The forgotten 1957 Ford Battlebird was a 204mph Thunderbird built for glory
Published on Oct 17, 2025 at 8:00 PM (UTC+4)
by Keelin McNamara
Last updated on Oct 17, 2025 at 8:08 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
The forgotten 1957 Ford Battlebird was an absolute beast of a prototype.
It was produced as a direct offshoot of the legendary Thunderbird.
What is interesting is that the 1957 Ford Battlebird remains largely unknown.
And yet it was a prototype that was truly built for glory.
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Ford turns up the dial on Thunderbird in 1957
Okay, so what on Earth exactly is the 1957 Ford Battlebird?
Well, it’s a pretty unique concept directly derived from a legendary Ford nameplate.
The Ford Thunderbird was first introduced 70 years ago, back in 1955.
Its purpose was solely to rival the Chevrolet Corvette sports car.
To many, the Ford Thunderbird name is considered the spark that kicked off the luxury car market in America.
Over the years and decades, the Thunderbird grew to become an icon of the US car industry.
It also evolved into an American motorsport icon, eventually spawning over 150 NASCAR wins.
The Thunderbird would also, of course, go on to claim five victories at the Daytona 500.
Usually, such successful cars tend to spawn spin-offs and prototypes.
But this one happened to be one of the most unusual of them all.
1957 saw the Peter De Paolo Speed Shop get its hands on a Thunderbird.
But it wanted to heavily modify said car in order to compete at the 1957 Daytona Beach Speed Trials.
The end result spawned what would become the 1957 Battlebird.
Ford Battlebird spreads its wings to 204mph
So, you might be wondering – what exactly is the Battlebird?
To put it simply, the Battlebird was a very heavily modified Ford Thunderbird.
Such modifications included a roadster configuration, as well as a big rollover hoop behind the driver.
Ford commissioned two cars, one fitted with a small-block V8 and one equipped with a massive 430-cu-in MEL unit.
As you’ve probably worked out, the 430cu-in engine produced some explosive numbers.
In fact, it reached a staggering 204mph on the sands of Daytona Beach.
This result absolutely obliterated anything offered by the GM-backed opposition.
Sadly, the Battlebird broke down on the return run, so the result was invalidated.
The 1957 Ford Battlebird was then used across various road-racing events in the US until 1960.
After 1960, the Battlebird enjoyed something of a turbulent history.
It was eventually discovered by Bill Shepherd in 2016, before the restored car made an appearance at Goodwood in 2019.
The 1957 Ford Battlebird remains a spectacular sight on the track to this very day.
Keelin McNamara is a content writer at Supercar Blondie from Ireland, covering cars, technology, and lifestyle. Despite being a Law graduate, he discovered his passion for journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has worked in the industry ever since. Outside of work, he is an avid MotoGP fan, and is a self-confessed addict of the sport.
