On This Day, July 1st

1. 2005: The last Ford Thunderbird rolls of the assembly line

Photo: wiki

Photo: wiki

Photo: yahoo

Photo: yahoo

As a response to the popularity of the Chevy Corvette released in 1953, Ford raced to get the Thunderbird ready for sale in 1955. It was an immediate hit and sold more than 14,000 cars in its first year, which dominated the Corvette sales of only 700. The Thunderbird would continue to be built until 1997 when Ford decided to discontinue the very popular car. However in 2002, Ford threw the market a curveball by bringing back a modern retro version of the original T-Bird. With its distinctive styling cues that immediately identify as a Thunderbird but also maintaining sleek modern body lines, the new T-Bird was a hit. Neiman Marcus got their hands on 200 of the new Thunderbirds and put them up for sale in their Christmas catalog. Pricing was right around $42,000 each, and within 2 hours they had sold out completely. However, due to inconsistent sales Ford decided to discontinue the T-Bird. On this date in 2005, the very last one would roll of the assembly line.