Ford Thunderbird in Rancho Mirage, California also lays claim to being the inspiration for the name of the car. Ernest Breech, a Thunderbird Country Club member, who was then chairman of Ford Motor Company was supposedly deeply involved in the creation of the Thunderbird. Breech asked the Club's permission to name the new model after the Club and the club consented to the use of the name. The Ford Thunderbird began life in February 1953 in direct 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
Thunderbird 2 pod vehicles the Thunderiser/Laser Cutter. No models have been issued of this device. The Electromagnetic grabs, according to the "Thunderbird 2" cross-section, are housed in all six pods of "Thunderbird 2" and are hydraulically lowered from a hatch in the base of the pod. However, in the Haynes "Thunderbirds Manual (Agents' Technical Manual)", the grabs take up the whole of Pod 2. The Grabs are used to grab and lift heavy vehicles out of disaster areas and, as seen in "Brink of Disaster" are strong enough to tear an individual carriage from a monorail out of the whole train. They are also