The 1961 model year saw the debut of the third generation of Ford's Thunderbird coupe. The baroque rolling Wurlitzer look of the second generation cars was replaced with a sleek new shape styled by original Thunderbird design honcho, Bill Boyer.
With the second generation T-Birds having abandoned any tenuous sports car pretensions held by the original 2-seater cars by adding rear seats and a hardtop model, the third generation cars continued to carve out the "personal luxury coupe" niche that the Thunderbird had basically invented.
Just about the ritziest offering you could find in a Ford showroom and boasting a price tag in the neighborhood of four grand (over $40k in today's coin) before any options, the T-Bird came with standard features that were pricey extras on lesser models. All Thunderbirds had power steering, power brakes, automatic transmissions, and a neat new steering wheel that could be slid out of the way when the column-mounted shifter was in "Park" allowing the driver to enter and exit with grace and ease.
The only motor was available for '61, a four-barrel version of Ford's 390 cubic inch FE big block V-8, rated at 300 SAE gross horsepower. Car Life tested a ragtop and recorded a zero-to-sixty time of 9.7 seconds and a 17.6 second quarter mile at 78mph. The Honey Beige hardtop in the photos would likely have been somewhat quicker.
This one was photographed in March of 2021 using a Fujifilm X-T2 and an XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R OIS zoom lens.
No comments:
Post a Comment