Being an avid old-car hobbyist leads one down the most random avenues for daydreaming. In the case of this Thunderbird, we know that the original owner was one Mr. Denhart of San Diego, California, who on July 29, 1965, walked into University Motors and bought this Patrician Green Metallic (it looks blue, doesn’t it?) Thunderbird. Was it just another day for Mr. Denhart, a yearly tradition of walking into the Ford dealer and buying a T-Bird? Was it a big event, a treat, the first T-Bird he ever bought? Late July was getting toward the end of the model year—did he get a deal on it? Despite the fact that we can’t ascertain his frame of mind, we do know that his car still exists, and it has service records from the time it was new. Barn Finder Curvette found this 91,154-mile T-Bird on craigslist in Redmond, Washington, and for $19,950, you can live a little like Mr. Denhart did all those years ago.

If you could afford it, buying a T-Bird was an easy process, at least in terms of choosing a driveline; there was one available, this 300-horsepower 390 matched to a Cruise-O-Matic (and, almost always, a 3:00:1 rear axle ratio). Power front disc brakes were a new standard feature in 1965, and power steering was also a Thunderbird amenity; air conditioning was optional, and this car has it, too. The selling dealer performed the following in preparation for sale:

We have just performed the following work: resealed and refinished the valve covers/ air cleaner, new air filter, oil change, coolant flush, new upholstery in trunk with new seals, recharged the AC (has been converted to R134 freon) replaced spark plugs, new accessory belts, replaced rear wheel bearings, new wiper blades, repaired lights, repaired windows, 4 new shocks fitted, upper strut bushings replaced, battery tray replaced, new distributor cap, new hood insulation pad, new teal rubber floor mats, and a motor bay refreshening was performed.

It won’t offend most potential buyers, but T-Bird engine compartments were painted body color from the factory. Many, however, are painted black because…well…it hides a lot of flaws and tends to look better than 60-year-old grimy factory paint.

T-Bird interiors were as extroverted as their exteriors, with their popular bucket-seat-and-console architecture remaining standard for at least a couple more years as of 1965. It’s not a stretch to say that the 1961-66 T-Birds had some of the best interiors in Detroit history, and aside from a repair to the driver’s seat, the interior is apparently well-maintained and original. The clock doesn’t work, and the radio doesn’t pick up any channels, but aside from that, the ‘Bird functions as new. You may have noticed that the selling dealer “repaired [the] windows,” which is good, because power window work on a classic T-Bird is not that much fun.

It’s too bad that the seller didn’t include a picture of the door tag so we could do a better analysis of the basics, but the interior appears to be “Light Turquoise Metallic with Dark Turquoise Appointments,” a nice combination with the “green” exterior. By the way, Patrician Green Metallic was a Lincoln color in 1965.

A new trunk mat has also been installed, but where’s the spare?

Aside from a repaint sometime in the car’s past, this looks like a well-kept car that’s been loved by its various owners along the way, and if you want to be the next one, you could do a lot worse than this pretty T-Bird. It might be worth buying for the sequential taillights alone, not to mention the pride you’ll feel when you leave the lot in your new-to-you Thunderbird.