THUNDERBIRD’S RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Ford’s Thunderbird started the sports-personal car trend that hit its stride in the ’60s. Like other car labels, “sports-personal car” has strengths and weaknesses. Trade publications such as Ward’s Automotive Yearbook originally called them “specialty cars.” The “personal” separates these vehicles from “family” cars. They are mainly two-door cars with limited rear seating room. The “sports” part of the name infers a sporty character, although T-Bird-like ’60s cars weren’t slap-the-leather-and-damn-the-wind sports cars.
There were cars of this “flavor” in the Classic era, such as front-wheel-drive L-29 Cord Cabriolets and Ruxton roadsters with wild, striped paint jobs. The Auburn Speedster was the two-seat T-Bird of the ’30s, while the Packard Darrin was a prewar preview of the T-Bird Sports Roadster. Can you see a spiritual link between the open 810/812 Cords and the T-Bird?
Practicality ruled immediately after World War II ended. With labor strife and material shortages, new cars stayed in short supply. When assembly lines finally started rolling out cars again, the focus was on building family transporters. Many automakers brought trucks and sedans back first, then later phased sportier body styles back into production.
The postwar car drought ended in 1950 and things returned to the point
