1956 Ford Thunderbird Convertible

Ford was ultimately compelled into the two-seater sports-car craze by the Corvette, and the Thunderbird was the perfect car to compete in the newly created market. Sold to the American buyer as an upscale personal sports car, it was designed to be comfortable and convenient with an emphasis on luxury. The Thunderbird became a wildly instant success and outsold the Corvette by a shocking 23:1 ratio in its first production year.

This 1956 Ford Thunderbird has a unique story as it was purchased new by George and Peg Crockett, founders of Alamo Airways and owners of Alamo Field, the predecessor and site of today’s McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The Crocketts purchased their new T-bird as a new aircraft support vehicle, which was used to race at high speeds across the tarmac, rapidly bringing supplies and, occasionally, fire-fighting equipment to and from planes. It also fit the flamboyant image of an airline that carried visiting celebrities to and from Alamo Field in a V-16 Cadillac and whose owners were literally high-flying friends with Howard Hughes.

This Thunderbird was famously used to keep a Cessna 172 aloft for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes in late 1958. With the fuel tanker designed to feed gasoline up to the plane out of commission, George Crockett drove the T-Bird along a dry lakebed near Primm, Nevada, keeping up with the plane above while feeding several 5-gallon cans of gasoline up to it using a rope. Reportedly, supplies were sent up to the pilots (and waste sent down) using the same method. Today, that Cessna still holds the world record for the longest-duration continuous flight.

The car was sold along with all other Alamo Airways assets to Howard Hughes’ Hughes Tool Company in 1967; the Hughes Tool Company property tag is still present on the firewall. Hughes sold the Thunderbird in the mid-1970s to his personal pilot, John Seymore, who passed it to a boat dealer in 1981. Since then it has resided in private collections and was frame-off restored to the beautiful show condition seen today.

Under the hood is the optional 312 CI engine backed by the Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission. It is beautifully optioned with power steering, power brakes, power seats, power windows, positive action wipers, power windows, an engine dress-up kit, a hardtop and soft top, tinted glass, fender skirts, a radio, defroster and wire wheels. This amazing T-bird is a piece of aviation history that comes documented with history and original period photographs.