MODEL T-BIRD FORD with body of family Fairlane 500 and elongated racy roof of Thunderbird will hit market this fall. Price: $100 to $200 more than Fairlane 500, or about $3,000.

MISSILE CONTRACTS to develop Air Force's solid-fuel Minuteman ICBM, with variable range of 500 to 5,500 miles (TIME, March 10), will go to Avco Manufacturing Corp. for nose cone, North American Aviation, Inc. for guidance system, Thiokol Chemical Corp. and Aerojet-General Corp. for engines.

DERBY HATS are due for a comeback this fall, following rise of straw skimmer this summer. Key stores in Chicago, San Francisco and St. Louis have put in orders for derbies. Hatmen figure bowlers will be proper toppers for fall because men's fashions will tend to become more formal, dressy.

MIDDLE EXECUTIVES' salaries jumped 5% last year to an average $11,800 annually, says American Management Association.

FOOD MERGER is in works between fast-growing Corn Products Refining Co. and Best Foods, Inc. to create grocery processor second only to General Foods Corp. (annual sales: $1 billion). Corn Products (Mazola salad oil, Karo syrups) grossed $495 million last year, while Best Foods (Nucoa margarine, Hellmann's mayonnaise) grossed $114 million.

NORTHEAST AIRLINES will try to gain altitude with a major re-equipment program. For $15 million, it will buy nine British Vickers Viscount turboprops, expects to put them into service between New York, Washington, Boston, Montreal next month.

BRITISH-SOVIET DEAL will send London's Courtaulds, the textile giant, to Russia to supervise construction of a major synthetics plant. Courtaulds will also supply plant with machinery, will get "several million British pounds" from deal.

FOREIGN-CAR BOOM will boost Volkswagen production in West Germany from 470,000 cars last year to 630,000 in 1959. Waiting list for new VWs is five to six months long in Germany, four to 14 months in U.S.

FIRST ALUMINUM BEER CANS in U.S. will be marketed by Hawaii Brewing Corp. in the islands. Seamless cans are made by punching single aluminum slug, weigh 50% less than "tin" cans.

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