![]() ![]() Production of the two seater hovered around 15,000 annual units. That status showed up in the rate at which folks eagerly snapped up the 4 seated Bird. In the Squarebird, Ford found something that had eluded Mercury and even Lincoln for a very long time – real social status. In an age where the jet fighter was the romanticized ideal for transportation, this car took the cockpit theme to a new level. ![]() Then there was the 58 Thunderbird (and the Continental) that began the rectilinear look that would eventually take over the industry during the following decade, and would last us until Ford would do it all again with the jellybean-influenced 1983 Thunderbird.Īnd if you think that the Squarebird’s shape was influential, consider the bucket seats separated by the prominent console – a configuration that remains nearly universal to this day. Chrysler’s forward look was proving hugely influential, so much that Studebaker spent it’s last bag of development cash on trying to make its aging 1953 body look like a ’57 New Yorker. GM was pure Harley Earl, bold, brash and slathered with chrome. When you think about it, 1958 may have been the year where everything in auto styling went up for grabs. Instead, the heavily sculpted center of the tail end as well as the dramatic downward slope of the hood between the straight, proud fenders was a look unlike anything else in the industry. ![]() The car had just enough tailfin to be modern, but the fin was not where the Bird’s design got its drama. While Earl and Exner saw beauty in the wing or the wedge, Joe Oros and the other designers at Ford saw beauty in the rectangle, and the 1958 Thunderbird (and Lincoln) would put an abrupt end to the themes so ably developed by the competition.Īlthough the Thunderbird’s roof is one of its most striking differences from the typical 1958 car, lets come back to that one, because even more than the greenhouse, the lower body created a shape what was nearly a classic rectangle, albeit a highly sculpted one. The rest of the industry seemed to follow these trends. by 1955.Īs the 1950s progressed, both Harley Earl and Chrysler’s Virgil Exner led a trend of sharpened lines, a thinning of the greenhouse and an ever upward trajectory of the tailfin that came to typify the American car of the late 1950s. However, the Ford Motor Company never rolled over and played dead, making at least occasional forays into design leadership with cars like the prow-nosed 1936 Lincoln Zephyr (and its low-grille 1938 second act) and the 1949 Ford that led the way to the slab sided, square-cornered design that would be a nearly universal look in the U.S. General Motors is commonly given credit for being the styling leader for the entire industry, going back to the 1920s formation of its Art & Colour department under the leadership of a young Harley Earl. Let’s just say that this was a groundbreaking and influential car. There is no need to into the squarebird’s backstory again, as Paul Niedermeyer covered this ground so ably and eloquently here. This car had an air of mystery about it, which is fitting because for its entire history, the Thunderbird has always had some mystery as part of its aura. ![]() Sort of like an elegantly dressed lady who has somehow found herself in a low class bar. Instead, it was on a quiet neighborhood street, looking just a little rough around the edges. Aren’t there a couple of these at every car show? But I didn’t find this one at a car show. Another restored squarebird convertible in resale red. ![]()
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