Limited Edition cars have been used to generate foot traffic to dealerships for years, especially in the middle of the sales cycle when sales generally slow down. Back in 1963, Lee Iacocca hoped to generate some buzz at Ford Dealerships by building 2,000 Limited Edition Thunderbird Landaus to honor the most famous (and glamorous) princess on the planet at the time, Princess Grace of Monaco. The beautiful Grace Kelly had given up her Hollywood stardom to marry Monaco’s Prince Ranier III in 1956. She devoted the rest of her life to her duties as Princess of Monaco and charity work that focused on young children and the arts. It’s hard to know how many of these Limited Edition ’63 Thunderbirds exist, but number 1765 looks to be in very good condition, is nesting in Terrebonne, Oregon, and is listed for sale here on craigslist for $25,000 or best offer. Another tip-of-the-hat (or crown) to Curvette for sending this rare ‘Bird our way.
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The seller doesn’t share anything about the car’s history or even its specs. All that is listed is: “1963 Ford T-Bird Princess Grace of Monaco. Very rare. 48,000 original miles. $25,000 OBO.” The photographs aren’t the best and I wish there were closeups of the special badging such as the numbered “Limited Edition Thunderbird Landau” nameplate which can be seen on the console. Based on my research, Princess Grace had some involvement in the car’s color scheme and special appointments. All 2,000 were finished in Corinthian White paint with a Rose Beige vinyl top with Landau “S” bars. Other exterior goodies included deluxe wheel covers and rear fender shields (which are not shown on this one). The paint looks presentable as does the chrome, trim, and glass. It’s hard to determine the condition of the vinyl roof. I read where these had a tendency to fade from there original dark rose beige finish.
The interior looks to be in very good, clean condition. The Limited Edition Landau Package included Pearl White leather seats, a Rose Beige padded dash, white tilt-away steering wheel with a unique insert, simulated rosewood trim on the console, instrument panel, door panels, rear quarter trim panels, seat back emblem inserts, and the numbered “Limited Edition Thunderbird Landau” nameplate mounted on the console. It appears that the original Rose Beige carpet has been replaced.
There are no photos supplied of the engine bay, but there should be a 390-cubic-inch V8 under that sloping front hood. It’s mated to a three-speed Ford Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission and 48,000 original miles are on the clock, although there’s no mention of documentation. Iacocca was able to talk Ford into making a TV commercial for his limited-edition luxury ‘Bird and it aired on February 17, 1963 during a Ford-sponsored Tour of Monaco CBS special hosted by Princess Grace herself. The official introduction date for these special ‘Birds was February 22, 1963 and Landau number one was presented to Princess Grace by the Ford Motor Company. Numbers 2 through 19 were sent out to auto shows across the country and later sold to the public. It’s hard to determine how many of these rare 1963 Limited Edition Thunderbird Landaus exist today. Some say as few as 30 are left. So, what are your thoughts about this rare, limited-edition Thunderbird? Have you ever seen one?
This is one of my favorite generations of T Birds. I did not know about the rare Princess Grace edition. Very elegant. This one looks great overall. We have to remember, strange is it may sound to many of us, this ’63 is now 62 years old!!! I wish I held up that well at my age lol. Very nice one here, and hope it gets preserved, it definitely is very rare.
Me too, Dave. How this car didn’t make Car of the Year( and Rambler did), I’ll never know. I made many models of this car, and sadly, never got to own one. Not sure why not, I had some mighty nice cars, but a T-bird was never on the radar. The story checks out, as Princess Grace was given the 1st one, for unknown reasons, but I doubt she put 48,000 miles on it. I think she preferred to ride in the back of her 1961 Caddy limo.
Nice but the pixs do not show much on the differences as well as no research details.
Here is a write up describing with the dash plaque, scripts on roof carb serial Z etc etc
https://davidsclassiccars.com/ford/199563-1963-ford-thunderbird-special-edition-principality-of-monaco.html
Beautiful car! I wish there were some engine photos.
Certainly can imagine her driving this car! Love the interior!
Never heard of this limited edition before but would like to see one in original colors and condition. Loved the rocket ship styling of these birds.
I had a ’63 Thunderbird, it was pink – no jokes please, I’ve heard them all. my girlfriend (now my wife of 55 years) thought it was the coolest car ever. It was slow off the line, but once it was moving, it would pass anything but a gas station. I loved that car until I had to open the hood. That 390 filled that engine compartment completely. It was such a fun car, but I had to get rid of it when I got married and joined the Air Force. I needed something we could haul our minimal belongings in. I wish I had it back, I’d gladly dig into that engine compartment again. I hope this one finds a great home.
how about some docs to prove what it is claimed to be
Nice write up. Sad that these birds don’t bring big money. This is my favorite year. Attention to detail all over the car inside and out.
… but it doesn’t even have the factory a/c… my parents’ 1963 did–
I drove a ‘62 T Bird last two years of high school , ‘71 – ‘72. It was a fun car to drive , even seemed rare back in those days. I believe the only difference between the ‘62 and ‘63 was the first year had a round mirror on the drivers side , while the ‘63 went to square one. Made it easy to recognize which year of T – Bird you were looking at. Last time I drove it the front wheel / tire severed off the spindle and took off down the road. It was sold soon after that as we moved from TN to Canada. Loved that T- Bird. I was very lucky my mom was a car girl and we always had cool cars.
’63s had a fender crease starting on the side of the door extending through the front fender. All 3 years of the bullet ‘Birds had different grill textures and side trim, so they were easy to identify. The commenters who don’t remember this car really make me feel old. I remember reading all the print ads for this special edition and being a bit nonplussed by the Princess Grace connection but the car itself is the most elegant and desirable edition of all the bullet birds. I drive by a ’62 Landau in white vinyl & turquoise in much sadder condition than this gem and I still want it.
The way I remember it, the 61 and 62 had chrome side trim near the back of the rear quarter panel. 63’s had that trim on the door.
If they’re serious about the 25K they need to list this on fee bay with 50 pics and under carriage pics and a list of everything that has been done to the car. I’m working on a 59,000 mile 63 hardtop that has so far received 5000 dollars in parts. 62 years takes its toll on anything rubber or gasketed.
Back in about 1980 my dad had one of these. I wish I could remember the number on the console, but it was close to this one. The previous owner had removed the vinyl top. This car had a special color and grain to the vinyl that was unique to this car. So we went to the Detroit Public Library that has a special section dedicated to automotive history. They have sales brochures a dealer would use when you ordered a car. Anyway we found a sample of the vinyl top in the books. You are not allowed to remove anything from this area of the library, so we made a pencil etching of the grain of the vinyl. Then went searching for it. We found a roll of that vinyl with that grain, but it wasn’t that color. We had it installed and then sprayed it with vinyl paint that was the exact color. That was a very nice car, just like it was described in the write up.