Let’s pay a visit to Thunderbird Country for 1958, where we can check out the roomy new four-passenger cabin and the unusual convertible top.

To this day, there are Thunderbird enthusiasts who still mourn the loss of the original two-seater T-Bird of 1955-57 and the introduction of its four-seater replacement for 1958. However, we can guess that in the executive offices of the Ford Motor Company, few shed a tear for the two-seater when sales of the new, bigger ‘Bird shot up like a Redstone rocket.

From the two-seater’s peak of 21,000 cars in 1957, sales climbed to nearly 38,000 in ’58, 67,000 in ’59, and 92,000 in ’60. Essentially, Ford had invented a new vehicle category, the personal luxuy car, and it would become an important market segment among the Motor City’s carmakers for decades to come.

This original spot from 1958, “This is Thunderbird country,” drives home the four-seater’s selling message. There’s no mention of practical family features at all; the focus is on glamour and fun with ample room for four adults. We also get a nice demo of the novel convertible top, in which the deck lid opens backward and the top folds into the trunk, providing a full-width rear seat.

While the T-Bird’s roof material is fabric, the setup does operate somewhat like the retracting metal top of Ford’s ’57-’59 Skyliners. Lincoln introduced a similar folding fabric top in ’58 as well, though the entire deck lid didn’t open as with the T-Bird. Ford was the innovator in convertible top engineering in the late ’50s, fair to say. Video below.