It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Remember your high school Dickens? Well, you can revisit those good old days by reading the ad for this 1955 Ford Thunderbird convertible. The car is available here on eBay for a bid exceeding $6100, and if you are a procrastinator, no worries—the auction goes until Wednesday late in the day. You’ll then have to retrieve the car from Merrillville, Indiana.
It hardly needs to be recited that the Thunderbird came out in 1955 as a sports convertible that could rival the panache of the British roadsters so popular at the time. The series this one belongs to, as a first-year model, went until 1957. Many more Thunderbirds came after, including four-door versions as the car got bigger and heavier through the years. A silhouette model much resembling this 1955 Thunderbird was produced from 2002-05, and when that was done, the Thunderbird was at its end. Anyone keeping an eye on T-Bird values will note that these early models have hovered at $30K for years, relatively stagnant as investments. The auction price of this particular example, at least early in the going, is at twenty percent of that. Does that signify that your bidder paddle should be waving so that you can make this 292-CID-engined car your own?
Let’s tally what we have here. A car with almost no information about it, but what detail is available is a definite ward-off. Let’s start with the paperwork. The title is said to be for a car that is “rebuilt, rebuildable, and reconstructed.” Is that what is known in California as a “salvage title”? If so, that diminishes the car a notch in value and puts a question mark on its provenance. Then there’s the seller’s cryptic statement, “needs rehab.” Oh boy. But it gets worse. “Nice frame and components for restoration as it was restored previously,” the ad says. OK. But what happened between now and then? Did the car’s rust take it over? Was it in a wreck? What is useable, and what is not? Am I getting more than a title and some possibly reusable parts for this price? What does “as” mean–in the way that it was restored previously, or since it was restored previously? Is either alternative the better one?
Getting down to details, the car has a restored teapot carb, according to the ad, and thus it runs, but it smokes. The seller puts in a parenthetical note that this may mean that it has a cracked head or problems with a right-side gasket. Wow. Looking at the pictures makes no comfort. The steering wheel looks like it has strange growths coming from it. Has the car been very wet for a long time? The paint is peeling. Some of the chrome is pitted and rusty. The top appears to need weatherstripping replacement. The driver’s seat is trashed, and what might be the rocker panel has pinholes and larger perforations made by rust. Then there’s the second to last picture, reproduced for you here, which appears to show the end of a frame rail tailing off to rusty oblivion, despite the fact that other images appear to indicate a relatively rust-free underside. In short, what you have here is the equivalent of high-school cafeteria “mystery meat.” It might be OK to sample, but you’d better know what you’re doing if you decide to eat the whole thing.
Parts car at best
This one and the previously posted red one.
No Vin# or Data Plate photos.
Oversights or red flags…
That’s not a frame tail. It’s the body mount that attaches to inner rocker panel
The ladies on the front grill might be holding the car together.
That rust isn’t the frame rail, it’s the body support that sits on the frame and the rust is where it should attach to the inner rocker for strength.
Looks like it it a had a Bondo over tinworm restoration previously. RUN AWAY!!!
What a shame another could be cool two seater convertible bites the dust unless you have money and patience.
I’ve spent the first 70 years of my life thinking the ’55 was shorter than the ’57. If Google can be believed the wheelbase is the same but the overall length is 4 inches different. I blame high school football.
I like it but I just dropped $11k on a new car so I have to rebuild my Bank account before I buy a toy like this
You California types sure are hard to please. Here in the Midwest, this car is described as “not rusty”. Its not a parts car, it needs rockers and some other rust repairs. Mechanicals, and voila! You have a sorta ok car.
Caveat emptor: “ the cave is empty”, or buyer beware!
Dave, you are right, the baby bird’s all have a 102″ wheelbase, the 57′ is about 6″ longer in the trunk area, This car could be saved if you can find an old timer who can fab some panels…
This one looks like a lot of work and money. I think to do a great restoration would cost more than it would be worth. I’d go the hot rod route and not worry about the originality and, since the engine seems to have issues, resort to the reliable and easily found small block Chevy. (Just kidding but I had to say it)
Wow. I thought this site was “Barn Finds”, not 100% restored concourse finds… And I’m sure the seller appreciates the amateur review in this article. I agree with Thayer, this is most certainly a restorable car. Does it need a lot? YES, but it’s also not $10K. I love the comments from the peanut gallery!!! I wonder how many of you have actually done a ground up build.
🖐️. I have. This is actually better than any that I started with, but I’m not a restorer.
“RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!”
– Monty Python and The Holy Grail
The stripper emblems on the front grill tell me all I need to know about this one….
Love those! Obviously a high-class owner at some point.
Totally restorable without breaking the bank
It appears that they have retrieved a Thunderbird that went down with the Andrea Doria.
I think it would make a good Hot Rod or drag car…but other than that..don’t know
all ways toward the rest0 more than the mod as there’s more interest and return on final sale of those, generally in the mrkt. I personally would rather keep one done this way too (could have ‘sleeper’ performance upgrades). Any medium or small car I always think SCCA livery. I’d need to do the research to see how far I’d go as I do not know this car’s market, price points’n so on. It is not 1 for my collection tho. That said it IS one of my 96 y/o dad’s fav.