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1963 Thunderbird: Donated Project

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When folks have a car languishing in the garage, there are several things they can do. They can try to sell it. Many have no or a bad experience with craigslist, eBay and such. Perhaps a flipper will buy it cheap to resell. Some choose to donate their car and some find someone to sell it on consignment. There have been some really interesting cars donated to the California Automobile Museum lately, like this 1963 Thunderbird. We don’t know much about it except what we observe. It’s an unfinished project. It’s mostly complete with lots of parts in the trunk. There’s no rust in the floor or sills, just a bit around the windshield and back glass. It starts and the engine doesn’t make any alarming noises. Does this seem like a reasonable starting place for a project? What do you think is a reasonable asking price? I guess it will go up on eBay and we’ll see..

Comments

  1. Avatar Scott Allison

    Save the Bird!
    my favorite T-bird.

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  2. Avatar Fred

    Mine too. Would be very much into this one , but tired of paying to ship cars 2000 miles.

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  3. HoA Howard A Member

    I think these mid-60’s T-birds were just the zenith of the brand and were my favorite ( I feel the ’67 4 door was blasphemy) These aren’t exactly rare, but a Cal. car certainly is a plus. Prices are all over the place, but it seems, nice running ones go for between 5 to 25 g’s depending on condition, as most of these were optioned to the hilt. With collector car prices these days, who knows what’s a good place to start. Still, I feel, one of the nicest cars Ford offered.

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  4. Avatar Ed P

    Save it. This car screams “save me”.

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  5. Avatar Tony Colombini

    Never gave these cars much thought, even though my father owned one. That was until I saw a black one all slammed to the ground with what had to be mini-tubbed. Near steam roller tires in the back all fit inside the fender well. With the stance and the pointed nose. It was evil good.

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  6. Avatar Brad

    I sold my 63 Tbird recently for $3500.00 that had records from past service and my having the motor (front/reard main seals, water pump,head gaskets) carb & brake booster rebuilt sold him this year. Was a sad day to see him roll out of the driveway with someone else at the wheel but I know he went to a good home to be “finished”.

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  7. Avatar Brad

    another pic

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  8. Avatar Brad

    Interior was a bit rough and needed replacing for sure

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  9. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    I like a bird in the bush, and I love to flip the bird.

    Now this bird would cost a lot of money to restore. If it runs, it would probably need 4 grand in brakes/tires/hoses/radiator/tune-up/exhaust etc. etc. to be a homely driver. Then you’d start spending the real money….

    Better to find one for 10K that’s already nice, I’m sure they are out there.

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  10. Avatar dogwater

    For some reason they don’t bring much money I think they are cool.. loved seeing them on Perry Mason……………

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  11. Avatar Bob

    The strong point of this bird is that it was a factory air car. The weak points besides the cosmetics is that it has the wrong valve covers, the wiring is all screwed up and the A/C compressor is missing. I’m afraid Rex is correct in that there are nice ones out there for 10K which would cost a lot less in the long run to restore. It looks like Brad’s car was a good example. I own a 63 factory sports roadster that I restored 15 years ago. The cost to restore a coupe is the same as the roadster but the roadster is worth five times the coupe in the end.

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  12. Avatar '59FORDfan

    Nice-looking vehicle although, I am partial, to the ’58-’60 “Squarebird”, myself.

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  13. Avatar Andrey

    Hi Guys guess what the car is almost complete apart from the front bezel trim. now I’m the happy owner as it awaits on my drive way here in London England to be finish easy resto.
    Very straight not rust underneath as if you guys had properly check the undercarriage picture it was the wrong one it was more like a Chevys one , as you can see a chassis frame! Apart from the back window panel that i would like to find! Only the under battery tray is going. As I mentioned before happy owner ,ps flame trower and original rocker, intake and air cleaner covers ,a/c compressor included.manage to find a period radio in working condition for $ 27.00 lucky me.

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    • Avatar Jamie Staff

      Congratulations, Andrey! Take some pictures and post them for us!

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  14. Avatar Andrey

    Here we are loco just turn 53 yesterday! Happy times

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  15. Avatar Andrey

    Loco’s chilling!

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  16. Avatar Andrey

    Thanks! I may seek some advice on future.

    Like 0

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