T-bird is the friendly short name for the Ford Thunderbird, an American car. Ford first sold it in 1955 as a stylish two-seat convertible, and it became one of the best-loved American cars of the 1950s and 60s — the car of open roads, sunglasses, and old films. So when someone says 'a '57 T-bird', they are not just naming a car; they are calling up a whole feeling of that time. The word belongs to informal speech, to car lovers, and to song lyrics — you would not write it in a report. Two things worth knowing. First, the name itself comes from the Thunderbird, a powerful bird-spirit in the stories of several Native American peoples, said to make thunder with its wings; Ford borrowed the name for its strength. Second, T-Bird is also the informal name of a cheap fortified wine (Thunderbird), so in older American slang the word can mean the drink, not the car — the situation tells you which.