TWO into FOUR

The Ford Thunderbird debuted in 1955 as a two-seater ‘personal car’ and was Ford Motor Company’s answer to the Chevrolet Corvette. It easily outsold the crosstown rival (16,155 T-birds to just 674 Corvettes). Robert McNamara, who was one of the original ‘Whiz Kids’ (a group of 10 United States Army Air Force veterans that in 1947 had come to Ford in response to an offer to become part of the upper management) had become general manager of Ford. McNamara was not a ‘car guy’; however, he knew the important numbers that went with the car business.

While the Thunderbird, as Ford’s flagship car, did wonders in helping provide an exciting way to get people into the dealership showrooms, its sales were not really enough to make any significant profit from. Chevrolet was barely selling its Corvette, which