AMT/ERTL 00682 1962 Ford Thunderbird

The Ford Thunderbird is an American passenger car that was first presented to the public in 1954 at the Detroit auto show. Its serial production was carried out in the years 1954-1997 and 2002-2005, and in its course about 4.4 million copies of this model were produced. In the course of a very long serial production, the model saw as many as 11 of its generations!

The Thunderbird model was developed and put into production in order to fight the market battle with the Chevrolet Corvette. However, the Ford concern decided to attack its opponent on the market in an indirect way and positioned the Thunderbird model in a completely new, created by itself segment of the "personal luxury car", that is, an intermediate between a limousine and a sports car. The treatment turned out to be successful, because in the first year of production the sales of the Ford model were much higher than the Corvette model! Throughout the series production, the car was offered primarily as a 2-door convertible and a coupe. The available range of engines changed and evolved with the advancement of technology, but for example the 1954 model was powered by a 5.1 liter 228 hp engine, while the 1968 model already had a 7 liter 365 hp engine.