December 24th, 2017

Nothing gets us quite as excited as a nice set of wheels. So, when we were contemplating our choices of cars for our first blog, some goodies came up. Ford Mustang…Chevrolet Nomad…Ford Thunderbird. All beauties, and all made our top ten projects of the year, but the 1957 Thunderbird is my dream car! Get in line boys, we can write about your honeys next, but this time it is my turn and I am going to make you drool over a classic.
This car entered production in 1955 and literally created the personal luxury car market. It was a direct response to the Chevy Corvette. However, Ford did not market this lady as a sports car. She was made for luxury and named for supernatural beings of power and strength. A one of a kind beauty, she was a car who could steal hearts on a Sunday drive and still go 150 mph on the salt. With white wall tires, leather seats and options for both hard shell removable or folding fabric tops, the Thunderbird was luxury comfort on wheels. And Ford sold them 23 to one over the Corvette.  
When Keith Thompson handed us the keys to his supercharged 1957 Ford Thunderbird Model F, Benny played it cool. “Sure Keith, we’ll help you clean her up.” But this “F-Bird” is 1 of 211 1957 F-code Thunderbirds ever produced! Damn!! When you want to talk power, she has it, built to dominant the 1957 NASCAR circuit, the Thunderbird Model F triumphed taking 27 national races that year to Chevy’s 19. Benny repainted her in show quality. Since then, he and Keith have worked on several more projects together.  
When you ask Keith, who owns a handful of Ford’s finest, “Why Thunderbirds?”, like so many who love the iron horses, he has a story. A story of a boy who riding to school on a bus, drove by a car lot and fell in love. Her beauty was captivating, her paint glistening in the sunlight, her chrome grill sparkling, a lady of the highest order. She stole his heart in an instant and her name was T-bird.
By Krystal Swank

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