AMERICAN CLASSIC CAR CLUB AUCKLAND
  • Home
  • Corkboard
  • News
  • Gallery
    • Kumeu Classic & Hot Rod Festival - 16 January 2021
    • Xmas @ Bridgewater - 13 December 2020
    • Toy Run - 7 December 2020
    • Piha Bowls - 15 November 2020
    • Bill Tweed shed raid - 25 October 2020
    • Te Aroha Cruise In - 3 October 2020
    • Caffiene & Gasolene - 27 September 2020
    • Packard Museum - 5 & 6th September 2020
    • Willow Glen& Ross Bros - 19 July 2020
    • Huljich Military Shed - 21 June 2020
    • Port Waikato run - 22 March 2020
    • Waipu Car & Bike Show - 9 February 2020
    • Ellerslie Classic Car Show - 9 February 2020
    • Morrinsville Motorama - 8-9 February 2020
    • Cruise Martinborough - 23-26 January 2020
  • Join us
  • Contact
  • Members only
    • Committee contact details
    • Members contact details
    • 2020 Annual Accounts
    • Club apparel & badges
    • Cruisepaper

Bullet Birds: The 1961-63 Ford Thunderbirds

26/4/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
​With their pure, projectile-like styling, the third-generation 1961-63 Thunderbirds have become known as the Bullet Birds.

Somehow, the generations of Ford Thunderbird often manage to inspire nicknames. The original two-seat Thunderbirds of 1955-57 are called the Baby Birds. The second-generation four-seaters of 1958-60 won the name Square Birds. And the third-generation 1961-63 Thunderbirds, with their pure, projectile-like styling, will forever be known as the Bullet Birds.
Picture
​Built on a unit-construction body/chassis with 113-inch wheelbase, the Bullet Bird was similar in size and layout to the ’58-’60 Thunderbird, maintaining a winning formula. And the exterior sheet metal was all new, but with some obvious roots in the 1953 Ford X-100 dream car (read about it here)  and the 1961 Lincoln Continental—especially in the nose and grille, as shown above. And while the fact is well disguised, the Thunderbird and Continental shared some glass and interior structure, aka black metal. While the Bullet Bird’s styling is relatively simple and unadorned, there are clever details to catch the eye, including the door handles incorporated into the side trim.
Picture
​Ford lead stylist Elwood Engel had a hand in all these vehicle designs, and when he was passed over for promotion to vice-president of Ford styling, succeeding George Walker (Eugene Bordinat got the job instead) Engel departed, taking the top design job across town at Chrysler Corporation. The Chrysler Turbine Ghia (check out this rare factory film here) that soon emerged there bears an uncanny resemblance to the Bullet Birds. The lineage seems unmistakable.
Picture
​As the pioneer of the personal-luxury category, the Thunderbird promised car buyers a sporty yet sumptuous cockpit, with thickly padded bucket seats and a wide center console (above). Novel features included a swing-away steering column for graceful entry and exit and a fabric convertible top that stowed away in the trunk under a reverse-opening deck lid, leaving no visible boot. All Bullet Birds were powered by Ford’s trusty 300 hp, 390 CID V8 and Cruise-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission, though there was an M-code option in ’62-’63 that offered three two-barrel carbs and a slightly hotter cam, good for 340 hp according to the factory literature.
Picture
​The ’61 and ’62 Bullet Birds are similar, differing mainly in trim details. Two additional models were rolled out for the ’62-’63 model years: a Landau Coupe (complete with vinyl top covering and enormous landau irons as desired) and the Sports Roadster, which featured a fiberglass tonneau cover to make the four-seat convertible resemble a two-seat roadster (above). Remarkably expensive at more than $5,400, well into Cadillac territory at the time, the Sports Roadsters had relatively few takers, and they are especially prized today.
For ’63, the Bullet Bird’s sheet metal got a minor massage, with a new grille and a hockey-stick character line added to the front fender and door (as seen below). While the Bullet Birds were not quite as successful as the ’58-’60 Square Birds, they sold well enough, and they provided a sound foundation for the revised fourth-generation Thunderbirds that arrived in 1964—the cars known as the Flair Birds.
Picture
Article courtesy of Mac's Motor City Garage.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Classics
    Concepts
    Custom
    Hot Rods
    Interesting Stuff

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

Copyright © ACCCA 2020
  • Home
  • Corkboard
  • News
  • Gallery
    • Kumeu Classic & Hot Rod Festival - 16 January 2021
    • Xmas @ Bridgewater - 13 December 2020
    • Toy Run - 7 December 2020
    • Piha Bowls - 15 November 2020
    • Bill Tweed shed raid - 25 October 2020
    • Te Aroha Cruise In - 3 October 2020
    • Caffiene & Gasolene - 27 September 2020
    • Packard Museum - 5 & 6th September 2020
    • Willow Glen& Ross Bros - 19 July 2020
    • Huljich Military Shed - 21 June 2020
    • Port Waikato run - 22 March 2020
    • Waipu Car & Bike Show - 9 February 2020
    • Ellerslie Classic Car Show - 9 February 2020
    • Morrinsville Motorama - 8-9 February 2020
    • Cruise Martinborough - 23-26 January 2020
  • Join us
  • Contact
  • Members only
    • Committee contact details
    • Members contact details
    • 2020 Annual Accounts
    • Club apparel & badges
    • Cruisepaper