1957 Thunderbird Hardtop Coupe/Convertible Restored Condition

The first generation of theFord Thunderbirdis a two-seatconvertibleproduced byFordfor the 1955 to 1957 model year, the first 2-seat Ford since 1938. It was developed in response to the 1953 Motorama display at theNew York Auto Show, which showed theChevrolet Corvette. The Corvette, in turn, was developed in response to the popularity of Europeansports carsamong Americans.

Dubbed a "personal car" by Ford,it built upon the heritage of the bespoke roadsters of the 1930s yet was constructed largely of existing components, marking the first step toward the evolution of thepersonal luxury car as a massmarket segmentin the United States.While lightweight for its era and fitted with a standardV8 engine, the Thunderbird focused more on driver comfort than speed and was not a direct rival to either the Corvette or European sports cars.

It remained the only two-seat convertible Thunderbird until theeleventh-generationwas unveiled in 2002.

For 1957 the front bumper was reshaped, the grille and tailfins were made larger, and larger tail-lights were fitted. The spare wheel moved back inside the trunk, which had been redesigned to allow it to be mounted vertically. The side "Thunderbird" script moved from the fins to the front fenders. A new option was "Dial-o-Matic" 4-way power seats that would move rearward when the ignition was turned off to allow easier exit and entry.In addition to the standard 292 and optional 312 engines, higher performance versions of the 312 were offered, including two withMcCullochsuperchargersrated at 300 and 340hp (254kW) respectively. 1957 sales were 21,380, including three extra months of production because the 1958 models were late. The 1957 Thunderbird was the last two-seater Ford sold until the 1982Ford EXPsport compactcar.