Ford Taunus P1 a much more powerful competitor to sell against the successful Opel and against the Borgward Isabella, which acquired something approaching iconic status in the later 1950s. For 1959, Ford’s smaller Taunus no longer needed to try to compete half a class up. The Taunus 15M was withdrawn from sale. A redesign of the front of the car saw the prominent globe symbol removed, leaving a more restrained front for the Taunus 12M which competed now without distraction in the small car category, a sector increasingly dominated by Volkswagen’s Beetle. Having lost its defining globe mascot, the smaller Taunus acquired a
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