I thought this would be a nice combo to share, a ’56 Thunderbird and a ’56 Cadillac Series Sixty nicely parked in someone’s driveway. My guess is someone is having a gathering of some sort. Quite the varied group if that’s the case.
There are other possible scenarios, like a family that doesn’t have one iota of brand loyalty. But I prefer the former idea.
In either case, the Caddy and the ‘Bird make for an interesting pairing; a study of sorts on luxury. The Caddy was the established player and spoke ‘money’ and class to everyone. When purchased, there was no question as to what it meant. An automatic status machine.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbird was an early example of how to ‘upscale’ a common-man brand. Though not a luxury car per se, the T-Bird was Ford’s most expensive model, and it spoke individuality in a way few other cars of the period did while also seeming ‘accessible.’ As is known, it embodied a new approach to ‘luxury’ or exclusivity: the ‘personal luxury car.’ The elements for sales success weren’t quite there yet, but Ford was to perfect the formula soon enough.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1957 Ford Thunderbird – The Most Perfectly Styled American Car Of The 1950s?
Curbside Classic: 1958 Ford Thunderbird – The Most Revolutionary American Car Of The 1950s
Curbside Classic: 1955 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – You’re The DeVille In Disguise, Oh Yes You’re
Very cool. What’s in the garage?
A ’49 or ’50 Ford sedan and a mid-50s Ford wagon (possibly a Mercury).
Why was the Thunderbird a Ford rather than a Lincoln? And/or why wasn’t there a Lincoln version of it until the Mark III?
Well there was the Mark II in 56-57 completely different than the regular Lincoln Only a 2 dr. as well as the Mark I 41-48 these were like the first personal size luxury cars As I think I am right ?
The Mark II was also 10,000 gold standard dollars, and Ford took a bath on each one sold.
Because the Thunderbird was a response to the Corvette. There was no Thunderbird version of the Mark III.
The irony of the Thunderbird’s success (at least after it sprouted a back seat) was that it occurred when Ford (and Chrysler) were obsessed with competing with GM’s higher-end marques, and the both Ford and Mopar assumed this meant having to compete one-for-one with each of GM’s five car divisions. And Ford fell flat on their face trying, with the Edsel and breaking Continental into a separate, more expensive brand than Lincoln. (Chrysler likewise tried unsuccessfully to break out Imperial as a separate luxury brand, eventually giving up as well as discontinuing DeSoto). And yet Ford showed with the Thunderbird it was completely feasible to move upmarket and create an upscale aura for a new car without going through the hassle and expense of having to create a new brand and new dealerships to sell them. Ultimately, GM themselves had to take the Ford/Chrysler route, discontinuing Pontiac and Oldsmobile (and with Buick on life support in North America).
Thunderbird sales wouldn’t have been enough to support a whole separate division.
True, but Continental Mark II or Edsel sales weren’t either…
Edsel sales were anticipated to be much higher than they turned out, of course. And the ’60 Comet was intended to be an Edsel compact, expanding the line.
As to the Mk II, it too was intended to have a four door companion, but that didn’t work out either. And there’s no doubt that there weren’t exactly likely to be stand-alone Continental dealers.
The key point is that the Thunderbird was a response to the Corvette, and Ford was determined to compete with Chevy in every avenue. The ’55 Thunderbird was not positioned as a “luxury” car, but as a “personal car”; there is a difference. The reality is that positioning was created because they realized it wasn’t going to be competitive as a true sports car, so that was a solution.
But yes, the Thunderbird very much showed it was possible to move upmarket without creating a new division. Ford learned that lesson the hard way.
I’m just surprised Ford felt compelled to respond to the Corvette at all, given that during the Thunderbird’s development (i.e. before 1955), the Corvette was a sales flop. It wasn’t until Chevy got serious about improving the ‘Vette with the 1955 model that sales took off.
I didn’t realize Continentals didn’t get their own dealerships (or at least hand-picked Lincoln dealerships), as there was a distinct Continental Division set up, and the cars were built in a dedicated factory.
Just FYI, Buick sales are dropping everywhere; it’s gone from the 4th best selling brand in China 5 years ago, to 12th. Although China sales are still 5x US sales, there’s speculation that the brand could be GM’s next divestment to a Chinese company … though I wonder what regulators (or politicians) would say about that. No one could have imagined such a situation when this driveway snapshot was taken!
The Buick Envista, styled in the United States and Korea, is one of my favourite-looking recent car designs. Great style, at an affordable price. The Chevrolet Trax, built on the same platform, another sharp-looking exterior.
Nice job as well, with Buick’s recent refresh of their former tri-shield logo.
They had two clay versions of this design in the Advanced Studio, this and one with a longer axle-dash, which looked better. A good design. How it feels inside given the squat greenhouse is another matter.
