This 1960 Ford Thunderbird is only showing 17,000 miles, but that has to be at least 117,000 if not more. That being said, how many Thunderbirds do you find on that side of the Atlantic, especially at affordable prices? This one is located in Nuneaton, England and is just waiting for someone in the UK to pick it up and put it back on the motorways!
As you can see from this shot, the chrome is in passable condition and most of the trim seems present, if a little bent. But one of the great things about being in the UK is that there are little specialty shops everywhere where you can get parts made or refurbished. And any parts you really need are available in the US, although shipping isn’t inexpensive. The seller characterizes it as having a little rust. I guess that depends on your definition of “little.”
I’m not sure the wide whitewalls work, but my uncle had them on his 1960 T-Bird convertible and he was happy with them, so I’ll leave that for the person that puts it back on the road. One major expense may be finding a windscreen (windshield) in the UK or shipping one from the USA.
As you can see, the interior is going to take some serious refurbishment, and the moisture allowed in by the broken glass hasn’t helped either.
I suppose you could try to save some of the interior panels, but I’m not sure it would be worth the trouble. Of course, you could pretend it was a southwestern classic and throw a blanket over the seats!
As you can see, the big bird was originally a lighter metallic blue. It’s nice to see the air conditioning compressor as well, although you can see there’s a lot more to be done before that would be functional! Unfortunately, that big V8 will not turn over at the moment. So do you UK Barn Finds readers think this is a viable project? One thing in the seller’s favor is the tremendous feedback ratings he’s received from selling similar classic cars on eBay–it appears you can buy from them in confidence. If you feel so inclined, you can find the auction here on eBay UK, where bidding starts at 1,000 pounds ($1,423) and the buy-it-now is 2,950 pounds ($4,199).
Without a doubt, my favorite T-Bird. Can you imagine driving this car in England in the 60’s? Sucking Fiat’s and Morris’s through the air horn. Bet that was fun, having one of the fastest cars on the road. These are always fixable, within reason, of course. While horsepower in England ( for the masses) has caught up with the rest of the world, this would still be an intimidating sight in some Fiat’s rear view mirror. Next to the Studebaker Hawk, this would be my 2nd choice. Wouldn’t make much sense to ship it, there’s plenty in the US, but a very cool car for someone.