While Chevrolet was trying to find a market for its new 2-seat sports car, the Corvette, Ford also introduced a dual-seater – but one as a small personal luxury car, aimed at different buyers. The car sold sparingly for a while, but then took off in 1958 when they added a back seat so you could take friends and family for a spin. This beautiful ’57 T-Bird was bought new by the Simpsons (not THOSE Simpsons) and stayed in their possession until recently. With just 20,000 miles, this beauty is in Riverside, California, and available here on craigslist for $30,000 OBO. Another neat find brought to us by T.J.!
Originally a car built for two, Ford sold more than 53,000 Thunderbirds from 1955-57, with ’57 having the best year of the three. While purists lament the change to a larger car in ’58, it turned out to be the correct one financially. In the second three years, 198,000 T-Birds rolled off the assembly line, so it was a sure-fire winner by then. The 2-seat T-Birds, like the one Suzanne Somers drove in the iconic coming-of-age movie American Graffiti, would be the last of its type until Ford’s EXP sport compact car came along in 1982. Ford would revive the 2-seat Thunderbird for 2002-05 before the nameplate was retired.
The seller’s car was originally purchased new from a Ford dealership in San Francisco. It would stay with that family for the next 63 years until today’s selling party took possession and treated it to a mechanical refresh. That work included installing a new radiator and hoses, an electronic ignition system, fuel pump, carburetor, water pump, belts, and a new fuel sending unit, along with a few other items. New American Classic tires were added at all four points of the car. We’re guessing this work was necessitated because the car sat more than it was used for long periods.
Still wearing its original Colonial White paint, the T-Bird presents nicely but has a few little dings and scrapes and one small dent on the passenger side rocker panel. But rust doesn’t seem to be an issue, so repainting this beauty should be at the bottom of anyone’s to-do list. The T-Bird comes with its factory hardtop, convertible top, and roadster tonneau cover for all sorts of driving conditions. Other than new carpeting, the material in the interior is also original.
The optional 312 cubic-inch V8 with automatic transmission should provide plenty of power for cruising around in this cool car. If you open the trunk, you’ll find all sorts of leftovers from yesteryear, such as the owner’s handbook, jack and spare tire, a set of tire chains, a road flare, and some other odds-and-ends and spare parts. Suddenly, it’s 1957 all over again!
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