Post by Volktales on May 29, 2016 16:22:49 GMT -8
I know the thread title is past and present, but this one will be owned by me in the future...
This is my Dad's '59 Thunderbird Convertible. When these cars were new, my Dad fell in love with them, but could not afford one. By 1964 he could, and needed to replace his modified '55 Bel-Air Convetible (a whole other story)... Anyway in '64 he bought a 5 year old '59 hardtop in decent shape. Cars aged quicker then, because he rejected several rustbuckets before settling on the one he bought. It was Mom's daily driver until 1970. Dad always liked the car, and wished to buy another someday. That day came in 1984, when he found a rust free, but battered '59 convertible for sale in Ladysmith. I was 15 then, and this was our first father/son restoration project. To say that this car means a lot to me is an understatement! The restoration was completed in 1986 and we spent a lot of time in the car going to shows and events. Given that I helped Dad so much, he let me drive this thing a lot when I turned 16. Yes I felt pretty good about that and was repeatedly asked "Your Dad actually lets you drive this???" So 32 years later, Dad has redone many cars, and even sold a few, but this one still remains.
A little bit bigger then a 36 hp VW! This is a 352 cubic inch V8 rated at 300 horsepower. The chrome on the engine was an option from the factory! And yes it goes very well. Despite its looks, the Thunderbird was considered a "compact" car in its time. In 1959, the smaller Falcons, Corvairs, and Valiants had yet to be released. The handling was considered decent for the time as well as the drum brakes. Performance was deemed adequate. What was revolutionary at the time was how low these cars were. Full unit body construction was rare in 1959, as was an overall height of only 52 inches.
The interior in these cars is probably the coolest part. In order to have such a low overall height, the transmission and driveshaft tunnels would have to be huge. And that is ok when the console looks like that! Thunderbirds were the first cars to do this and popularize consoles and bucket seat combinations in US cars. These cars were very popular at the time for this unique feature. All those surfaces are vinyl coated metal; no crappy plastics in that era! And not only that, the vinyl was molded in colour, and was available in MANY different colour combinations, something manufactures just can't seem to do these days...
Dad seldom drives this car anymore, and has always made it known it will be passed on to me. He says I can have it anytime, but then I would have to get rid of a couple of VWs before it will fit in my garage...