A Trio of 1960s Ford Thunderbirds
In 1958, Ford changed strategies with its Thunderbird. Rather than continuing as a 2-seat personal luxury car from 1955-57, the T-Bird would morph into a 4-seater. And success was in the numbers: production increased from 53,000 to 198,000 in the next three-year cycle. Ford needed this positive news given the colossal failure of the Edsel. The third generation (1961-63) would be the most futuristic in appearance and sales would then again grow, but only by 8% this time. The seller has three of the third-gen T-Birds for sale and they all appear to have been sitting outside for years. One is a convertible and may be in better shape than the other two. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they can all go home with you for $6,000 here on craigslist. Thanks to Russell Glantz for this threesome tip!
Ford’s Thunderbird had always been the leader when it came to personal luxury automobiles, and most of the competition would follow suit in the 1960s. Little information is provided about this trio of Fords, but the 1962 white convertible is the only one with a title (that can be found). It may have the greatest potential for a restoration, with the other two (white and black) looking to be less complete. The most interesting thing about the drop-top may be its wheels. Could they be a set of those Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels that came with the low-production Sports Roadster that had a fiberglass tonneau cover?
The 1962 model year was the best of the three for this gen of T-Birds. 78,000 were built with 8,500 being convertibles like the seller’s car (if it had been a Sports Roadster, the numbers were under 1,500 copies). Rust doesn’t seem to be a visible issue on the car, but since the top is trashed, so is the interior. And if water got inside the car, then the floorboards would come under suspicion, too. We’re told it has 20,000 miles on the odometer, but could that be more like 120,000? The seller says he/she would be willing to break up this group if the price were right. Would you try to make one good car out of three?
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Comments
Those look more like 1980s Lincoln wire wheels than original Sports Roadster wheels.
i ad a couple of these.mine were 1963;s.also a 65 and 66.loved the cockpit on the 65 the most.