This 1959 second generation convertible Thunderbird, or also known as the “Square Bird” because of it’s beautiful new square styling which was a foreshadow of the cars to come in the 1960’s. Yet, it still had the rear fins and other styling cues that customers wanted in the late 1950’s. A perfect time piece of its era, it offered true luxury, beautiful styling, and lots of class to middle America. It gets its power from a MEL-Series 430 cubic inch V8 that is fed by a 4 barrel carburetor that is mated to a 3 speed automatic column shift transmission and makes 345 horsepower, which was a lot back then. The interior was far ahead of its time. Most cars of its era had flat front and rear bench seats, not the T-Bird. It has comfortable black bucket seats and stylish black rear seats that are vinyl. Both are contoured to provide occupants the ultimate in comfort and give the T-Bird a futuristic look for it’s time. The overall look of the interior is out of a sporty luxury car. The dashboard showcases three large round gauges. The left gauge is fuel and temperature, center is a speedometer, and the right gauge is a clock. The radio is located dead center of the dashboard, and far right of the dash is the glove compartment. Other dash indicators are lights, oil, generator, wipers, and a cigarette lighter. The stylish center console features Ford’s “Magic Aire” air system, a panel for the 4 electric power windows, and an ashtray. The exterior comes in “Casino Cream” and has a black vinyl convertible top. With lots of chrome up front, quad headlights and quad tail lights, a forward tilting hood with hood scoop, fender mounted mirrors, wrap around wind shield, unique and stylish body lines on the uni-body car, it’s no wonder why Ford sold 67,456 units this year. This “Square Bird” sits on its original 14 inch steel wheels wrapped in wide white wall tires that are stopped by drum brakes all the way around. The big advantage of the 1958-1960 Thunderbird is that it had no competitors. It had created and was the only occupant in the personal luxury car segment.
