Are 1956 Ford Thunderbirds Still Cool?

We take a quick tour of a 1956 Ford Thunderbird. It came to the shop for a water pump and a few other odds and ends. We take it on our advanced test drive before returning it. We usually drive our vehicles on the same several mile test loop. This particular car was purchased as a gift for our customers wife and he requested us to do a shake down run after we were done with our service. He wanted to make sure it will be reliable and trouble free for whenever she wants to take it for a drive. We do a full throttle run to make sure all transmission shift points are proper and kick down is adjusted correctly. It also ensures the carburetor works properly and secondaries are opening at the correct time. We test braking performance to ensure if there is a panic stop situation the car will not pull in either direction. We want to drive it far enough to make sure the car will not overheat in any traffic situation. Overall we never abuse a customer car. For these reasons our 0 to 60 time is not likely a very competitive one. It was merely a fun exercise to see how fast it would accelerate by simply pushing the throttle pedal to the floor with no other preparations. The tire squeal is because the tires are period correct bias ply and they don't hold the road like a modern radial tire. It is highly likely the car would be pushed to these limits and more on a modern freeway. With sustained speeds of over 70 mph and panic stops, accelerating out of exit cloverleafs and more. That is not the time to find an unknown mechanical weakness. We would rather address any issues before the car is returned to the customer. It already can be nerve wracking to drive on the freeway in a normal car, but it elevates the risk to be in a small vintage collectors vehicle, proper performance could mean the difference between an accident or avoidance. This is a part of our service that is enjoyable but we also take it very seriously.

I hope you enjoy this review and a little bit of history on one of the most iconic and surprisingly still affordable cars of the 1950's. Comment below if you think these early birds are still cool? Thanks for watching.

[williammatthews-qw]

I vote Cool.... I haven't thought about those early birds for a long time but after watching this video I may decide to look for one now. That's a great condition driver. Not too nice that you'd be afraid to drive it all the time.

[bobstuckrath]

Seems like a Lincoln version of a 2 seater sports car. I would have loved it way back when.

[TheOzthewiz]

As much as I LOVE these "mini" birds, having owned a '55 in 1987, I really can't love the build quality. These cars were LITERALLY hand cobbled together, panel fit was terrible! You will notice the FINE (lol) fit of the dash panel in this example. When I was a teenager in the '50s, this was my DREAM CAR! When I finally could afford one, i went looking for one in decent shape in '87. I found one that was SUPPOSEDLY a "grade 3" (it was not). I proceeded to "restore' it. After putting about $10k into it, I finally had a solid "grade 3"! I really enjoyed the LOOK of and it seemed that EVERYONE else that saw it agreed. To be honest the car was a HUGE disappointment on MANY levels. It rode and handled like a "Lumber Truck" and could be outrun by a STOCK Ford EXP (lol)! But, it LOOKED SO COOL sitting in my driveway!!