The Corvette started as an entry in GM’s 1953 Motorama and made the transition to production with a minimum of change. Among those developments, of course, was Chevrolet’s decision to build a two passenger roadster. However, the transition from two- to four-passenger cars had been deliberate…even if some might have found it disappointing.įord launched the Thunderbird as a 1955 model in a time when significant developments among the Big Three and the few remaining Independents had grown almost commonplace. On the other hand, by the time Hilts’ car was built, some people felt that Ford had forgotten the original Thunderbird and lost its way with the car itself. He didn’t wreck it, but some things- like a near miss in a car literally fresh out of the restoration shop-you just don’t forget that feeling. I don’t want to wreck it.’ My heart was in my throat.” I went ‘I don’t want to wreck it already. A big power line had come right down and you didn’t notice it until you were almost on top of it. “I picked it up and was coming home,” he recalled, “and it started raining coming back. Aren’t You Glad You Have Such Vintage Variety?ĭOUG HILTS HAS a clear memory of his first trip behind the wheel of the 1963 Thunderbird featured here-and of hitting the brakes…hard. It Wasn’t At All Like the First T-birds That Hit the Market In ’55.

The new thunderbird