THUNDERBIRD

No history of Ford Motor Company would be complete without a mention of the amazing public reception of the company's little sports car: the Ford Thunderbird. Under the leadership of a man named Lewis D. Crusoe that the Ford Thunderbird was born in 1955. The 1955 Thunderbird made its first public appearance in dealer showrooms on Oct. 22, 1954 with a selling price of $2,695, although delivery prices ranged from $3,000 to $4,000. The public went for the Thunderbird in a big way, placing more than 3,500 orders in the first 10-day selling period. In the years that followed, the Thunderbird underwent many design changes mainly driven by marketing research.

In the early 70's, Thunderbird had become so popular that the famed department store Neiman Marcus offered "His and Her" Thunderbirds in its catalog, which lists "gifts for the person who has everything." The twin T-Birds were equipped with phones, tape recorders and other special equipment, and carried a price tag of $25,000 for the pair. The '80s and the '90s saw an even different Thunderbird with the "aero-style" look that would lead the company and the industry in a new direction.

Thunderbird appeared on the race circuit in 1959 and burst onto the NASCAR circuit in 1982 and went on to win more than 150 races in NASCAR's top division.

As the 20th century drew to a close, customer's tastes shifted away from Thunderbird. Continuing sales declines led Ford to announce that the 1997 model would be the last – for a time. Then on Jan. 3, 1999, the company unveiled a new two-seater Thunderbird concept car at the 1999 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. In May of 2000, the company confirmed that it would build a production version of the hit concept car as a 2002 model year.Today the Thunderbird truly stands alone on the road. There's no other car like it. Since its public introduction in January 2001, Thunderbird sales have been consistent, steadily keeping pace with production.