After then, work and life took over, and I parked it for the next 30 years." In the early 1970s, before Mark parked it, he installed mag wheels and radial tires. We put 20,000 miles that way the first couple of years we had it. I could then take the groceries out of the car and head out myself and take it out on new smooth asphalt and hit 150 mph and it was quite stable. It had 30,000 miles on it when Mark got it " My mom could barely drive it without power steering or brakes, but she could, and I let her drive it to the grocery store. " I still have one factory rim with the original tire and with a truck inner tube inside the tire." According to Mark, many says that alone indicates an intent to race the car in some manner. The steel wheels that were on the car when he got it had been reversed and re-welded "offset" from the original. The rods and pan hard were removed when we got the car, but the brackets and welded parts remained on the car, leaving no doubt it had a serious attempt at doing something other than a show car in mind." Mark has not found any indication of a roll bar ever being installed. In back, traction rods were welded in between the body and rear axle, and a welded in pan hard/ watts linkage was welded in. Extra shock towers were welded in up front for 2 shocks per wheel. But other aspects of the car's history are still visible. " We were told that it had truck coil springs in front, which it may have. The engine appeared stock, and there was no chrome or any attempt to dress up the engine compartment " Also, there does not seem to have been any attempt at dressing up the undercarriage of the car, it all seem very functional" according to Mark. He was also told that the previous owners did not know whether to run it as a hardtop or convertible, which made no sense to us." The seller did also tell Mark's dad that the car had been officially clocked between Omaha and Fremont, Nebraska at 180 mph. He was told there was another "like it," but it had been wrecked in a race. " Since my dad bought it for me, he also talked to the dealer. Mark has found traces of Gold on the car, so it might have had some gold accents painted on. The car was factory black as well, but it had been completely stripped down and painted red. The interior was factory original black leathers. The car did not have any power Accessories. It was powered by a Lincoln 430 engine and a 3 speed overdrive transmission. The hood had been fit with a peculiar small reversed hood scoop on the passenger's side. At that point there was farming to be done, so we did not pursue any of its history." " At 15 years old, and to farmers, the differences were odd, but none the less it was my dream car.
Thunderbird car 1959 professional#
All work had been performed very professional in lead. The roof had a special raised rib welded into each side, changing the whole look of the roof line. All chrome was removed, large functional side vents had been cut into the front fenders, and the rear wheel wells were radiused. The final product is a car that will get WAY more attention than a run-of-the-mill stock Thunderbird.The car had been customized when Mark bought it, and the name "Avancier" was hand lettered on the driver's side sun visor. We kept the 352ci FE engine all original, just to keep things simple. Inside, we went back to stock, as Thunderbirds usually had a wild interior from day one. Combine the crazy paint job with a slammed stance, and a set of Coker Classic H78-15 whitewall tires and Thunderbird Wire Wheels and you have the perfect combination for an eye-catching custom. The plain white exterior just didn’t jump out and grab you so we decided to do a wild scalloped paint job with lace and metal flake to give this car a ’60s custom look. In this case, all the car really needed was some personality. It’s always a gamble, and sometimes you just have to go for it.
We did our best to feel around and make sure the previous owner had not covered up a bunch of rust with body filler, but there is only so much you can do when you’re in the moment. The Thunderbird had received some attention in the past few years, as we could tell the white paint job was fairly fresh. We took a half-way restored ‘Bird and turned it into a wild ’60s custom…keep reading to see how we did it. In the case of this 1959 Thunderbird, it was more of a junkyard dog than a barn find, but we’re glad we found it! Otherwise this classic Thunderbird would’ve spent a tough life in the junkyard and it may have even been crushed.
Thunderbird car 1959 tv#
With the filming of our TV Show, Backroad Gold (it airs Wednesdays at 9:30pm EST on the Travel Channel) we’ve been introduced to a bunch of great barn finds.
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