Softly, Softly

For decades, luxury and power have gone hand in hand. You’ll recall that the OHV V8 revolution began at Cadillac and Oldsmobile, GM’s ritziest divisions, for the 1949 model year and in 1951, Chrysler had the 331-cube Hemi at the top of its food chain.

But by 1955, OHV power had filtered down to the more plebian divisions (ie Chevy, Ford and Plymouth), and power was available in any class of car. This meant that the luxury cars needed a little something extra. The new Chrysler 300 had the power and all of the American luxury-car trappings you’d want – electric-powered everything, automatic transmission, the works. But the 300 was too large to be considered ‘personal’. That same year, Ford’s two-seat Thunderbird announced the “personal-luxury” concept in its ads.

It was a surprise hit, but in order to survive, Ford determined that it needed to grow: in power, in options and toys, and in the number of seats. This second-generation Thunderbird, arriving early in calendar 1958, is ground zero for the American personal-luxury car (see our exclusive feature on the