Impressive use of lighting in the nighttime Thunderbird print ad. Makes the car and photo appear more modern. And the scene more sophisticated, and interesting. Appears to be a very large white fill used to create the whitened, bright reflection along the upper car body, and wheel covers. With a second white fill used to highlight the rear flank, and tail fin. With another bright light pointed behind the T-Bird, to show the profile of the top of the Continental kit. Plus interior lighting, highlights the porthole as seen from inside. With appealing soft fill lighting on the woman’s face.
Plus another smaller spotlight, perhaps on a tripod, at the driver’s door. Pointed upwards, highlighting the faces of the owner and servant. Besides, the softer yellower car headlights, and building lighting. I probably would have removed the hat from the owner.
Very impressive and quite sophisticated art direction for 1956. Scene would look still look newer, if you simply swapped in a much newer car.
Hats were pervasive back then. It you wanted to look dressy when going out, or even look dressed for business at the office, you probably wore a hat.
Just as easily, you could say the same about a cigarette in his mouth. But it would look tidier from an art direction POV, without the extra props.
Very nice lighting work as well, the way they captured the grille work at the top of the front fender. Highlighting all these T-Bird styling highlights, without making it too obvious. Well done, and impressively nuanced for that era in domestic car design.
It is an oversized, odd looking hat– a Homburg that thinks it’s a top hat.
I’ve been watching old Perry Mason (’57-66) episodes on Pluto, partly for the old cars. I haven’t noticed Perry and Paul Drake wearing hats outdoors, even when driving convertibles in the early years. But it was LA, and they didn’t want to mess up their hair for the cameras.
Lt Tragg usually wore the hats.
Daniel, you must be or have the DNA of an artist. Let me add to the glory that you have revealed by pointing out another important thing designed to seal the deal – the babe inside looking straight at the camera.
Also helping out which are something unavailable to present day artists are the whitewall tires. They work in combination with the white roof inside and out to frame the face of the dark haired sweetie pie.
Absolutely terrific work by the art director(s) on this photography. Especially tastefully done, given the era. Re-enforces for me, that great design talent was always around during the late 50s. Even though, good taste in car design went somewhat off the rails, in many ways. And is a lasting memory for many of that period. This ad looks fantastic for that vintage.
The whitewalls and vinyl roof are brighter than the jaundiced, sickly headlights.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a 2 seat TBird in a dark color before. They’re usually dressed in inch-thick pastels that don’t flatter the shape IMO. I like it, but it does make the tires look big (or is it the low angle?) Perhaps that’s why they offered fender skirts.
Funny that in a time when bigger meant better, both Ford’s and Chevy’s most expensive cars were little two seaters.
There’s usually a black one at every “antique car show”. If they’re “soft tops”, the top is generally white.
Those “Tbirds” were not small. Next to the “huliking,Caddy”, looks so “junioresque: though..
56 Tbird is only 4″ longer than a compact 1960 Falcon, and 10 of those inches is in the continental spare. 55s are 6″ shorter than the falcon.
Someone was enjoying post-war prosperity…
Look closely at the Cadillac – it is equipped with factory air conditioning, which was a very expensive option in 1956. So someone was really enjoying postwar prosperity.
The lead photo with the ’56 Caddy next to the T-Bird makes a clear statement of style – where it’s been and where it was going.
Harley Earl was a great pre-war stylist who led GM styling up until the late 1950’s, with power of the last say. His approach to styling was heavy into what I would ‘wedding cake’. There’s a fender line, next up is the belt line and then the roofline, typical of cars of the mid 30’s up to WW2.
After the war. styling moved ahead in several directions. There were the pre-war continuations, the postwar moderns, the postwar-prewar blends which is what I think is the direction Harley went. He was a master at details, but his overall form factor was the three levels wedding cake design. The ’56 Caddy in the lead photo shows these three levels quite clearly.
Next to it is the Thunderbird which is kind of a miniature version of the full sized Ford, both with fender line and belt line at near equal levels, which is where Ford styling went in 1949 and where it was in 1956.
In 1957, Harley Earl’s old-fashioned wedding cake approach with the soft curve up into the next horizontal layer was exposed by the Forward Look.
I’ve had a thing for ’56 Cadillacs since I was a kid. I had one once. Now I see this one posted here, and I saw another one for sale on the AACA forum. One of my favorite ’50’s cars, I ask myself. “would I want another one?” I should be more tempted by the T Bird, their prices have been holding pretty steady in recent years. Luckily I don’t have any extra cash floating around.
The Lincoln and Thunderbird far out shine the two cars in the garage as well as the house in question.
Could this be a holiday gathering or party where the relative come in their best clothes and transportation??
Should be “Cadillac”. Got Ford on the brain….
I had a baby blue and a black 57 Tbird.
The black one stood out much more than the pastel blue color. Also, Ford, as well as GM went to 14 inch wheels for 57 thus giving them the more desirable low profile compared to the 55 and 56 Tbirds.