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![]() ![]() Coincidentally, this is believed to be the same car restored and driven at Goodwood. The most immortal of these racing ‘Birds was likely the Thunderbird driven by Johnny Beauchamp in the famous photo finish of the 1959 Daytona 500. Other racers also used the cars for both the Grand National and convertible series. Holman-Moody built a handful of race cars based upon the four seat Thunderbird. The new four seat car was a showroom success, but the styling was anything but sporty. It was if Ford’s marketing department traded the gorgeous soul of the car for sales glory. To many, the 1958-1960 “Squarebird” Thunderbirds were a totally disappointing follow up to the original two seat Thunderbirds. While this original is likely too nice to turn into a race car, would this $21,500 black beauty be the perfect car to slide sideways through life in? Thanks to T.J. If you are looking for a cool Thunderbird with the surprising ability to hustle, then check out this 1960 Ford Thunderbird coupe for sale on craigslist in Vanderwagen, Arizona. From the moment I saw that video, my opinion of “Squarebirds” has changed immensely. In it, a former Holman-Moody built 1959 Ford Thunderbird absolutely laid waste to all the sedans in its race before being flagged for an exhaust issue. Five years ago, a video from the event went viral. It is a combination of racing, a huge concours, and an overwhelming deep dive into automotive history. This car could be brought back to its former glory as a drivable, trailer queen show-stopper with some work.The Goodwood Revival is one of the biggest bucket list events in the collector car world. Power windows and air conditioning weren’t found on all luxury cars in those days, let alone on all cars like they are today. This one appears to have power windows so it’s fairly loaded, at least for the late 1950s. I think there’s an AC unit lurking under the hood from looking at one of the engine photos.įord added a leather option for the Thunderbird in 1959 and although it’s hard to tell from this one photo, the seats look great. Hopefully it’ll fire up when you get it into your shop. This one must have been parked outside to have that many pine needles under there, which isn’t always a good thing. There is no mention of the engine at all other than it “ran several years ago, when carb was rebuilt but have not tried to start.” It looks evergreen under the hood, too. I’m guessing that this is the 352 V8 and not the newly-introduced 345hp 430, but I’m not positive. It looks good overall and the original hubcaps are included as well as the fender skirts, which are hopefully in the trunk. The only rust mentioned is surface rust, but there’s a shot of the LR wheel opening and it looks like rust has punched a hole there so that’ll have to be fixed. This particular car was is an older restoration according to the seller, who does “not want to spend any more time or money on it, so that is why it is so cheap, just want to move on.” I know the feeling. They only made a little over 53,000 T-Birds in the first generation but Ford made over 198,000 T-Birds in this second generation. Yep, it was a good business decision. The Thunderbird would be restyled yet again in 1961 so this one is right in the middle of the second generation. It proved to be a good business decision, sales took off. The Squarebird was about 20″ longer than the previous generation (1956 was the longest of the first generation Thunderbirds) and an extra two seats provided the marketing power that Ford thought they needed to compete. ![]() We all know that by 1959 Ford was already into the second year of the restyled and upsized Thunderbird. Even without the nice trailer, which is worth more than $1,600, this sounds like a very restorable T-Bird for a good price. This 1959 Thunderbird found here on Craigslist in Evergreen, Colorado, is for sale at $1,600 firm and the trailer “is NOT included”, according to the owner. ![]()
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