds of 1955-57 were not kind in their
comments about the new larger car, but sales of 37,892 units in a short
production year that was also a bad year overall for the auto industry
due to a recession, was proof enough that changing the Thunderbird to accommodate
two more passengers was a good move on Ford's part.
As distinctive as the 1958 Thunderbird was when it was new, it has remained
so five decades later, an endorsement which will no doubt continue for
decades to come as the car continues to be timeless. Thunderbird was America's
Most Individual Car in 1958, and in many ways it still is today.
