Miguel Sánchez
In 1953 General Motors gave a coup by introducing the first generation of the Chevrolet Corvette. With quite compact proportions for the American canon of the time, its innovative bodywork made of fiberglass also helped to put the sporty performance at the level of not a few European roadsters. It's more, much of the specialized press saw in the Corvette an effective response to the rise of British convertibles in the American market. Something that, checking Jaguar's exports to its distributors in the United States, seems like a more than plausible fact.
In addition, the Chevrolet Corvette also had obvious readings for the rest of the local manufacturers. In this sense, the first thing to highlight is how the economic boom of the fifties, with more and more young people and families accessing the consumer society, sheltered a wide market niche for models like the Corvette. Something that, on the other hand, would revalidate years later Lee Iacocca when devising the Mustang. In addition, the Corvette was also framed in a second circumstance: the constant competition produced between Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
In this way, General Motors managed to overtake its rivals in the technological race with the appearance of its new Chevrolet sports car. Something that, just a year later, would be answered by Ford thanks to the launch of the Thunderbird at the Detroit Motor Show in 1954. With about twenty centimeters more extension than the Corvette, The new Ford was presented from the first moment as a perfect option to enjoy the road with great power under the hood. Thanks to this, many fans chose it as their favorite American sports car until the arrival of the muscle clar.
Of course, using the term "sports” within the parameters given to the other side of the Atlantic. Never in which any follower of Vittorio Jano, Colin Chapman or Mauro Forghieri can have in mind. So things, the commercial success of the Thunderbird was present from the moment of its launch. Something that, however, did not deprive Ford of wanting to go one step further in terms of competition. And it is that, since 1947, NASCAR was consolidating itself as the most mediatic racing series in the United States. Held in generally oval circuits, it always had the pride of being based on barely transformed series models.
In fact, during his first years that was a powerful hallmark influenced by the so-called stock car races. Which, in turn, were inspired by clandestine competitions held by speed fans. However, according to NASCAR, he was gaining public the interest of the brands to be in it was making their performance something more and more professionalized. Because of this, during the fifties this racing series was another of the many playing fields for the competition between the Ford Thunderbird and the Chevrolet Corvette. Something that, mechanically, brought more than interesting news.
FORD THUNDERBIRD F-CODE, A SUPERCHARGED MODEL
At the end of the twenties Bentley was more than established as one of the best sports brands of the moment. What's more, from 1927 to 1930 he accumulated four consecutive victories at Le Mans. Something possible thanks to the audacity of pilots like Woolf Barnato or Tim Birkin. Which promoted one of the best mechanical climbs in the history of British motorsports. Furthermore, just before the brand was absorbed by Rolls-Royce on account of the Crack of 1929, one of the most interesting models of all pre-war sports cars was presented.
We are talking about the Bentley Blower. Conceived by the engineer Amherst Villiers based on joining the 4 ½ engine with a volumetric compressor. A technology designed to enrich the amount of oxygen supplied to the combustion mixture. Derived from the iron and steel blast furnaces although, since 1926, effectively used in automobile tracks thanks to models such as the Amilcar C6. What's more, although in terms of supercharging the turbocharger has taken the victory over the volumetric compressors, the truth is that even in the eighties models equipped with these elements continued to be manufactured. Something very well exemplified by the designs Volumex Derived from the Lancia 037.
But let's go back to the fifties in the United States. And it is that, at the beginning of 1957 General Motors presented the Chevrolet Corvette 283/283 HP equipped with fuel injection. Coming from the Daimler engines with which not a few Nazi combat planes were equipped, this technology had an accurate serial application to sports motorsport thanks to the Mercedes 300SL. From now on, direct injection systems were especially desired for the most performance mechanics. Thus improving the efficiency in the use of fuel compared to traditional carburetion systems.
Of course, controlling the difficult adjustment of those first injection systems was not easy at all. In fact, it was necessary to wait until the sixties for Bosch to manufacture them in a more or less reliable way and, even so, restricted to areas as closed as F1 with the Ferrari 156F1 Injection of 1963. With all this, the appearance of the Corvette 283/283 HP before the end of the fifties is really notorious. One of the most interesting and performance versions of all those registered in its first generation. With about 283 CV delivered by the V8 blocks with 4638 cubic centimeters and a torque of 393 Nm.
In short, introducing into the equation the factor of the growing importance of NASCAR for the big local manufacturers, the truth is that that Chevrolet with direct injection was a fabulous option. Even more so if, offering itself as it was offered at dealerships, we were talking about a unit that could be approved for those races and not just a simple prototype. At this point, it was obvious that Ford would have to react. And yes, he did. In fact, he did it during that same 1957 thanks to the presentation of the Thunderbird F-Code.
Equipped with a supercharger signed by the Paxton house, This version of the Ford marked output about 300 CV even with a single carburettor. Of course, four bodies. In addition, since these vehicles were easily tricked by more than one seasoned racing mechanic, some Thunderbird F-Codes have come to register figures close to 400 CV. Something that makes this model one of the most exciting sports Fords of all time and, without a doubt, one of the most interesting performance models for the American industry of the fifties.
Unfortunately, at the end of the decade, that theoretical competition between the big Detroit brands revealed its most inefficient and perverse face. And it is that, far from continuing to support NASCAR races, Ford and General Motors mutually pledged to back down on mass-produced vehicles.. In this way they agreed to conditions and avoided harming themselves. But they also took models as impressive as this one out of production, which ended its production with just under 200 units.
Photographs: RM Sotheby's
