Monday 12th August 1963

The first 1964 Thunderbird rolled off the assembly line. Originally conceived as Ford’s answer to the Corvette, the Thunderbird has enjoyed an illustrious place among American cars. It was promoted as a “personal” car rather than a sports car, never having to compete against imports, which dominated the sports-car market, and so experienced enormous success. The car’s name was eventually shortened to “T-Bird,” as mentioned in the famous Beach Boys song, “I Get Around.”