1955 Ford Thunderbird

1955 Ford Thunderbird Convertible As I see it, the Ford Thunderbird has three basic points in its favor: a rakish, ground hugging style; performance to match good sports cars; and a design that has built in comfort for driver and passenger, with no penalty whatsoever to pay for their fun. It certainly seems like the right combination to make the car appealing to a fairly broad cross section of the motoring public. Motor Trend magazine, December 1954 For consignment, a 1955 Ford Thunderbird showing 34,640 miles, but the true miles are unknown. This is a two top car with power steering, power brakes and working air conditioning! Exterior Bright and cheerful Goldenrod Yellow covers this car with a spectacular combination of wide white wall tires acting as a visual connection to the Snowshoe White accessory hardtop. But hand it over to the tires for creating that same visual synergy with the black canvas soft top and what we have is a well coordinated and elegant sports car with full wheel covers that gleam as they spin. Ford shared the browed single headlights and rounded tail lights with others in the line up during the '50's, but it hits differently on the Thunderbird thanks to narrow panels, a straight shoulder line, and aeronautical references like the torpedo shaped bumper guards in front and the tailpipe exit through similar unites on the back bumper. Epic! Overall paint and trim are great. Imperfections include a red stain on a fin, chipped paint, scratches at the hardtop mounting flanges, a touched up ding on the front, chips near the gravel guard on the fender skirt, cracked filler under a tail light and fender, cracks and touch up near the front bumper, and numerous tears on the soft top. Interior Yellow and black fill the inside beginning on the door panels and two tone seats, all presenting in very good condition. The ribbed steering wheel fronts the arching speedometer and accompanying gauge and clock and the spun aluminum mid panel holds knobs, an AM/FM radio, and vent controls with an A/C unit under the dash. We have a fitted dash cover and underneath, the dash pad is in good shape and so is the black twist carpet on the floor interrupted by the chrome based shifter on the center hump. The trunk is lined with black carpet as well and houses a spare. Drivetrain Even the Thunderbird emblem on the finned valve covers is not spared the turquoise color in this earliest of Thunderbird engines, a 292ci V8, rated at 198 horsepower and fueled using a 4-barrel carburetor. Behind it, a Ford-O-Matic 3-speed automatic transmission that routes power to a Dana 44 in back with 3.31 gears. The bay presents in clean driver quality condition. Undercarriage Clean and driver quality here too with minimal surface rust, mostly dry conditions, and some grease sling from the rear U-joint. Power drum brakes back all four of the yellow painted steel wheels and dual exhaust runs through stock style mufflers before entering the back of the ornamental ports. Suspension consists of coil springs up front and leaf springs in the back. Drive-Ability We pump the gas once or twice and turn the key and the V8 fires up without complaint as we roll this yellow bird onto the test loop where the well rounded car does everything well, from acceleration and tracking, to turning and stopping. The four way power seat is down to two as we note the up and down function does not work, but all other operations in and around the car work as they should and we head back to the mall to find this canary colored Ford a place to perch. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase. While some birds are endangered species, the Ford Thunderbird is not one of them and Classic Auto Mall has represented dozens over the years with a majority finding new homes, exciting new owners, and wowing crowds in diffe