'Grease' was the word for Ford Thunderbird
Last week's Guess the Vehicle photograph also ran in the Entertainment section
In 1955, Ford had difficulty naming this car. Among the 5,000 suggested names were Hep Cat, Beaver, Detroiter, Runabout, Arcturus, Savile, El Tigre and Coronado. One serious suggestion was Whizzer.
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Finally, a Ford stylist submitted Thunderbird as part of the list and the rest is history. He was supposed to win a $250 suit. Instead he settled for a $95 suit and an extra pair of trousers from Saks Fifth Avenue.
Several readers also settled for guessing last week's vehicle, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible, using the Internet or their memory despite the car being identified in Thursday's Entertainment section. This Thunderbird was a prop for Aitkin High School's "Grease" play.
Larry Buschmann of Pequot Lakes submitted this photo. Can you guess the year, make and model as well as any other information about this vehicle? You can respond by e-mailing Clint at clint.wood@brainerddispatch.com or by calling 855-5888 and leaving a message.
Only six readers correctly guessed the Thunderbird. Two read the Entertainment section to assist them -- Larry Buschmann and Larry Roscoe. The other correct guessers were Tom Erickson, Dave Vieths, Steve Anderson and Nolan Saxvold.
Buschmann said, "I guess you have to read the whole paper."
He said there were five interior options, an adjusting steering wheel, a standard continental kit, and these cars used premium fuel.
Roscoe said he "drew a complete blank" until he looked at the Entertainment section. "Even then I double checked the Internet," he said.
He said upon surfing the Internet he learned that the Thunderbird was Ford's entry into the two-seat sports car market that was created by the Chevrolet Corvette.
He said the Internet has one of these cars for sale for $35,950. They sold new for $3,151.
Erickson said the thicker sun visor helped him identify that this was a '56 Thunderbird. He said these were part of Ford's safety program.
After surfing the Internet, I found other safety features including instrument panel padding and a concave steering wheel.
Anderson said his guess was a "best guess." He said the headlight rings seem to resemble a '55 or '56 Thunderbird. Gordon Nachbar also caught this feature but he guessed the car to be a '56 or '57.
Anderson's facts on this car included that it weighed 3,038 pounds and there were 15,631 built.
This 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible, a prop for Aitkin High School's annual play "Grease," was last week's Guess the Vehicle.
Guessing that this car was a 1955 to 1957 Thunderbird were Harry Austin and Ted Toensing.
Austin said if the photograph showed the rear of the car, he would have known for sure.
Toensing said he knew this car was a Ford by the pointed headlight frames and the hood scoop identified it as a Thunderbird.
Larry Olson and Rosemary Petrich guessed the car to be a '55 Thunderbird. Greg Dalton guessed it to be a 1957 Thunderbird.
International pickup in
several movies
Dennis Trowbridge's former 1934 International C-1 half-ton pickup, the March 17 mystery vehicle, has been in several German movies.
Trowbridge learned this from a letter from a Osseo man, Tom Boos, who bought the pickup from him and restored it. Boos sold it to a German.
Boos told Trowbridge as far as he knew, this pickup is in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was supposed to be displayed in a museum but it wasn't.
What year did Chevy
introduce V-8?
This week's trivia question is "What year did Chevrolet introduce the V-8 engine?"
The answer to last week's trivia question, "What year did Chrysler and Dodge merge?" is 1928 (May 28, 1928). This was the biggest auto industry merger in history.
Correct guessers were Dick Haynes, Erickson, Russ Moore, Austin, Roscoe, and Petrich.
Haynes said the merger was worth $170 million.
Roscoe said the Rosko brothers, owners of the original Dodge Garage in Brainerd, brought the first automobile to Brainerd.
clint wood, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at clint.wood@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5869.