Ford Thunderbird (first generation) sport compact car. Ford Thunderbird (first generation) The first generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a two-seat convertible produced by Ford for the 1955 to 1957 model year, the first 2-seat Ford since 1938. It was developed in response to the 1953 Motorama display at the New York Auto Show, which showed the Chevrolet Corvette. The Corvette in turn was developed in response to the popularity of European sports cars among Americans. Dubbed a "personal car" by Ford, it built upon the heritage of the bespoke roadsters of the 1930s yet was constructed largely of existing components, marking the first
Model car the first-generation Toyota Celica, which has become somewhat of a classic. Nevertheless, Hasegawa also produced 1/25 scale models of 1965-66 American cars, including the 1965 Chevrolet Impala, and 1966 Buick Wildcat, Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and Thunderbird Landau. These were actually Johan and AMT kits that were simplified and modified for the Japanese market. Since the mid-90's several companies including: Tameo, Studio 27, Model Factory Hiro, and Renaissance have issued hundreds of Sports Car and Formula 1 subjects in limited-run, multimedia kit sets. These so-called "multimedia" offerings consist of a combination of resin, white metal, photo-etch, and machined aluminum instead of