1957 Ford Thunderbird

The 1957 Thunderbird was the last of the original two-seat T-Birds, and Ford knew it. Production ran three months longer than planned because the new four-seat model was not ready, and when the final two-seater came off the line in December 1957, an assembly line worker used a piece of soap to write a farewell message on the hood. That is the kind of moment that tells you how much this car meant to the people who built it. 1957 was also the best sales year of the three-year run with 21,380 built, more than the two previous years combined. This one is finished in Gunmetal Gray Metallic with a red leather interior, a combination that is striking and unusual on a car that is typically seen in pastels and white. Under the hood is the 312 cubic inch Thunderbird Special V8, Ford's D-code engine backed by the three-speed automatic. Ford offered five distinct V8 configurations in the 1957 Thunderbird, and the 312 sits comfortably above the base engine, giving the car a strong, confident pull without the complexity of the dual-carb and supercharged options above it. The 1957 model also brought a restyled front and rear, larger 14-inch wheels, increased chassis rigidity, and a new suspension that addressed complaints from earlier examples, making it the most refined and sorted two-seater of the generation. Inside, the red leather interior is clean and well matched to the gray exterior in a way that suits the car's personal luxury character perfectly. The aluminum dash gives the cockpit a distinctive, period-correct finish, and whitewall tires on the exterior complete a car that looks exactly the way a 1957 Thunderbird should look. The two-seat Thunderbird was retired after 1957 specifically because Ford executives felt it was too small to reach its full sales potential. Ford was wrong, and collectors have been proving it ever since. Please call or email us today for more information.