Ford Thunderbird

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Ford Thunderbird
1957 Thunderbird
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company
Production	October 1954 – September 1997 June 2001 – July 2005
Model years	1955–1997 2002–2005
Body and chassis
Class	Personal luxury car Sports car (first and eleventh generations)
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel drive

The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company from model years 1955 to 2005 (with a 1998–2001 hiatus), across 11 generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was offered variously as a four-seat hardtop coupe, four-seat convertible, five-seat convertible and hardtop, four-door pillared hardtop sedan, six-passenger hardtop coupe, and five-passenger pillared coupe, with the final generation designed again as a two-seat convertible.

Ford targeted the two-seat Thunderbird as an upscale model, but the 1958 model year design introduced a rear seat and arguably marked the expansion of a market segment eventually known as personal luxury cars, positioned to emphasize comfort and convenience over handling and high-speed performance.