About the Ford Thunderbird
Ford Motor company produced the two seater Ford Thunderbird (T-Bird) from 1955 to 1957. Ford produced the two seater T-Bird to compete with the 1953 Chevy Corvette. The base price for the 1956 T-Bird was $3,150.00. A total of 53,166 Birds were produced in the three-year run.
Rectangular air vents are added to the front fenders on the '56. The exhaust tips were also extended to the end of the bumper and a Continental Kit was added moving the spare tire to the rear bumper which gave more trunk space.
An optional 312 Cubic Inch V8 engine was added as an option in '56. The 312 was added to improve performance, especially since in '56 the T-Bird overall weight increased. Port hole windows were added to the removable hardtop to increase visibility.
My research started with looking up the colors available from the factory. The following color information comes from: The 1956 Ford Thunderbird Exterior Paint Colors. The 1956 T-Bird could be ordered in a single color or a two tone. The Two tone colors are slightly different in the early production runs from the later production runs. The following list details the colors and the photo following the list shows the colors and color combinations.
| SINGLE COLOR | TWO TONE (EARLY PRODUCTION) | TWO TONE (LATE PRODUCTION) |
|---|---|---|
| Thunderbird Gray Metallic | Thumberbird Gray Metalic / White | Raven Black / Colonial White |
| Colonial White | Thunderbird Gray Metallic / Raven Black | Raven Black / Fiesta Red |
| Raven Black | Raven Black / Colonial White | Buckskin Tan / Colonial White |
| Fiesta Red | Raven Black / Fiesta Red | Fiesta Red / Colonial White |
| Peacock Blue | Buckskin Tan / Colonial White | Peacock Blue / Colonial White |
| Sunset coral | Fiesta Red / Colonial White | Sunset Coral / Raven Black |
| Buckskin Tan | Peacock Blue / Colonial White | Sunset Coral / Colonial White |
| Golden Glow Yellow | Sunset Coral / Raven Black | Thunderbird Green / Colonial White |
| Thunderbird Green | Sunset Coral / Colonial White | |
| Thunderbird Green / Colonial White | ||
| Golden Glow Yellow / Colonial White | ||
| Golden Glow Yellow / Raven Black |
Click the color chart to enlarge
312 Cubic Inch V8 Engine Specifications
The 312 engine specification are from: The Classic Ford - Facts About Classic 1956_Fords
Serial Number Code P:
- Cast-Iron, Overhead valves
- 312 Cubic Inch Displacement
- Compression Ratio: 6.4:1
- 215 brake horsepower @ 4,600 RPM
- 225 brake horsepower @ 4,600 RPM w/Ford-O-Matic
- Bore: 3.60 inches
- Stroke: 3.44 inches
- Carburetor: Holly four-barrel
- Main bearings: 5
- Firing order: 1, 5, 4, 8, 6, 3, 7, 2 (from front to rear: Right 1-2-3-4, Left 5-6-7-8)
