The Thunderbird..

I am not a great fan of Fords but on occasion, they get it right. Such was the case with the Ford Thunderbird in 1955.

For an American, front chrome was not overdone and there were no over-extended tail fins, but the design came from the looks of European cars. It was a two seat, convertible, ‘luxury personal car’, originally lined up against the GM Corvette, but it was no sports car, despite the stock 4.8L V8. I saw one of these, just as in the photo, a few years ago in a Canadian mall. It was the prize in a draw, and I have to admit that I really wanted to win it. That didn’t happen by the way.

Unlike European soft tops, the hood folded back into the trunk. It was a complex system and hood down left little room in the trunk sitting ahead of the spare wheel. It didn’t matter though. With a passenger capacity of two, who needed a large trunk anyway.

Changes were made over the next two years to the front end but nothing too drastic. Then. for 1958, somebody had the idea to make it an ugly four seat convertible, and it all went downhill.

This car is an American classic that doesn’t look like it is going to eat the car in front, and it is a size that would fit into a modern day parking space. From ‘58 on, the car got uglier and larger and, by the time that it had completely lost its way in 1997, the name was mothballed.

For 2002, somebody decided that it would be good to resurrect the Thunderbird, and guess what? It was a clean looking stylish two seat convertible with styling cues taken from the original car. Sadly, it only lasted until 2005. With sales falling off, the car was discontinued. Maybe the majority had got used to the big ugly T-Birds and actually liked them. Strange people..

A note for Brits: If you think that you have seen a front like this before, you would be right. The basic design was used as a four seat convertible and regular saloon in the UK called the Consul MkII in 1956, but it lacked the grace of the Thunderbird, being more slab sided and with a rear seat so low that only the tallest could see out over the doors..

It’s a Daimler..

.. and quite a large Daimler. Body work is by MCW, the lightweight Orion, but this has the ‘Manchester’ front which I believe originated from the Roe bodied Manchester buses.

Early CVG6’s had the Birmingham front which was flatter and had headlights placed further inboard of the sides. The Manchester front is the better looking of the two.

So, why is it a favourite of mine? I used to travel to school on one of these, and it is a Daimler bus. See the nice Daimler badge on the front. This signifies that the part which keeps the body, engine et al from dragging along the roads is made in Coventry, essentially my home city.

Motive power came from a Gardner 6LW, an 8.4 litre superlative diesel, which was coupled to the back wheels via a pre-selector gearbox. All of this enabled sixty three passengers, the driver and conductor to travel around Coventry.

OK, so it is not the most famous of British buses, but it is the best looking, even in Coventry’s muddy red colour.

As a kid, I used to listen to the slow idle of the 6LW while it was parked at the terminus close to my home. You can hear it here..

One other thing.. these buses had open rear platforms that one could jump on and off. The Daimler Fleetlines and Leyland Atlanteans (the type behind the CVG6 in the photo) that followed all had hydraulic doors which didn’t open until the bus had stopped. Safe, yes, but people waiting at the stops always stood right in front of the doors, and you sometimes had to fight your way off. Jumping off just before the stop was a better way and far more exciting.

Ahh, the good old days..