The car was also a big hit at many custom car shows across the country. It was a modified ’63 Thunderbird convertible made into a fastback, and it was shown as part of the Ford Custom Caravan. The T-Bird Italienĭuring the new Thunderbird’s three year production run, at least one show car based on the 1961-63 Thunderbird was built. Soon after his ’61 Thunderbird proposal, Powers was to promoted to manager and then exec, but left Ford in 1966 to pursue a successful career in California as an independent designer. They bare a remarkable similarity to the themes adopted to the ’64 and the ’67 Thunderbirds. Ideas are contagious, and other designers rightfully claim to have designed those cars, but it’s hard to argue with the sketches Powers did at the time the ’61 design was underway. Powers has long maintained that his sketches, done at the time the ’61 Thunderbird was being designed, also influenced the ’64 and the ’67 Thunderbirds. Some 1,900 Sports Roadster, as they were called, with Kaufman’s hard tonneau and Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels, were sold in 1962-63.Īt the time the ’61 Thunderbird was being designed, designers were working not only on the ’61 Thunderbird, but on future Thunderbird themes as well. But, no matter whose idea it initially was, everyone agrees, Kaufman was the designer of the hard tonneau. John Najjar, who at that time was the exec in the Corporate Projects studio, says he passed a request on from Iacocca to Kaufman to come up with a hard tonneau for the ’61 Thunderbird. Iacocca claimed he and his then product planner, Will Scott, were in the Ford and Thunderbird studios often. Lee Iacocca replaced Wright as head of Ford Division in 1961. There is a dispute about who came up with the idea of the Thunderbird’s hard tonneau cover. After that, the hard tonneau soon became an authorized project. The next thing Kaufman and Nelson knew, Walker came to the Ford studio to talk to Oros. He was delighted and hung it on the wall of his office. When finished, they presented the illustration to Walker. Kallman included Kaufman in the illustration explaining the concept to Walker, with a “pensive” Joe Oros in the background next to Lewis Crusoe, former head of Ford Division. The illustration showed a 3/4 view of a red ’61 Thunderbird with people all around it parked at the Greenbriar resort. Nelson drew the car in the illustration, Kallman did the rest. Nelson worked on an illustration with Marty Kallman, a studio designer then considered the best at drawing people and background. They decided to make a really great illustration of their proposal and present it to George Walker, head of the Styling Center, to hang on his office wall. Clever PloyĪlthough Kaufman and Nelson were disappointed, Nelson suggested a ploy Ned Nichols, his old boss at GM, had used to get his pet projects noticed. Oros listened, then told Kaufman the project was done without authorization, to stop work on it, and to destroy the model. When Oros returned, Kaufman showed the model to him and explained how it worked. So they made a fully detailed and painted small clay model of their proposal. Joe Oros was on vacation at the time, and Kaufman and Nelson knew they would have to have it done by the time he returned because it wasn’t an authorized project. Kaufman thought it was a great idea, so Nelson made a full-sized tape drawing of it. Nelson then told Kaufman one way to solve the problem was to cover the back seat with a fiberglass panel to create the illusion the 4-passenger Thunderbird was really a 2-passenger vehicle. They both thought there was still a market for a 2-passenger Thunderbird. After listening to the complaints of other designers, Kaufman and Nelson were themselves bemoaning the demise of the two-seater Thunderbird. Kaufman and Nelson got along well and had worked together before. Ken Nelson was the senior designer in the studio. In June 1961, Boyer was reassigned, and Bud Kaufman became the Thunderbird studio manager. Designers in the Thunderbird studio were also upset because everybody had given up on the 2-passenger Thunderbird. Those letters continued with the ’61 Thunderbird. was receiving letters from fans bemoaning the demise of the two-passenger Thunderbird. Design of the 1961 Thunderbird Sports RoadsterĪlmost immediately after production of the ’58 Thunderbird began, Ford Motor Co.
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