The American Sports Car: A Tale of Two Icons

In my opinion, there’s no better example of the American sports car than the Corvette. It’s a instantly recognizable classic with performance that backs up its looks. Everyone knows what a Corvette is, even my grandma, sometimes she thinks I’m her dead uncle.

I’ve been a fan of these cars for as long as I can remember, but lately, something's been bugging me, not with the Corvette, but with Ford. I was eating lunch one day when some coworkers walked by and said, “Aww yeah, the Corvette, great car, too bad Ford doesn’t make something to compete with it, it’d probably be rad.” I was rattled.

Bart was right. Why doesn't Ford make their own Corvette? The Corvette debuted in 1953. It’s designers wanted the Vette to be like the European sports cars of the time: powerful, sporty, and gorgeous. They wanted the Vette to push the boundaries of what a sports car could be.

It was the first production car with a fiberglass body, and each one was built by hand. A lot of passion went into building each Corvette, and Chevy wanted the clientele to reflect that. They sold the first 50 cars to movie stars, athletes, and powerful titans of industry.

But the marketing stunt didn’t work in the Corvette's first year of production. They only sold 315 of them. I thought that was kinda weird considering how ubiquitous the Corvette is today, but it turns out, The first Corvette kind of sucked. It wasn’t that fast, and the build quality was subpar. There were a lot of complaints about water leaking through the roof.

It also lacked basic creature comforts; the only options were a radio and heater. Not great for a car whose base price was around $32,000 in today's money. It was a poor excuse for a European-inspired sports car. Ford saw Chevy struggling to sell the 'Vette and said, "Dude, We can do better, for a lot less."

They got to work designing a sporty two-seater of their own. Ford's car would have power brakes, power windows, and power seats, and of course, the heater and radio. Ford understood that Americans did want a sports car, just not too sporty. It still had to be comfortable, but look like a sports car.

All it needed was a name. The story goes that Ford held a naming contest within the company, and it was won by an engineer who took inspiration from a coffee mug he got from his mom. Maybe it’s interesting to know how the first Thunderbird came up with its name?

The Thunderbird disappeared between 1997 and 2002, when it came back for one last ride. The new Bird was rumored to be a two-seater, which got people wondering, maybe it’ll be like the first Thunderbird, a luxurious sports car, perhaps faster than the current Corvette? But it wasn’t.

Yeah, it had two seats, but it was more focused on 'personal luxury' instead of speed. Around 68,000 new thunderbirds were sold in four years which wasn’t terrible, but Ford killed off the T-Bird in 2005, and I haven’t heard about it coming back any time soon.

As far as the Corvette is concerned, it’s still kicking and giving European competitors a run for their money, without having any competition back home. The Viper is dead, and Ford's sports lineup consists of hatchbacks, The Mustang and the GT; which costs like half a million dollars, putting it into a totally different market than the Corvette.

So why doesn’t Ford have their 'own' Corvette? Well, they did have one, but it slowly evolved into a luxury car. Because that’s what sold. Ford still has a Corvette-shaped hole in their lineup, but with about a million different Mustang variants to choose from, odds are you can find one to fill it.

