T-bird History - 1957

1957

The 1957 Thunderbird included a restyled front grille, rear deck and new bumpers. It was the first to have a fully padded dash surface. New features included a Volumatic Radio System which automatically increased the radio volume as the car's speed increased.

There was also the Dial-O-Matic power seat which provided a memory setting. When the ignition shut off, the seat returned to the rear position, allowing for easier entry to and exit from the car, and the seat then returned to its pre-set position when the ignition was started. The rear deck was restyled once more with the spare tire returning to the trunk which had a new wheel well. This allowed the tire to be stored in a new vertical position that left adequate trunk space for travel and leisure activity equipment, correcting a complaint from the earlier model.

The 1957 T’Birds had a selection of four engines. The "C" series was the base-issue Thunderbird. It had a 292 cubic inch displacement (CID) engine with a 2 barrel carburetor, and was rated at 212 horsepower. It was available only with the 3-speed manual transmission and typically had few options. There were approximately 3,300 of these produced.

The "D" series was most common with approximately 16,423 produced out of the total 1957 Thunderbird production of 21,380. This series had a 312 cid motor with 4 barrel carburetor which produced 245 horsepower. It’s 0-60 mph times were in the 10-second range and it had a top speed of about 115 mph. It was available with a 3 speed/overdrive manual, or a Fordomatic transmission.

The "E" series had Ford’s "High Performance Special" engine. It was rated at 270 horsepower through the combination of a "hotter" cam and two 4-barrel carburetors. Also in this series was Ford’s "Racing" version which produced 285 horsepower. All together there were 1,499 "E" series produced. They were available with 3 speed transmission with or without overdrive, or an automatic transmission.

The "F’ series Thunderbird has a 312 cid motor with special heads, cam, distributor and 4-barrel carburetor. Additionally there is a Paxton-McCulloch VR57 supercharger which "force feeds" the carburetor with up to 6 psi of compressed air. Although the McCulloch rated this setup at 360 horsepower, Ford indicated a rating of 300 horsepower.

Speculation is that a well set-up motor would produce in the 325-340 horsepower range. Its 0-60 mph times were measured in the 6-second range with a top speed of 125-130 mph.

Only between 208-211 were produced. The first 14 of these were supercharged D-Birds, called "D-F ‘Birds" (they had the "D" data plate designation rather than the "F"). They were produced in January 1957 to qualify the supercharged Thunderbird as a production car for NASCAR competition.

The F-Bird was available with any of Ford’s transmissions and the complete list of accessory options. The supercharger was a rather

 expensive option for the times at $500.

While kept in production for an extra three months, the 1957 Thunderbird was the last of the classic two-seaters. The last one rolled off the assembly line Dec. 13, 1957, bringing an end to an era.