COTW: 1957 Ford Thunderbird
In my opinion the 1957 Thunderbird is one of the best looking cars ever produced. For the first three years of the Thunderbird’s life, which began in 1955, the Thunderbird was a small two seater. While not a sports car like popular Corvette which came out around the same time, the Thunderbird was what Ford called a “personal luxury car”. Of the early birds my hands down favorite is the 57, in my opinion it just has the best lines.
The 1957 Thunderbirds had a selection of four engines. The “C” series was the standard engine. It was a 292 cubic inch engine with a 2 barrel carburetor, and was rated at 212 horsepower. The “D” series was most common engine in the 1957 model year. This series had a 312 cubic inch motor with 4 barrel carburetor which produced 245 horsepower. 0-60 mph times were in the 10-second range and the top speed was about 115 mph. The “E” series had Ford’s “High Performance Special” engine. It was rated at 270 horsepower through the combination of a hotter cam and two 4-barrel carburetors. The final engine was the “F’ series which was a 312 cubic inch engine with special heads, cam, distributor, 4-barrel carburetor and a Paxton-McCulloch VR57 supercharger. The F series were pretty rare with only about 210 made.
Although I would absolutely love to have one I doubt that will ever happen unless I come into a good amount of money. They are highly collectible and prices are high. This is one of very few cars if not the only car that I wouldn’t mind having in pink.
