Slick hidden headlights and a hood flowing fully forward to the grille grants the ’68 T-bird an elegant entrance, and while this 1968 Ford Thunderbird in Vale, North Carolina was purchased “for the engine,” it might be worth reviving as a driver. The vinyl top is shot, showing evidence of rust there, but otherwise it’s far from Swiss cheese. A 429 V8 rests under the hood, according to the seller. The $8500 asking price may be a fishing expedition for a non-runner, but you have to start somewhere. Check out more pictures and details here on Facebook Marketplace. Thanks to PRA4SNW for the tip on this big block ‘bird.
The “hot new Thunder Jet 429” featured prominently in Ford’s brochures for ’68, and the new 385 series mill found its first home in the Thunderbird, while other models featured the FE-based 428 until ’69, according to Wikipedia. Rated at a stout 360 HP and 480 lb-ft of torque (gross), the 7.0 liter is no slouch, even with the mild 3 code 2.80:1 axle ratio in the nine inch rear. For a real sleeper, swap in a warmed-up 460 with 3.xx gears and use the burning tires to write your name in the high school parking lot. Thanks to the brochures at lov2xlr8 for some details.
I’ve seen interiors like this clean up nicely, though the steering wheel rim is a goner. Crank windows suggest this may not be fully loaded, but the T-bird came with more standard features than your average Ford, and plenty of shiny bits inside and out.
I wish the owner (and all sellers) could step back to include the entire car in the picture, but they did not. I asked AI to show us what it might look like. Not real, but not bad! Someone waited too long to address water trapped under the vinyl roof, but you could strip the top, grind off the adhesive, patch the holes, and paint it black to get back on the road while deciding on a permanent fix. This was during the time when Ford lost its mind and made four-door Thunderbirds, but this two-door design looks great so we’ll leave that topic alone.
The full-width light panel echoes the front, again with the trunk lid carrying fully to the edge. The previous generation’s sequential turn signals carried on with the ’68 as well. This may be my favorite ’60s Thunderbird rear.
That red Thunderbird high beam indicator is so cool, I’d probably drive around blinding everyone with my high beams all the time. Not really, but it would be tempting. Those 47,246 miles might be original based on the upholstery. If it’s 147k and change, someone took good care when sliding in and out of the often-trashed driver’s seat. These cars don’t have massaging seats and ABS, but you could get this one running and keep it on the road cheaper than any modern luxury car if you (cough) don’t count fuel economy. One interesting use case would be pulling a vintage camping trailer with this rig to tour the monuments and national parks in style. The possibilities are endless. Would you drop this T-bird’s 429 into a Mustang or give it a second life?
These “Glamour’Birds” were big but pretty nice inside for a pseudo luxury car. Good stuff here, Todd.
Throwing out a question though to everyone-why do so many of the sellers on Faceplant have an adversity to water? It’d be nice to see what under the grime..