Last updated on March 25, 2024
Today’s Car is a 1955 Ford Thunderbird done in Torch Red. The interior is the Red and white combination and the piping around the pleated inserts matched the color of the inserts. The 1955 T-bird was considered a personal luxury car not a sports car as the Corvette. They were equipped with V-8s and could be found with either a 3 speed manual with overdrive or an 2 speed automatic transmission Ford-O-Matic. More automatics were ordered than Manual transmissions. The Thunder came from 292 ci w/four-barrel carburetor at a 193 HP and 280 ft lbs of torque. This was the last year Ford had a 6 volt electrical system. One thing that separated the 1955 from the 1956 is that the 1955 did not have floor vents in the front fenders and there were no Portholes in the removable hardtops.
The 1955 Thunderbird was an immediate hit, selling more than 14,000 that first year (compared to just 4640 Corvettes built in 1953-1955). The success of the Thunderbird led Chevrolet to continue production of (and improve upon) the Corvette, which soon became a tough competitor in the sports car market. I believe and have read that Corvette would not exist if Ford did not start building T-birds. Thank you Ford and T-birds! Thanks for riding along. Frank