The Corvette's legacy is something to be admired, and its influence on the automotive world cannot be overstated. It's a testament to American ingenuity and design, and it continues to inspire car enthusiasts around the world.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIn my opinion, there’s no better exampleof the American sports car than the Corvette.It’s a instantly recognizable classic with performance that backs up it’s looks.Everyone knows what a Corvette is, even myGrandma, sometimes she thinks I’m my deaduncle.I’ve been fan of these cars for as longas I can remember, but lately something’sbeen bugging me, not with the Corvette, butwith Ford.I was eating lunch one day when some coworkerswalked by “Aww yeah, the Corvette, greatcar, Too bad Ford doesn’t make somethingto compete with it, it’d probably be rad.”I was rattled.Bart was right.Why doesn’t Ford make their own Corvette?The Corvette debuted in 1953.It’s designers wanted the Vette to be likethe european sports cars of the time: powerful,sporty and gorgeous.They wanted the Vetteto push the boundaries of what a sports carcould be.It was the first production car with a fiberglassbody and each one was built by hand.A lot of passion went in to building each Corvette,and Chevy wanted the clienteleto reflect thatThey sold the first 50 cars to moviestars, athletes and powerful titans of industry.But the marketing stunt didn’t work,in the Corvette’s first year of production,They only sold 315 of them.I thought that was kinda weird consideringhow ubiquitous the Corvette is today,but it turns out, The first Corvette kindasucked.It wasn’t that fast, and the build qualitywas sub par.There were a lot of complaints about waterleaking through the roof.It also lacked basic creature comforts,the only options were a radio and heater.Not great for a car whose base price was around $32,000 in today's money.It was a poor excuse for a European inspiredsports car.Ford saw Chevy struggling to sell the 'Vetteand said “Dude, We can do better, for a lot less”.They got to work designing a sporty two seaterof their own.Ford’s car would have power brakes, power windows, and power seats,And of course the heater and radio.Ford understood that Americans did want asporty car, just not too sporty.It still had to be comfortable, but look likea sports car.All it needed was a name.The story goes thatFord held a naming contestwithin the company. And it was wonBy an engineer who took inspirationfrom a coffee mugHe got from New Mexico.The Ford Thunderbird had arrived.Unlike the Corvette, Ford had no problem sellingthe Thunderbird.While Chevy marketed their Corvette as a Europe-inspired hot rodFord marketed their car towards a more‘Dignified’ customer.The Thunderbird TheThunderbird’s actual slogan was “The PersonalCar of Distinction”.Ford didn’t even advertise the fact that itwas a better performer than the Corvette.The Thunderbird had a V8 as opposed to the corvette’sinline six, and it was much faster.The T-Bird was an immediate sales success,Ford only planned to build 10,000 of themin it’s first year, but ended up sellingover 16 thousand.By comparison, Chevy only built 4000 Corvettes...in it's first three years.But to my surprise, Ford was not satisfiedwith the Thunderbird’s successThey wanted more.So how do sell more two seaters?You make them four seaters.So three years after the Thunderbird’s debutas THE luxury two seat sports car, Ford Execsdecided it needed some rear seating.The engineers were a little skepticalSo, the new car would be longer, heavier andmore flamboyant lookingWould buyers really want a less sporty sports car?Turns out, the answer is yes.Thunderbird sales doubled in the four-seater’sfirst year, and after three years, Ford had soldover 200,000 Thunderbirds.The gamble had paid off, more seats meantmore salesWhile Ford was busy perfecting the luxurycar,1963 saw the introduction of the Stingray,which is my pick for the all time greatestAmerican sports carThe Stingray had hide away headlights, independentrear suspension, and in 1967, was capableof nearly 500 horsepower.That's a lot for the sixties, it's a lot for today!It took a while, but the Corvette was finallythe defining sports car it was meantto be.Even if it didn’t have a Blue Oval rivalto play with.Ford kept marketing the Thunderbird astheir upmarket luxury car,While the “sporty”title went to their newest model;the Mustang.So Ford had a luxury halo, and a sports halo.And Chevy didn't respond to the Mustang with the Corvette, but a pony car of their own;The Camaro.The Corvette was free to do it's own thing and focus on itself.Like a Divoree...With no kids.The Thunderbird stayed around for nearly fiftyyears, over 10 different generations,each time becoming less and less focused onit’s sportscar roots.The Thunderbird disappeared between 1997 and 2002,when it came back for one last ride.The new Bird was was rumored to be a two seater,which got people wondering, maybe it’llbe like the first Thunderbird, a luxurioussportscar, perhaps faster than the currentcorvette?But it wasn’t.Yeah, it had two seats, but it was more focusedon ‘personal luxury’ instead of speed.Around 68,000 new thunderbirds were sold in4 years which wasn’t terrible, but Fordkilled off the T-Bird in 2005, and I haven’theard about it coming back any time soon.As far as the Corvette is concerned, it’sstill kicking and giving european competitorsa run for their money, without having any competition back home.The Viper is dead, and Ford’s sports lineupconsists of hatchbacks, The Mustang and theGT; which costs like half a milliondollars, putting it into a totally differentmarket than the Corvette.So why doesn’t Ford have their ‘own’Corvette?Well, they did have one, but it slowly evolvedinto a luxury car; because that’s what sold.Ford still has a Corvette-shaped hole in theirline up, but with about a million differentMustang variants to choose from, odds are you can find one to fill it.Thanks for watching. Like, Comment, Share and Subscribe.Let me know in the comments what you guys want to learn about.WheelHouse is every MondayTuesdays, that Matt Field's Corvette BuildIt's insane.Wednesdays, Science Garage with my buddy Bart.Thursday, get yelled at by James Pumphrey.You love it, it's Up to SpeedFriday is The Bestest with Tone-Zone.Tony, Tony Two ToneA Top Ten list of everything in the car world.I usually think he's right, Pumphrey usually thinks he's wrong.Let's get into it.It's Donut!*Waves* :3