Boxwish Blog

Auto of the week: Ford Thunderbird convertible from Thelma and Louise

Posted by Team Boxwish on 06 January 2009 at 01.53PM

Blog_00442_auto_of_the_week_ford_thunderbird_convertible

Hitting the road to shake off the shackles of their humdrum lives, repressed housewife Thelma (Geena Davis) and her chum single waitress Louise (Susan Sarandon) do so in classic style – a 1964 Thunderbird convertible. Five such motors were used on production of the 1991 feminist flick with one sold by Coys for €30,680 at auction last October, but for this wasn’t the first cinematic outing for the fourth generation model. Oh no, they have assumed starring roles in films as varied as Nicolas Cage thriller Wild At Heart and early Tom Cruise drama The Outsiders (which like Thelma and Louise was directed by Sir Ridley Scott), yet it took a pair of free-spirited females to help the Thunderbird snag this week’s Auto of the Week blog post.

Manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, Thunderbirds have become synonymous with their 1950s roots epitomising the rebellious teenage spirit of the era. In production from 1955 until just recently in 2005, Thunderbirds began as sporty two-seaters but have experienced a turbulent 50 year history, from fluctuating sizes to halts in production (1997 to 2002).

The 1964 model as seen in Thelma and Louise looks less sporty than its predecessors with a more formal and square appearance that despite poor reception from motoring experts remained a firm favourite with the purchasing public until making way for the dramatically different fifth generation in 1967.

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Comments (2)

Great car, AMAZING movie. I wonder what happened to the other four used on the movie (apart from the one that's probably still at the bottom of the canyon!)?

Posted by Swiss_Cheese on 06 January 2009 at 02.38PM
It would be cool if both Geena and Susan got to keep one each as a memento.

Posted by HarryPlopper on 07 January 2009 at 02.34PM