0 - 60 and 1/4 mile stock everything

[Jimntempe]

In reading old magazines it looked like a stock 57 with fordomatic should do 0 - 60 in about 10 seconds, which was pretty good for those days. I put an app on my phone and got 9.8 seconds. For those who like numbers here's some of the detailed performance info from 1955 road and track (its for 55 models of course, not 57) They did it both "in drive" and with "forced shifts". Its not entirely clear what either means.. does in drive mean they did not force it down into first? Does forced shifts mean they ran it to a higher redline that normal automatic shifting used? The shift points between the two ways don't line up.

[ward 57]

Mine has so much torque starting out in second I've never used the forced downshift but a few times manually shifting into first and it's a rocket. A totally different feel than raw tire spin horsepower more like a rocket ship that just puts you back in the seat or an airplane taking off. Very fitting for a "Thunderbird'.