1956 Ford Thunderbird: The Rarest Two-Seater Gets a 312

This record's own overview states directly that Old Cars Weekly and the Classic Thunderbird Club both give 15,631 Thunderbirds for 1956, the lowest of the three two-seat years, with the club itself calling it the rarest of the classic Thunderbirds. The standard engine was the 292 Y-block rated 202 horsepower, this record's own overview states, with options running to 215- and 225-horsepower versions of the 312 Thunderbird Special V-8 and a 260-horsepower dual-quad 312; a three-speed manual was standard with overdrive available, and the car moved to a 12-volt electrical system for the year, this record's own specifications confirming no separate 6-volt row for 1956.^1,2

This record's own overview also records that Continental-kit cars built before November 14, 1955 were subject to a recall adjustment, a detail sourced to Old Cars Weekly's own Continental-kit paragraph and not expanded on further in this record's own text, which gives neither the nature of the fix nor how many cars it covered, leaving the Continental kit's own recall history as a documented but unelaborated fact for the year.¹

This record's own engines section lists four entries for the year: the 292 at 202 horsepower, the 312 Thunderbird Special in 215- and 225-horsepower forms with the source not stating which rating paired with which transmission, the 260-horsepower dual-four-barrel 312, and a dealer-installed 312 High Output kit rated 235 horsepower at 4,600 rpm and 324 pound-feet at 2,600 rpm, its own availability note listing a camshaft, springs, a police carburetor and thin head gaskets at 9.5:1 compression, all four ratings given as period advertised gross figures except the dealer kit's own SAE gross basis.^1,3

This record's own conflicts section carries two separate base-price disagreements. The first sets Old Cars Weekly's $3,158 hardtop and $3,233 convertible against the club's own $2,944 hardtop and $3,019 convertible, with neither source stating whether its figure includes taxes and delivery or what date in the model year it reflects. The second sets the same Old Cars Weekly figures against the Over-Drive Magazine compilation's single $3,151 factory price, again with neither naming its price list or date.^1,2,3

This record's own options section lists the 225-horsepower Thunderbird Special at a $123 upcharge, Ford-O-Matic at $178.20 and overdrive at $109.70, the latter's own note adding that the same source separately prints an "Automatic overdrive transmission ($148)." This record's own paint table carries eight colours, seven with factory letter codes, Raven Black, Colonial White, Buckskin Tan, Fiesta Red, Peacock Blue, Silver Gray and Sage Green among them, and an eighth, Navajo Gray, listed without a code of its own.³

This record's own specifications section gives a 102.0-inch wheelbase, a 185.1-inch overall length measured with the Continental spare, a 71.3-inch width, a 52.4-inch height with the soft top up, 56.0-inch front and rear track, and 6.70x15 four-ply tubeless tires; a separate row gives a 3,088-pound shipping weight. This record's own identification and unpublished-leads sections are both empty for the year, and its own performance section carries no entries either, leaving the overview, conflicts and engines sections as this record's own richest sources for 1956.³