Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1958 Ford Thunderbird – The Most Revolutionary American Car Of The Fifties
Curbside Classic: 1960 Ford Thunderbird – Fancy Meeting You Here
Wordless Vintage Snapshot: 1958-60 Ford Thunderbird Interior – Ready For A Drive
– Posted on November 26, 2023
“Ready For A Drive”
Almost… once it’s out of Park and actually in Drive.
T-Birds of that era had marvelous interiors.
The console is where the driver keeps his ‘road pops’ of course! Silly wabbit! (=
Whats the point of the console if the shift lever is on the column? Cost savings to use standard column on a premium product? I know tbirds only pretend to be sporty but this seems incongruous with the image projected
1958-up were always this way. No floor-shift T-Birds until the ’77 Torino-bird.
FWIW, 3-on-the-tree was still standard on these thru 1960, 61 being the first year for a standard auto.
Somebody just sold this restored T-Bird in Montevideo, Uruguay, said to have been brought in by a diplomat…3 on the tree, power everything, A/C. Go figure.
https://auto.mercadolibre.com.uy/MLU-634808141-thunderbird-1960-_JM#position=1&search_layout=grid&type=item&tracking_id=7541e749-5178-46a4-8b3b-4762ed429210&gid=1&pid=6
The 58 Tbirds single handedly pioneered buckets and a console, where the shifter was wasn’t an industry standard yet at that time. The console was a stylish accessory that served double duty of covering the very large driveshaft tunnel
It’s especially awkward on early Falcon Futuras – buckets, console and 3-on-the-tree!
Ford was willing to lavish the Dagenham 4-speed on Econoline vans but that meant there wasn’t production capacity, nor willingness to buy one from B-W, to make 4-on-the-floor the standard part of the Futura package that 20/20 hindsight tells us it should’ve been.
The center console can also serve as an armrest and a storage compartment. I’m sure that it was a cost saving feature on this T Bird, Actually Ford stayed with the column shift up into the ’70’s. Floor shifted automatics are all about style and image, automatic transmissions of this period didn’t offer any shifting options and were plunked into the Drive position. Modern cars have moved away from the floor shift but are keeping the console. This is a better use of the real estate.
Interiors sat low, high transmission tunnel. These were near-luxury cars, never considered to be sports cars. Mom bought a new 1960 T-Bird convertible, white with turquoise interior.
Roll-up windows? Ew……
Roll up windows, way ahead of their time…they are simply safer when you dunk the car into a pond. The electric can stop working and you are trapped! Forward thinking for safety lol!
No AC either, for that matter.
“AC”? That was a “rare commodity” then.
At first glance, the shadow of the light pole on the pavement looked like a shoulder belt. As if!
Sitting nearly eye-level to a giant steering wheel is also a blast from the driving past. I recall vintage reviews raving about smaller wheels specially made for power steering, but these giant yacht wheels were pretty standard through the 60s.
I love her glasses. She looks like a lot of fun and that she’s having fun.
As for the roll-up windows, uh huh. I recall explaining to my 23 year old what those were and how they worked in his first car. Kids….
I love this picture ! it’s fun .
-Nate
During my late teens and early twenties (looking back) I owned a 58, 60, & 63. Wouldn’t consider it a particularly good dating car. Low buckets and high console. Get the message? But I loved my T-Birds…..
Enjoyed my brothers “64” for a while. Think it was around for about 2.5 years..
I like this ad for the Thunderbird interior for 1964.
I spent a childhood in backseats of cars of that era, so this is a familiar view – and one not commonly photographed. Love it!
This is behind the back seat at that, I can see the parcel shelf at the leading edge. Camera’s looking in through the back window.
I can’t figure out how he took this picture through the backlight and didn’t get glare .
-Nate