I imagine there were some long and stressful meetings because Ford couldn’t let Chevrolet have a whole market segment to themselves. Apparently across town in Detroit, the Corvette stirred up some excitement at Ford Motor Co. It created a lot of excitement because it looked great, but initially it wasn’t a very good car. In January 1953, Chevrolet showed a concept sports car called the Corvette. Right after World War II, the car business was pretty good for everyone, and the industry was mostly building cars styled before the war. Both brands had fierce loyalty among their owners, being the best-selling car was the goal of each, and each tried to learn the secret plans of their competitor. While there were other manufacturers building cars, the main rivalry was Ford versus Chevrolet. The Chevrolet was a more advanced car, but the price was $2,150, compared to the Model T for $850. The first Ford Model T was built in 1908 and the first Chevrolet in 1911. We can only imagine the sound and heat experienced by the driver in this jet 'Bird.In the competitive automotive world, Ford and Chevrolet have been adversaries for 110 years. Observations in the document mention 'undesirability of front exhaust' along with considerable lag in start-up acceleration as design drawbacks. Whereas the Chrysler Turbine car had an exhaust system exiting out the back, this Ford prototype dumps it out behind the front wheel. The engine is listed as a Boeing 8c creating 175 hp (130 kW), and presumably, a soundtrack that guarantees double-takes from every person in a one-block radius. In fact, it's a small gas turbine engine supplied by Boeing.įord archivist Ted Ryan shared the image of this prototype on Twitter, along with a snapshot of a document outlining the program. But as the gigantic exhaust outlet in the fender of this 'bird suggests, there's something radically different sitting between the fenders. Ordinarily, one would find a 292 cubic-inch V8 under the hood, making just shy of 200 horsepower (149 kilowatts). Feast your eyes on a very curious 1955 Ford Thunderbird.

1955 ford tbird