The 1964-66 Ford Thunderbirds earned the nickname “Flair-Birds” for their focus on luxury. That compares to the “Bullet-Birds” of 1961-63 due to their styling. The cars sold quite well, and this 1964 edition has been in a barn in Sedalia, Missouri, for the past 10 years and is quite dirty. It may or may not take a lot to get the beast going again, and it’s available here on Facebook Marketplace for $5,500.
These T-Birds had a more chiseled look than their predecessors, more akin to the “Square-Birds” of 1958-60. The interior was designed to encase its passengers with a wraparound rear seat and a cockpit area for the driver and front seat passenger. A 390 cubic inch V8 was the only engine choice, and it was quite potent with a 3-speed automatic transmission. With more than 92,000 buyers, the 1964 Thunderbird was the most popular since its introduction in 1955.
The history of this Ford isn’t hinted at, but it could have as little as 40,000 miles, per the seller. The paint is said to be black, but with all the grime, who can tell? On the other hand, the black interior seems to have held up nicely for 62 years. This Thunderbird was running when it was parked a decade ago, with no mention made of any mechanical ills at the time. The seller speculates it will start up after some “small maintenance.” You mean like flushing out the fuel delivery system?
We’re told that the T-Bird is mostly complete and rust is not an issue. The rear bumper took a small whack, but if that’s all that’s bent or bruised, that’s not bad. If you’re looking to revive one of these mid-1960s Flair-Birds, what about this one? “Zappenduster” scores again with another nifty tip.
I like the Flair Birds, mainly due to the highly styled interiors. With all the interesting colors (interior and exterior) available, black/black is kind of…. 2026. Those are some pretty healthy sales figures. This one doesn’t seem terrible. But the license plate dates to 1996, so I wonder what it was doing between then until (per the ad) it was parked 10 years.
I’m with Bob on these. My all.time favorite is the “Bullet Bird” , but the back seat design in this generation of T Birds is one of my all time favorite designs. It would have been nice if they dragged it out into the sunlight and cleaned all the Sabre Toothed Dust Mites off of it so we can see it a little better.
Why if sellers really want to sell their car can’t they even do a quickie half ass job cleaning the car before posting ? To me posting car covered in dust pictures makes me wonder what else they are hiding.