Generations: 1958 – 1960 Square Birds
With the initial success of the Thunderbird, many of the top brass at Ford continued to have lofty expectations of the Thunderbird. Despite having strong sales numbers, they felt that they could increase the sales and the popularity. After conducting some essential market research on the car, Ford concluded that their market share was being limited by the 2-seat model.
The 2-seat model would be fine for any couple, or single person, but the Thunderbird could not cater to the needs that would be required for a family, especially one that could only afford one vehicle. Since they felt that they were missing out entirely on this demographic they decided to scrap the 2 seat concept completely in favor of one that would support a family. Hence, the four seat model was born.
The newly reconstructed four-seat Thunderbird came equipped with a new unique style to accommodate the 4 seat look. This quickly prompted Thunderbird owners to adopt the name “Square Bird”. These Square birds had a completely separate chassis and a unibody construction.
The Square birds were easily one of the lowest cars on the road. A whopping 9 inches lower than all of the other average automobiles out at that time. Possibly one of the lowest cars ever created. Part of the reasoning behind such a low ground clearance was based on the transmission and the requirement for the powertrain to fit. The designers ran with this and created the low profile style around it. They split the seats and added a full length center console. They also added other small amenities to the entire console such as ashtrays and small controls.
There were two construction designs submitted to be the new face of the Thunderbird. The winning designer was Joe Oros. This newly adopted design can easily be credited to Joe Oros.
Most of the engineering remained similar to the previous models, overdrive became optional and there was a 3-speed automatic transmission.
The 1958 Square Bird debuted and was awarded Motor Trend’s illustrious car of the year award. Many previous consumers were against the change to the bigger boxier 4-seater, but the sales proved that the market research was correct. The 1958 Thunderbird sold over 37,000 cars. Confirming Ford’s suspicion that it could increase its sales with a family based approach. There were a limited amount of convertibles available for this year as production hit a little snafu. Less than 2,500 1958 Thunderbird convertibles were made.
The 1959 Square Bird was relatively similar to the award winning 1958 model, with only a few minor changes included. Leather Upholstery was introduced for the first time. Aggressive marketing campaigns geared toward women increased the Thunderbirds appeal with that gender. The Thunderbird almost doubled their sales once again. Production increased to 67,000-plus units, of this amount 10,000 or so were convertibles.
In 1960, the Square Bird was once again tweaked. Cosmetic styling changes which included a sunroof were added and the company broke another sales record with over 92,000 units being sold. Roughly 12,000 of these were convertibles.
