1955 - 1957 This was of course Ford's answer to the Corvette. It was a good value at the time and ran great (in a straight line only). It was not a very well handling car. By 1957 there were more powerful engine options. Small differences in styling over the three years, the 1956 had the continental kit, mid year of 56 the porthole window in the hardtop came out, although since Ford sold a retro kit, alot of people bought the kit and added the porthole window to their earlier model. Rare now to find a hardtop without the porthole.