1957 Ford Thunderbird F-Code Convertible
Offered by RM Auctions | Fort Worth, Texas | April 27, 2013
The Ford Thunderbird was the supposed answer to the Chevrolet Corvette (I say “supposed” because the Thunderbird diluted its image every possible chance it got after 1957 while the Corvette got more and more intense). The first two years of Corvette production saw the car saddled with a straight-six. Chevy upped the ante for 1955 with a V-8. Ford introduced the Thunderbird as an all-new model for 1955 and a V-8 as the only power choice.
Both cars were absolute stunners in the looks department. Thunderbirds were offered in a sea of colors – pastels and the like. If you wanted to collect the entire rainbow, you probably could. This one is black with black wheels – and it looks rather menacing.
And it should. This is an “F-Code” car – which means it has the 5.1-liter V-8 that has been supercharged to make 300 horsepower. The most powerful Corvette you could buy in 1957 only made 283 ponies. And this wasn’t even the king of the Thunderbirds. There was one more step up – but only 12 of those were made.
As I’ve been writing these posts for cars from this sale prior to the release of the lot description from RM, I had to do a little research to find out how many F-Code Thunderbirds were actually built. On Barrett-Jackson’s website, I did a search for them and every result had a different total for the number built. An older RM post has the number at 205, which is what I’ll go with.
Thunderbirds are thought as cruisers today but this one will get your attention off the line. It’s a really awesome car and the fact that it looks the part is even better. It should bring a massive $150,000-$200,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.