Vehicle Description
312 motor 245 HP 3 Speed Automatic Convertible - hard and soft top
Stereo 1957 FORD T-BIRD Ford's original two-seat Thunderbird,
inspired by Chevrolet's Corvette, went into production on September
9, 1954. Like Chevy's fiberglass sports car, the steel-bodied 1955
T-bird rolled on a 102-inch wheelbase, but the similarities ended
there. Save for some early applications, a removable fiberglass
hardtop was standard, as were roll-up windows and V-8 power, all
features unavailable to Corvette customers early on. The
Thunderbird V-8 was a 292 cubic-inch Y-block topped by a single
four-barrel carburetor. Output was 193 horsepower with the standard
3-speed manual, and 198 horses when the Ford-O-Matic automatic was
installed. More power increases followed in 1956 as the standard
292 V-8 was up-rated to 202 horsepower and an optional 312 cid
Y-block appeared with either 215 or 225 horses. Optional dual
carburetors were introduced later that year to help the 312 reach
260 horsepower. Additional updates for 1956 included available
"portholes" for the removable hardtop and a Continental-style spare
tire carrier out back. Ford officials initially had their sights
set on building 10,000 Thunderbirds for 1955. The final tally read
16,155. After a slight dip to 15,631 in '56, production of the last
- and in many minds the best - two-seat T-bird reached 21,380 in
1957. The Thunderbird's spare tire went back inside the trunk in
1957 and the rear body was lengthened about 6 inches. Complementing
the extra length in back were outward-canted fins atop each rear
quarter, courtesy of legendary designer Frank Hershey. Both the 292
and 312 Y-block V-8s returned for 1957, as did the dual carburetor
option, or "E-code" engine. The "base" E-code 312 was rated at 270
horsepower; adding the "NASCAR kit" cam boosted output to 280
horses. Also offered briefly in 1957 was the F-code 312, a
supercharged V-8 advertised at 300 horsepower. With the NASCAR cam,
this blown Y-block produced 340 horsepower.
