![]() The only transmission was a three-speed automatic. Brakes were power assisted disc front and drum rear. Underneath was typical American hardware with independent A-arm-and-coil-spring front suspension and solid axle on coil springs at the rear. This two-door hardtop (the only offering) was so large it shared its body-on-frame architecture with the Lincoln Continental Mark IV. The arrival of the 1972 sixth generation Thunderbird was the launch of its greatest period of growth, and its large step to a 5,436 mm (214 in.) length seemed to be just what the market wanted, boosting sales from 57,000 ’71s to 87,000 ’72s. The 1958 Thunderbird grew from its original length of 4,453 mm (175.3 in.) in 1955 to 5,217 (205.4) where it stabilized until 1966. It would also set his own career on a trajectory to the presidency of the Ford Motor Co. McNamara had set the Thunderbird on a new size and class trajectory that would peak in the 1970s. Sales jumped to almost 38,000, more than the previous two years combined. When the Ford Division’s astute general manager, Robert McNamara, took the Thunderbird from a two-seater sporty car to a four-seater “personal luxury” car in 1958 he expected it would be more profitable.
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