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The expensive chromed Kelsy-Hayes wirewheels Elvis loved on the high-optioned ‘62 T-Bird never should have had spokes that would break under acceleration

Plain stock painted steel wheels from Ford would have been much stronger and safer

Any special option from a high-dollar vender to Ford should have been designed and tested to handle 2-3 time the stresses and loading

Elvis payed top dollar and love classy high performance vehicles - a vehicle with dangerous parts that failed when he drove it in the first 2 days he had it would tend to annoy anyone

I have a photo of that model big ‘62 T-Bird somewhere - fitted with a roadster panel over the rear seat area

His favorite car was his Retro Stutz Bearcat

1962 saw strong production figures of 78,011 (including 9,884 convertibles) and the introduction of the Thunderbird Sports Roadster.

The Sports Roadster was a limited production version of the convertible which added 48 spoke Kelsey Hayes designed wire wheels, special badges to the front fenders and a passenger side grab bar to the front dashboard.

The most striking addition to the Sports Roadster was a fiberglass tonneau cover which covered the back seat of the car and created a two seater appearance.

1,427 Sports Roadsters were produced in 1962, including 120 models with the special M Code option noted below. Early models suffered from problems related to their specially designed wire wheels.

The problem was quickly corrected (You betcha!) when Elvis Presley was involved in an accident when one of the Kelsey Hayes wheels collapsed during hard turning.

Another addition for 1962 was a special engine code (VIN engine code M) which added a tripower or three two barrel setup to a higher compression version of the Ford 390CI engine.

This engine used 406 heads as well as the same carburetors that were found on the high performance 406 powered Ford Galaxies but with a modified version of the intake manifold to allow for proper air flow under the engine. This engine boasted 345 hp (257 kW) but was considered a moderate failure. The engine option was quietly discontinued halfway through the mid 1963 production run.