Ford

The Ford Thunderbird was announced in February 1953 as a response to Chevrolet's new sports car, the Corvette, which was publicly unveiled in prototype form just a month before. Under rapid development, the Thunderbird went from idea to prototype in about a year, being unveiled to the public at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1954. It was a two-seat design available with a detachable fiberglass hardtop and a folding fabric top. Production of the Thunderbird began in September 1954 as a 1955 model. Though inspired by and positioned directly against the Corvette, Ford advertised the Thunderbird at launch as a "personal car of distinction" and put a greater emphasis on the car's comfort and convenience features rather than its inherent sportiness. 

From 1958 through 1966, the Thunderbird had remained fundamentally the same in concept as a two-door coupé or  convertible with two rows of seating. The 1967 model year introduction of the similarly configured Mercury Cougar, created a challenge to its market positioning. To combat this, the fifth generation Thunderbird was upsized, the convertible was discontinued and a four-door hardtop coupe with suicide doors and a very wide C-pillar was added. 

In its sixth generation, the Thunderbird has become a large, luxury coupé, in fact the largest Thunderbird ever produced. A sibling of the Continental Mark IV, this generation was produced for the 1972 to 1976 model years. Aside from the redesign itself, the 1972 Thunderbird represented a simplification of body styles. Instead of the two body styles (two-door and four-door landau sedan) offered for the 1971 model year, the Thunderbird was pared down to a single two-door hardtop model line. 

In its seventh generation, Ford repackaged the Thunderbird from a full-size car to an intermediate car and ceded its full-size luxury coupé status to the Ford LTD Landau coupé. Rather than being the traditional Ford counterpart of the Continental Mark V, the Thunderbird would share the chassis with the Mercury Cougar and the Ford LTD II before the Ford Fox platform version was introduced for 1980. The squarer, sharper styling was popular and this generation became the best selling in the history of the Ford Thunderbird.