Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

My last article for this semester (my first semester!) will be a part of the Top 5 series, this week’s topic being Ford. Yes, the Ford. The one that started the automobile assembly line. Not the first car in America, though. That, my dear reader, was Buick. But, without further ado, let’s jump into my top 5 Fords! 

5) Fairlane 

The Fairlane was produced from 1955 to 1970. The name comes from Henry Ford’s own estate, which is in Dearborn, Michigan. The Fairlane was combined with some other cars throughout its lifespan including the Ranchero. The Fairlane also had a “500” model. 

4) Mustang 

The only reason why the Mustang is on this list, is because one of my dream Fords is a Mustang. My dream Mustang was only made for 2 years, 1969-70, and was the Boss 429 model. The Mustang is still in production today, but it started in 1964. Its nickname is the Pony Car. 

3) Torino 

The Torino was produced from 1968 to 1976. The Torino was a re-design of the Fairlane line, and had its name derived from the city of Turin, in Italy, as it’s considered to be “The Italian Detroit.” The infamous Gran Torino, which was the name of the movie that starred Clint Eastwood and had a car of the same name, began production in 1972.  

2) Galaxie 

The Galaxie was in production from 1958 until 1974. The name Galaxie was created to appeal to people during the time: the Space Race. In 1962, the infamous “500” badge would be thrown on all models, with XL being added to the higher trim models. 1966 was also the year that had the most popularity with the Galaxie, with being just under 3,000 cars from reaching 600,000 Galaxies made and sold.  

1) Thunderbird   

The Thunderbird is my number one Ford because 1) my grandpa had some, and 2) they’re just plain cool. I mean it’s a little two-door car, but it looks so much bigger than it actually is. Even though they were produced from 1954-1997, and then 2001-2005, I only consider the 50’s to be the era of the T-Bird. My dream T-Bird (and the Ford of choice I would want to buy) is a 1955-1957 model. The T-Bird is also the only convertible I would want, as well, because I don’t like convertibles. But to give you a little more background on the T-Bird, it was created by Ford to go in direct competition with Chevy’s new sports car, the Corvette. In 1958, the T-Bird would be redesigned to be a four-seater, and in my personal opinion, lost its luster. 

Brooke Johnpier is a contributor to the SBU chapter of Her Campus. She writes about the more "manly" topics of the site, including automotive, motorsports, mechanical, technical, DIY, and anything hands-on. Brooke is also using this platform as her personal blog, of which she will talk about more personal things that she feels the world should hear about. Besides Her Campus, Brooke is a part-time motorsports journalist for Speedway Illustrated, a columnist for Race Pro Weekly and Dirt Track Digesr, and a staff writer as well as a social media promoter for The Podium Finish, where she is interning. Brooke is also a writer for TAPinto Greater Olean, WSBU The Buzz, and PolitiFact NY. Brooke is also involved with St. Bonaventure's literary magazine, The Laurel. Brooke is currently a sophomore at St. Bonaventure University where she is majoring in Sports Media with minors in Native American and Indigenous Studies & English. You can also find Brooke working as an assistant in the Koop Lab and upstairs in the office, making her money. In her free time, Brooke loves reading, going to the local racetrack, riding four-wheelers, working on cars, and riding in tractor trailers. Brooke is a music lover, and will talk about most any genre, especially her favorites which are rock and rap. Brooke is also a percussionist, a published author, and a women's rights activist. Brooke is also a member of several lineage organizations, and currently holds a national position in one of them. As well as writing for campus media, Brooke is involved with Faith in Fiction, Jandoli Women in Communication, the History Club, College Democrats, and the Indigenous Student Confederacy. A fun fact about Brooke is that she was the only female to ever be in the top 5% of the Automotive Technology class at the trade school she attended in her junior and senior years of high school.