Shag’s Thunderbird

Is it wrong to love a car? Not as far as we are concerned, and not as far as artist Shag is concerned. The article is written by Shag himself and tells the story of how he found his “Flairbird” and why he loves it so much.

“The year of 1964 was a historic one for Ford Motorcars. The excesses of 1950s automotive design had finally been shed, and Ford’s cars were no longer doughy, rounded and chrome-bedecked behemoths. A low, trim, square aesthetic took root at their design studio, and automotive styling finally caught up with the modern “good-design” principles of architects and designers like Charles & Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Eero Saarinen. 1964 was also the year that Ford introduced their most successful model since the Model A, the beloved Mustang.

“However, I’m not going to write about the Mustang. That middle-class, midlife-crisis vehicle has been part of the public consciousness since its debut; as omnipresent and common as a trash-truck or ambulance, it’s an easy choice for a “classic” automobile. Reproduction parts and businesses that specialize in Mustangs are as easy to find as Velveeta at a company picnic. A less obvious model, but one which epitomizes Ford’s mid-sixties design philosophy in its purest form, is the 1964 Thunderbird.

“When I say “1964 T-Bird,” a majority of Americans think of the 1955 – 1957 T-Bird — that cornball, Happy Days-intro, malt-shop-visiting, feminine sports model that screams “1950s!” What glass Coke bottles are to beverages, what Sha Na Na is to rock bands, what sock-hops are to nightlife, the ’55 T-Bird is to automotive history.

“But the ’64 Bird was not a car for rowdy, speed-craving teens, nor for young, just-out-of-college bachelors. With a sticker price that was almost twice that of the Mustang, the T-Bird was the desired ride of the upper middle-class, comfort-loving, semi-sophisticated 30 – 45 year old male, the Sinatra-listening, Arrow Shirt-wearing, Playboy Magazine-subscribing gentleman.”

Excerpted from the print edition of Barracuda Magazine issue #10.