The overhead valve 390 cubic-inch V8 was given a Holley four-barrel carburetor and produced 300 horsepower. A total of 73,051 examples were sold in 1961. A total of 10,516 examples of the convertible were sold at the base price of $4640. The 2-door hardtop sold for $4,170 and proved to be very popular with a total of 62,535 examples sold. Standard equipment included a new 390 cubic-inch V8, power steering, power brakes, and a cruise-O-Matic transmission. The 1961 Ford Thunderbird was completed new they were wider, lower, longer, and heavier than the prior year's model and rested on a new chassis with 'Controlled Recession Suspension'. The interior was the work of designer Art Querfeld, who penned separate compartments for the front occupants, going so far as to move the glovebox to the prominent center console to avoid any seams in his gracefully flowing design. It could be ordered with the optional 'Swing Away' steering wheel - with the car in park and the driver's door opened, the steering column would slide about 18 inches to the right, affording better ingress and egress for the driver. The 3rd-gen personal luxury car introduced numerous 'firsts' to the automotive marketplace, most notably the windshield-mounted 'floating' rear-view mirror, an item commonplace on most vehicles today. Its styling was sleeker its design was a far cry from the previous Thunderbird with curvaceous lines, tail lamps, a dramatic and distinct nose, and jet-link fins. The side glass and windshield were very similar in size and shape and both featured dash designs that swept around into the door panels. Both cars had 'dual unit' body structures using separate front and rear sections that were welded together at the cowl. Both the Thunderbird and the Continental had many elements in common, shared the same platform in production, and were built on the same assembly line in Wixom, Michigan. 'We wanted to keep it very youthful, and that meant aircraft and missile-like shapes,' Boyer once recalled. Engel's design for the 1961 Thunderbird was adapted to four doors to become the 1961 Lincoln Continental, while Boyer's rocket-inspired model was chosen as the new Thunderbird. Engel's career included tutelage under Harley Earl and later the role of the chief stylist at Chrysler Corporation. Two designs had been considered for the new Thunderbird - one by body-engineer Bill Boyer and the other by Elwood Engle. The third-generation Thunderbird was known as the 'Bullet Birds' and they wore a design by Boll Boyer.
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