The Sports Tonneau does not show up in the 1965 and 1966 Thunderbird brochure, but one seems to have found a home on this ’66 shot by canadiancatgreen. Apparently it was not a popular option, and it’s not too hard to see why folks weren’t eager to cover up their back seats. But then just how often did someone actually sit in the back of a Thunderbird convertible? Maybe just the possibility of it was the key factor.
This started with the 1962 Sports Roadster, which was also offered in 1963. It was presumably a way recapture some of the mystique of the long-lamented ’55-’57 two seat Thunderbird, a car that was an instant classic and missed by its fans for decades to come. Until it was remade as a retromobile, and nobody cared; but that’s a different story.
I vividly remember seeing a red Sports Roadster like this near Stony Brook on Long Island when we were there on vacation in 1964. Wow; not like I was likely to see one in Iowa City. I was impressed.
But not enough buyers were, obviously.
I get the idea of bringing back the look of the original ‘bird, but man, does this have some wacky proportions. I think you could install a rack on the back so you can bring home 4×8 sheets of paneling to re-do the rec room.
The Sports Roadster pieces were being reproduced years and years ago, and it sometimes has seemed that every owner of a Thunderbird convertible built between 1961 and 1966 bought one and put it on for car shows. Personally, I never found them in good taste – like chrome fenders skirts, only far larger and more noticeable. These cars were really beautiful with the tops down, and that fiberglass tonneau cover only subtracted from that.
The thing is, no part of the Flair Bird is in good taste. I say this with love because I find them delightful, but they’re pure kitsch. Is the tonneau cover too much? Sure, but so is every other design element, including its overall size and proportions, so why not? In for a dime, in for a dollar.
I’m not necessarily a fan of the concept, but oddly enough I feel like it works better with the loop bumper rear end treatment of the ’64-66 than it did on the ’62-63. I’m probably just biased because I never really loved the iconic Ford twin jet exhaust tail light treatment, and the ’64-66 models are my favorite Thunderbirds.
I always thought these were neat. They were cleverly engineered so that you could put the top up and down without removing the tonneau.
You see these everywhere at car shows today. Reproductions and survivorship bias give the impression that they were common back in the day, but they were quite rare in actuality. I think the first time I ever saw one in person was at a car show in Hershey in the 1980s.
The 23 year old me loved this look when I saw a light blue ’66 at a cruise in. Despite the fact that I just pulled in in my brand new ’83 T-Bird, this guy invited me to park next to him, probably for a little contrast with his ‘Bird.
I remember calling this thing a “Batmobile Cover” not yet having added the word “tonnaeu” to my vocabulary. As I stated in a comment the other day, I suck at spelling French (or French inspired) words. Even Word Press’ comment editor seems to have a problem with this word, as it is currently underlined in red as I type, but I digress….
However now that I have been coming here and learning things like proportions and overhang related to car design, this now looks off to me. I think I agree with JPC above and will also say that “these cars were really beautiful with the tops down”. Save the tonnaeu cover look for the Batmobile replicas. Pickup trucks get a pass on these too, but in that case, the tonnaeu cover is practical. I even had one on my S-10 many years ago!
The Tonneau cover was restyled to fit the lines of the 64 to 66 “FlairBirds” But the take rate was low, and production was halted in 64. What remained in stock was sold until supply ran out during the 66 MY. which shows the lack of popularity of the then rather expensive option. I agree the Thunderbird convertibles really didn’t need such. Neighbors had a new 66, Brittany Blue, with Silver Mink interior, with the tonneau, which spent most of its time hanging in their garage.
In profile it looks like a roadster utility.
Like others I have never understood the appeal. Completely throws off the proportions and seems cheesy on an otherwise nice looking premium car…and as a mid 1960’s successful man with a T bird, why would I want to parade around with an unavailable back seat!
I like it, I have no use for a back seat and the absolute last reason I’d buy a Tbird would be for its back seat, and in the event I needed it it simply can come off. Of all automotive accessories this is pretty far down on my list of grievances, I dislike fender skirts far more, and in fact I think their deletion was part of the roadster package, at least on the bulletbirds
It was, but only because the wire wheels that were originally part of the SR package would not clear the skirts. Repop wheels have eliminated that issue.
The Bullet Bird generation started the era of the “coved’ rear seat back. This was one of the most attractive aspects of the T Bird, in my opinion. I’m sure that those neat seats got very little regular use. The occasional adult and child might have got a ride back there, you know that the owner never sat back there! In my mind the coved seat recalls those cozy booths in those swanky 60’s era steak houses.
It seems like a shame to cover up that rear compartment, but it does add a sleek if somewhat out of proportion, appearance to these T Birds
Gag.
They are like Continental tires for these cars.
The back seating of that generation of Thunderbird was very cool and covering it up with that fiberglass monstrosity is a crime. Tacky as hell.
Ok, I now need to take a picture of the one that has been sitting across from my office in a service station stall for the last 15 years at least. Station name has shifted over the years but that car has always been there and I believe belongs to the long time mechanic there and not the owners. I almost get the feeling the mechanic rents the space while the station concentrates on selling gas and items from the small store like many do. Sort of like a salon where the owner rents out the chairs at $100/day.
The ’62 T-Bird Sports Roadster was special. I was twelve years old but knew enough about cars to realize that Thunderbirds had not been cool since the ’57 roadsters. Then, in ’62, after the car was bulletized in ’61, came the Sports Roadster. It was, once again, a cool T-Bird. I still have the ’62 SR 1:25 scale AMT promo given to me by a local Ford rep who was a friend of my dad’s.
This was before Mustangs. Not much was cool in 1962 – maybe the Olds Starfire and maybe the Pontiac Grand Prix but I was a Ford fan and those were just OK. The T-Bird SR just reinforced my Ford fanboy status. It worked (along with the Mustang a few years later) and I have been buying mostly Fords as an adult – including two “retro” T-Birds.
I worked for a farmer back in the late 60’s early 70’s. He had a T-Bird collection and a T-Bird junkyard. His four best cars were a 57, 61 coupe, 62 Sports Roadster and a 67 2dr.
That red 62 Roadster was my favorite.
I’ll have one on my T-bird. Bright red please