I was on a Thunderbird Facebook site recently where the owner of a ’56 Baby ‘Bird was showing off his recently upgraded pride and joy. His two-seater now had a modern-day drivetrain, disc brakes, and a new A/C unit. He said he knew he’d get criticized by “the purists out there”, but stated that he was 75 and wanted to enjoy driving him and his wife around in something more reliable. He also wanted a drivetrain that today’s mechanics would be more familiar with. I can’t blame him for that decision. In that same vein, here’s a ’56 Thunderbird that has a fuel-injected 5.0L V8 with an Automatic Overdrive 4-speed automatic transmission. It is currently in Tulip, Washington, and is for sale here on craigslist for $34,000. The seller says the price can only be negotiated in person and that they’re also open to trades. Thanks again to Curvette for spotting this beautiful ‘Bird and sending it for us to feature.
The seller, who is the third owner after the restoration, says, “The car was built in the early 2000s, and as a testament to the quality, it comes with half a dozen car show trophies from that time.” The ‘Bird looks sharp in Fiesta Red and I’m not spotting any issues on its exterior. It’s sporting the Fairlane Headlight Chrome Eyebrows on each headlamp and comes with the desirable soft top and removable hardtop combination. The Colonia White fiberglass hardtop has the iconic porthole windows and is a great-looking contrast to the red exterior.
The black-and-white classic Thunderbird interior looks terrific and coordinates beautifully with the red exterior. The instrument panel and padded dash look very good and you can see the aftermarket air conditioning unit under the dash. This ‘Bird also has power windows and power steering. Purists will spot that the restored door panels are finished in a ribbed black vinyl instead of white vinyl, but I personally like the all-black look.
The big surprise is what’s hiding under the hood. The ’56 Thunderbird offered two “Y-block” V8 engines: the standard 292-cubic-inch “Thunderbird V8” and the optional 312-cubic-inch “Thunderbird Special V8.” You won’t find either of them here. Instead, you’ll find a fuel-injected 5.0L V8 that the seller says came from a late-’80’s Mustang GT. It’s paired with a Ford AOD four-speed automatic transmission.
It’s unclear of the mileage as the seller lists the odometer at “12,345.” The seller says, “It runs, drives, and stops flawlessly. The perfect car for a collector or as a driver. Show-ready and roadworthy!” I like these upgrades and how this ’56 T-Bird presents itself. It’s one sharp-looking car. What do you think?
I think my wife would LOVE this car. Much more practical than the Purple Metropolitan from a couple of weeks ago, though less toy-like at twice the price.
Beautiful T Bird!! Normally I’d go with original, but I totally understand why they did what they did. They chose a more modern and rock solid Ford powertrain that sounds great and is reliable. Lets face it. On a Saturday, all you want to do is hit the key and go and have fun.
It’s hard to believe you don’t see this swap more often into the Baby Birds. It would make you forget all about one of those early 2000 Birds!
A friend of mine is trying to revive a 2000ish T bird… Car has 2 computers, and lots of sensors… He’s almost bald from pulling his hair out…
OMG!!! This car is nearly identical to mine (at least in outward appearance). My car, however, came from the factory with the red/white interior and white soft top. The hardtop is Fiesta Red as well. I did change the soft top to black to match my wife’s Race Red 2019 Mustang GT ragtop. I love this seller’s upgrades (as mine has aftermarket PS and A/C). I just wonder if my wife would notice if I swapped my 312cid for her 5.0 Coyote 🤔⁉️ Nah, I’d have a better chance of talking her into letting me have twin Birds (which probably ain’t gunna happen either but I just may have to try)! Beautiful Bird. If it can’t come to our house, I pray that it lands in a new “nest” whose owners enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine. Reasonable ask too IMHO.
Normally, I’m in favor of keeping it original, but I reckon this could be an exception.
I had a `55 with a 302 and a 5 speed.
Whoever did the work used a Pinto/Bobcat bell housing, so it sat back a ways toward the firewall.
Which made the front end sit high.
We cut the front spring one half turn.
The clutch cable would melt so I bought some block hugger headers and had one outlet reversed for clearance.
I sold it in 2010, but it lives on semi-locally, because friends have sent photos of it.
I wonder if they upgraded brakes too??
A dual reservoir master cylinder has been installed, hopefully disc brakes have been too, at least up front.
Steve R
Great. My son and I are trying to bring a ‘56 we got thru this site. Getting close to getting it on the road.
I’m in the keep it original camp but can fully appreciate the ‘just want to get in and go’ desire of the owner. Ideally he held on to the original engine and trans if it was even in the bird when this conversion took place. I would rebuild the original and keep it on a stand just in case and enjoy the heck out of that more reliable bird with Mustang power.
Really nice car! Normally prefer original but, I would definitely consider this car. Price is decent and work seems exceptional. Kudos to the builders for staying with the original look and stance. The biggest compliment possible for not putting stupid ridiculous looking rims on her!
Wise choice to upgrade the drivetrain. Especially considering many shops will no longer work on engines like the Y block. Better part access and understanding of an engine and drive train goes a long way.
A beautiful car-
I could get TRIPLE the price here in Germany – the classic styling with Modern drive train would be a big selling point.
Lucky it was built in the early 2000s. Probably would have had an LS swap today.