The T-Bird that Almost Flew

You won’t find too many former Ford executives who are willing to talk about it. In fact, you won’t find too many that will even admit it ever happened. In 1960, Ford had deep enough pockets to insure that any word of “Project Flying Bird” would ever see the light of day. But even with anyone connected to this top secret project sworn to utmost secrecy, there are some indisputable facts that have surfaced.

FACT: In 1960, Ford was experimenting with the concept of flying cars. Not wanting to be bested by GM, who were believed to have their own flying car projects in the works, Ford secretly proceeded with initial design stages of a passenger car that could be used as personal air transportation with the addition of certain aerodynamic components and retrofitting.

FACT: In 1959, Ford had purchased Petroni Aeronautics of Hammond, Indiana to recruit necessary aeronautical talent  and resources that they, as a car company, lacked.

FACT: Certain whistle-blowers who have requested that we conceal their identity have come forward bringing to light facts, names and dates connected to the project.  “Oh yeah, It was real and I was there!” said the former design assistant. “We actually had  prototype built and everything!”

FACT: One photograph exists that was not destroyed by high-level division heads (see below)

However Project Flying Bird was doomed to failure for several important reasons: Ford chose to use a 1960 Thunderbird as their test vehicle because of it’s marketing position of being the most technologically advanced car in the Ford line. However, weighing in at nearly 5000 lbs, it would have taken twelve massive radial engines, and a wingspan of nearly 200 feet to ever get it off the ground. Certainly not the personal air transportation Ford was aiming for. Also while the Squarebird design appeared aerodynamic on the road, it was more like a brick outhouse in the air. “A crane couldn’t lift that thing!” says a former aerodynamic engineer,  “Heck, the only way that thing was flying would be off a cliff!”

Still, Ford made a determined effort to beat GM in the air race. And they would have prevailed except for a certain GM inter-office memo that surfaced in early spring of 1960.

The former aerodynamic engineer recalls:  “Yep, needless to say, once that memo surfaced there was a lot of red faces around Project Flying Bird, I’ll tell you that! I thought the project director was gonna have puppies right there!”

The project was immediately shelved and to avoid public embarrassment and a marketing nightmare, Ford brass instructed anyone associated with Project Flying Bird that the they were to never, under any circumstances, speak of the project, or even admit to it’s existence.

However, there is a rumor that  “the flying car that never happened” is still around, perhaps rusting in a barn somewhere. We’ll never know, but if someday a 1960 Squarebird with wing-like structures and a tail-section bolted to it should come up on Bring-A-Trailer, you might want to consider bidding on it…

By the way, Happy April Fool’s Day.