Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Saturday 27 February 2021

The Ford Thunderbird “Square-Birds” Remain A Masterpiece Of Fifties’ Detroit Design. Everybody Wanted A T-Bird.



Illustration: HEMMINGS


“Fun, Fun, Fun, ’Til Her Daddy Takes The T-Bird Away”.
Sung by: The Beach Boys.
Available on YouTube at

Well, she got her daddy's car
And she cruised through the hamburger stand now.
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man now.
And with the radio blasting
Goes cruising just as fast as she can now.
And she'll have fun fun fun
Til her daddy takes the T-Bird away.
(Fun fun fun til her daddy takes the T-Bird away).


Well, wheel-spin's standard cause she walks, looks, and drives like an ace now.
(You walk like an ace now, you walk like an ace).
She makes The Indy 500 look like a Roman Chariot race now.
(You look like an ace now, you look like an ace).
A lotta guys try to catch her, but she leads them on a wild goose chase now.
(You drive like an ace now. you drive like an ace).
And she'll have fun fun fun ’til her daddy takes the T-Bird away.
(Fun fun fun ’til her daddy takes the T-Bird away).


Well, you knew all along that your dad was gettin' wise to you now.
(You shouldn't have lied now, you shouldn't have lied).
And since he took your set of keys,
you've been thinking that your fun is all through now.
(You shouldn't have lied now, you shouldn't have lied).
But you can come along with me, cause we gotta a lot of things to do now.
(You shouldn't have lied now, you shouldn't have lied).
And we'll have fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away.
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
And we'll have fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away.


(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).
(Fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-Bird away).


This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, HEMMINGS

By: Richard Lentinello.

Hot on the heels of the new Corvette, Ford introduced its 1955 Thunderbird to great fanfare and thunderous approval when the Sporty Two-Seater premiered at The 1954 Detroit Auto Show.

With its appealing shape, distinctive style and a 292-cubic-inch V-8 putting out either 193 or 198 horsepower, depending on transmission pairing, it was a huge success with 16,155 examples sold that first year. Compared to its Cross-Town rival, the Corvette, which only attracted 700 buyers that same year, Ford hit a grand slam right out of the box. It seemed everyone wanted to own a new Thunderbird.


With its hardtop styling, sculptured sides and limited front-end overhang,
the 1960 Thunderbird was a styling masterpiece. Note how the bottom spear flows into the rear bumper.
Illustration: HEMMINGS

In preparation for its upcoming re-style for the 1958 model year, how could Ford possibly update the car while ensuring its continued sales success ? Shocking as it seemed at the time, the Thunderbird was stretched to accommodate five passengers instead of just two.

Ford’s sanity was called into question, but clearly its marketing staff knew what they were doing. As shown by the following production figures:

Overall three-year sales of the new “Square-Bird” were nearly 374 per cent higher than the combined three-year production run of the ever-lovable “Little ‘Bird.”

The public loved the re-styled Thunderbird and flocked to Ford showrooms throughout the Country to get one of their own.

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