GM knew nothing about building sports cars. It arrived late in 1953 and GM didn't hesitate to call it a sports car, although the first-generation (1953-55) 'Vette was all wrong for most sports car buyers in America. The Chevy Corvette from General Motors was the only sports car from a big domestic automaker in the early 1950s. Ford had been working on a two-seater, but wasn't serious about it because sports cars accounted for a tiny percentage of the U.S. 'Oh, but we do,' the quick-witted Walked fibbed-and then telephoned Ford headquarters in Michigan and told it to get to work fast on a two-seater so Crusoe would have something to see after returning from Europe. 'Why can't we have something like that? ' Crusoe asked Walker after examining a sporty European two-seater. The story goes that the Thunderbird two-seater was built because Ford division general manager Lewis Crusoe was admiring European autos at the 1951 Paris auto show with Ford designer George Walker. But few of those U.S, sports cars were sold, largely because their producers lacked resources to compete with big automakers. They saw that British sports cars, such as the MG and Jaguar, drew lots of attention and sold relatively well here. car producers, such as Nash and Kaiser, built a limited number of sports cars in the early 1950s to enhance their image. The 1955-57 'T-Bird' was America's second mass-produced sports car from a large domestic automaker, right behind the Chevrolet Corvette. The mass media often has mistakenly called any sporty looking car, such as the Ford Mustang, a 'sports car.' It's given the 1955-57 Thunderbird the same description, although Ford stressed from the get-go that its new baby was a 'personal car.'įord knew that the sports cars market was very limited and that calling the Thunderbird a 'personal car' would give it much broader appeal. It's been put in television shows, movies and print advertisements, not to mention being pictured on a U.S.

The 1955-57 two-seat Ford Thunderbird is among the most recognized iconic American cars.

55 ford t bird