Ford Thunderbird (fourth generation) which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and a black 1965 Thunderbird Convertible was featured in the David Lynch film "Wild at Heart", starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Ford Thunderbird (fourth generation) The fourth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a large personal luxury car produced by Ford for the 1964 to 1966 model years. This generation of the Thunderbird was restyled in favor of a more squared-off, "formal" look. The Thunderbird's sporty image had by that time become only that: the standard 390-cubic-inch V8 engine needed nearly 11 seconds to push the heavy T-bird to 60 mph (96
Ford Thunderbird Sunset Strip. A vinyl-roofed Landau option with simulated S-bars was added to the Thunderbird for 1962 as was a "Sports Roadster" package for convertible models. The Sports Roadster included 48-spoke Kelsey-Hayes designed wire wheels and a special fiberglass tonneau cover for the rear seats which gave the car the appearance of a two-seat roadster like the original Thunderbird. The Sports Roadster package was slow-selling due the high price of the package and complexity of the tonneau cover, resulting in few Thunderbirds being equipped with it. Newly optional for 1962 was an upgraded version of the V8 called the "M-Code" (a