Technical Did the '57 Ford T-bird come with and without portholes?

Did the '57 Ford T-bird's roof come with and without the portholes?

 

55 had no porthole.

But that is a 57.

 

True but did they come both ways in '57?

 

You could select either the folding soft top or the lift-off hardtop as 'standard', if you wanted both tops it cost extra. The hardtop was available with or without the portholes, but those were a no-cost option.

 

I bought a new 57 that was in the last production run. It could be had with either a rag top or a hard top with porthole or both. You could drive with both installed. (Ragtop folded away) I asked about no port hole but was told the only way was to order without hard top and later buy a 56 hard top used.
As a side note, I wanted the close ratio manual transmission but it could only be had with the 292 engine. The dealer was a good racing buddy of mine so he swapped the engine for the 312 at no cost before delivery.

 

55 T-Bird didn't have the port hole where the 57 came with the port hole. The tops were interchangable and like all new cars back then they used up the old parts from previouse years if they fit before starting to put on the new style. Thats like my 47 Ford coup the early ones still had the front little square lights on the side of the headlight where the later 47's had the little round lights below the headlight. Back then the car manufacture companies didn't waste anything.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1955+ford+t-bird&t=opera&iax=images&ia=images
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1957+t-bi...s.com/showcase/original/orig_cimg1063_(1).jpg

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I just pulled out the dealer invoice for my 57. It lists the hard top at no charge, but it doesn't mention the port hole windows. I have been told they were a no cost option, but this makes me wonder. Some of the T-Bird books show 57's with hard tops and no windows saying that was a rare option in 57. The port holes came out in 56 to alleviate a bad blind spot. In the little Birds you set behind the door window. It is a pain changing lanes when I run the soft top.

 

Sharp looking car !because in American Graffiti, Suzanne Summers '56 had a port hole for sure!

 

Being a no-cost option, Ford may have thrown in the towel and made them standard early in the year. Especially if it was a safety concern. Plus they wouldn't have leftover windows when production stopped.

 

I’ve always believe, educated by old timers, that the ‘55s had no portholes while ‘56-57 had them. However, the early ‘56s may have used the ‘55 no hole versions....

 

A buddy of mine has an all original 57 that came without portholes. He had a set put in after he bought it. Guess it was around 2019 when he bought it from the original owner.

 

Obscure option perhaps.

 

I was told the port holes were an early or mid 56 option. Hardtops got a little emblem low and right behind the side window. If you got portholes, that emblem was deleted.
My 55 has added portholes from one of the Thunderbird places. It’s supposedly a licensed Ford replacement item, made to replace or repair existing portholes or add to earlier tops. Came with a template for layout and all parts.

My car has both the emblem (original) and portholes (added). That’s a tip off to the bird guys.

Both hard and soft tops had early and late style latches, the ones under the rear window had matching latching plates. They got larger handles on the front and sides, presumably because so many bird owners had arthritis (like me now) and needed a bigger handle.

 

when i bought my 55 in 67 it had a 57 non-pothole top. it had thesmall round tbird emblems still on the top. i later converted the emblems to the ford crest emblems. 55-no portholes. 56 all portholes. 57 order either way. later tops also got a rain gutter sort of.

 

One of My classmates dad had the first 55 T bird ordered in the PNW and he ordered it from the local dealer the day he got a car magazine with an article on the T bird in it. He drove that car past my place ( I live in my grandparents old house next to my mom's house) on his way to the golf course almost every day from the day he got it in 55 until he couldn't drive anymore. The original photos showed the Tbird as two tone with Victoria trim. When his came in without the trim he had the dealer put the trim on and paint the car red and white just like the one in the add. I'm thinking that he had a porthole top put on it after they cameout.

My guess is that unless you have the build sheet or tell tale marking indicators you can't really tell if your hardtop is correct or not. There were a lot of hardtops floating around over the years from cars that lost their tops for one reason or another.

 

I had a 56 back in 1970 that I bought from the original owner that came from the factory with a non porthole top.

From the Thunderbird International web page:

The 1956 Thunderbird was very similar to the 1955 model with some notable exceptions. Portholes were now being offered as an option with the hardtop, a move designed to increase driver visibility, but that went on to become one of the more distinctive features of the Thunderbird.