1963 FORD THUNDERBIRD RADIATOR MANUAL

The Corvette and the early Thunderbird were at once alike and different. (In fact, it’s been said that the Corvette, with its low initial sales, would have been dropped had it not been for the new competition from the Blue Oval.) This was not something that Chevrolet and General Motors could ignore. The new Thunderbird was introduced by Ford and its potential for substantial sales was very real.

1963 FORD THUNDERBIRD RADIATOR MANUAL

The six was thus in its final year as a Corvette engine and the automatic was finally joined by a three speed manual transmission.īut as noted above, 1955 was remarkable for another reason as the Corvette met with a serious threat from an American rival genuinely capable of a fight. The Corvette was barely changed for 1954 and while the original style was continued for 1955, that still became a magic year for Chevrolet.įor ’55, Chevy offered a 265-cubic inch OHV V-8 in both its full-size models and the Corvette, where it produced 195 horsepower. A sports car with a 150-horsepower six was not a big problem-Jaguars of the day used sixes while Porsches ran fours-but a sports car whose only available transmission was a two-speed automatic was another matter. The division did not yet have a V-8, so its standard OHV 235-cubic-inch six was given modifications ranging from higher compression and triple carburetors to solid lifters and a high-lift cam.

Unrelated visually to any other Chevy, itslook was aggressive, but it was the mechanical connection to its parent that came in for criticism. 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.

1963 ford thunderbird radiator