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While the two-seat Thunderbird was born as Ford’s answer to the Corvette, Thunderbird chose to forge a new path as a personal luxury automobile. With more power and a more comfortable ride, the Thunderbird was created for the sophisticated automotive enthusiast. This classic Thunderbird met a highly sought after demand for a practical car that was fast and handled better than the traditional car.
1957 was the third and final year for the classic two-seat Thunderbird, and many believe it to be the best. This is the year Ford gave its two-seater a complete makeover; the front bumper was reshaped, the grille and tailfins were made larger, and larger taillights were fitted. The spare wheel moved inside the trunk again, which had been redesigned to allow it to be mounted vertically.
The side 'Thunderbird' script moved from the fins to the front fenders. In addition to the standard 292 and 312 engines, versions of the 312 were produced in higher states of tune, including even a few McCulloch supercharged versions, rated at 300 and 340 hp (254 kW) respectively. Buyers responded enthusiastically, and Thunderbird sales rose 37 percent over 1956 levels to 21,380 units.
One of the rarest versions of this classic two-seater was the “E” model of which only about 1500 rolled off the assembly line for that year. This classic Thunderbird has a 312 cubic-inch overhead valve V8 engine with dual Holley four-barrel carburetors, created to hit 100-120 mph. There is a three-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel drum brakes. This fine example of Ford’s highly popular “Little Bird” is painted in the original Starmist Blue, with Colonial White interior. This “E Bird” features a hard-top with the iconic portholes and comes with manual transmission, Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels with wide whitewalls tires, the Town & Country signal seeking radio and of course the powerful E-code engine that develops over 270bhp.
Only a few hundred were produced to qualify to run in NASCAR Speed Weeks events at Daytona Beach where it won its class by beating a Corvette.
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