Continental Kit: 1956 Ford Thunderbird
When the Ford Thunderbird was introduced in 1955, comparisons to the Chevy Corvette were inevitable. But the only thing they had a common was 2-passenger seating. While the Corvette was something of a sports car, the T-Bird was a personal luxury car without a back seat. The Ford would easily outsell the Chevy and its success may have helped save the Corvette because GM didn’t want to be outdone. This 1956 edition is a project that we’re told was stored indoors until recently and is in Catonsville, Maryland. The Ford is available here on eBay where the bidding has reached $7,000. Thanks to our pal Larry D for sending this lead our way.
Ford would build more than 53,000 2-seat Thunderbirds before the brass decided that the car needed to be bigger and seat four people. They would go on to sell 37,000 copies in 1958, an increase of more than 70% over the peak 2-seater year of 1957. That configuration would continue for many years to come, and the T-Bird would end up being one of Ford’s longest-running nameplates. The Birds would see few changes from ’55 to ’56 with the most noticeable being that the convertible’s hardtop would gain a porthole and a Continental kit was available out back for the first time, which the seller’s car has.
The seller has two of the vintage T-Birds for sale and goes to lengths to be sure that interested parties don’t confuse this as a package deal as it’s not. We’re told that it’s largely complete and the exterior color is black, though it looks dark blue to me. And the car may have been painted white at some point given a few telltale traces. The body comes across as reasonably solid though the seller says there are some minimal rust issues without getting specific. These cars came with both a removable hardtop and canvas pull-up which is tucked away, and its condition can’t be determined.
We don’t know the last time this car ran. It’s said to have a “serviceable” interior, but the door panels, upholstery, and carpeting will all have to be renewed. The cool see-through odometer reflects shy of 89,000 miles on the car, but that hasn’t been verified. The Thunderbird is powered by a V8 engine and automatic transmission, but we don’t know if it’s the standard 292 cubic inch edition or one of three 312s that were offered. Although the seller doesn’t have the Make Offer featured in his listing, we’re told he/she is open to fielding offers.
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Comments
The mentality to stick these classics into the weeds never fails to amaze me, bet there’s a guy with 2 first names, overalls and a tractor involved….
Your statement that ” a Continental kit was available out back for the first time, which the seller’s car has.” , is not quite correct. It was not an option, it was a standard feature on all 1956 Tbirds.
The underneath shot in the ebay ad is not that car as it’s not from any 55 – 57 Thunderbird that I’ve owned. In fact all the pictures show the car with grass all around it and that shot is on gravel.
He probably moved it to the gravel in order to get that picture, knowing that the grass would obscure the view. He also states some pics were included by mistake, but I can’t tell which ones
That’s definitely not the underside of an early bird. It’s something completely different.
That underside is a 66 fury he’s selling in a different ad on eBay.
I do believe the pic was taken from in front of the left rear tire pointing forward underneath that car. You can see there is more gravel in that area from a different pic taken from the left rear and there are patches of grass in both photos. I don’t know why this seller would take a pic of a different car and not be one that has a lot less rust if he was trying to deceive people.
There are two different car trunk photos too. One with and one without continental kit, and different debris.
I’ve had a number of early birds and I knew right away that wasn’t the underside of one -the Fury makes sense because you can see the torsion bars up front.
One picture shows two Birds the second one has a white top. He probably got them mixed up.
I never realized these T-Birds have a see through gauge cluster, that’s the one thing I’ve learned today. It is cool looking, I wonder why we didn’t see more of that on other cars?
1950’s era cars made by Ford had that set up. I recall Mercury had a few too.
From examining the pictures, there is too much fading, corrosion, etc inside and outside to confirm the car was “stored indoors until recently”. The floor next to passenger seat appears to be rusted through. Does anyone else think “pig in a poke”?
Having said all that, the 55 was my favorite T-Bird, and this one appears to be salvable for some big bucks.
Ready to say much the same till I saw your comment. I wouldn’t the ad on this one, it looks contrived to me.
Funny, the bird has dual exhaust, but the under carriage doesn’t have duals…
Maybe one side rusted and fell off.
P in vin # means 312 engine
I work 10 minutes from this rustbucket.
Okay Jack if you take this assignment! Get us the truth!
You bet Frank, I’ll do a video walk around for anyone. I’m always up for smelling the interior of an old rotting car. Seriously! Coco Chanel should have created a fragrance of the aroma: “eu de Rotting Car”
The picture of the trunk without the Continental kit appears to be of a 1955 T-Bird according to the licence plate. I am not sure what the underside photo is of but pretty sure it is not either a 56 or a 55 T-Bird.
There are two T-Birds in the photos shown in the ebay ad – one has a continental kit and a historical license plate. The other ‘bird has a white top and a Delaware ego plate ‘T-BIRD 55’ are we playing mix ‘n match??? (the odd under frame shot may be of the ’55(?) Chrysler in the same field…Could Jack Leary elaborate a bit more and save me an hour’s long drive?
Looks like a big waste of money to me and I really like the little birds. Can you imagine what you will get bàck from the blasters? Heartache. Its probably swiss cheese under the paint
The black T-bird reminds me of the TV series, Straightaway. It was Straightaway for the T-bird fans and Route 66 for the Corvette fans. I disliked the T-birds only because of the crappy 292 and 312 engines Ford was using back then. I recall lifter and rocker arm noises because of lubrication issues. I also recall external oil lines on the valve covers and no power. The 55, 56 and especially 57 Corvettes were the sports car back then. If you find T-bird with a standard transmission and supercharged you have a rare T-bird.
If anyone wants me to do a checkout email me at baltimorejacksells@gmail. I’ll get down and dirty on it.
Definitely two T birds in one of the eBay pics. One with a white ragtop in front of another with a black hardtop. I apologize for not being a better detective and hat off to the rest of you. Maybe this price is for both?