1957 Ford Thunderbird DF Convertible Phase 1

Today in the "AJ C.O.T.D" we have a rarity...exactly how that makes what appears to be an ordinary 1957 Ford Thunderbird so rare will be revealed after just a quick history lesson of the iconic Ford sportscar.

Ford Thunderbirds are an American automotive icon that was introduced in 1955. In Europe, the style of vehicle was very different from the Detroit American car. The graceful but sporty MG, Triumphs, and Jaguar's, to name a few, had found their way into the hearts of the buying public . The American automobile manufacturers noticed this trend and felt there was a strong market to support a small sportscar. Chevrolet was one of the first of Detroit's auto-manufacturers to test the market with the introduction of their Corvette. Not wanting to be left behind, Ford Motor Company entered with their Thunderbird.

In early 1957, Ford Motor Company took advantage of a new NASCAR rule and built 100 supercharged cars, including 15 Thunderbirds, all were built in the Dearborn plant on January 25, 1957.

These 15 cars were sold only to established racers. They used the NASCAR supercharged 312 cubic-inch V8 with a McCulloch VR57 supercharger. With the NASCAR racing kit performance package, it boosted horsepower to 340.  These Ford Thunderbirds were built to NASCAR rules. One of them beat a Chevrolet Corvette record by 6 mph in the 1957 NASCAR Speed Weeks trials. These Phase 1 (also called D/F) cars were equipped with three-speed manual transmissions, blackwall tires, small hubcaps, no fender skirts, no heater, and no engine dress-up kit . Later, starting in June of 1957, Ford built a customer version of this car, now known as the 'F' Bird. The 'F' had a milder cam, lower compression ratio and lower supercharged boost. The 'F' Bird was available with whitewalls, power accessories and automatic transmission. 'F' Bird production was 194 cars, making them kinda scarce and sought after as well.

Of these 15 famed Nascar T-Birds, only 8 of these 'Phase I Supercharged' cars are known to survive. One such survivor, pictured in the above photo, recently hammered down at auction for a tidy sum of $265,000. ($250K plus 6.00% commission) For one of only 8 left...I'd say that was a bargain provided you had the cake to spend. Love it.