Drive Buy
Vendor: Peter Hind, Hatfield, Hertfordshire Telephone: 01707 268863 Price: £32,999
The Ford Thunderbird, launched in 1955 with the first-generation model, was an instant success story and seriously outsold its GM rival the Corvette. It’s also one of those cars that metamorphosed over the years, became much larger, heavier too, but ultimately endured a great many changes, yet still remained very popular, even though the final incarnations were a great deal different to the first-generation cars. This month’s Drive-Buy car is a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, or more colloquially referred to as the T-bird. It’s the last of the first-generation models, but still retains the original ’55 model’s purity of lines and styling. This particular car was imported circa 2015, its last owner was Betty Stoodley from New York and it was first registered in the UK in 2016 by its current owner Peter Hind, who has a penchant for American cars and, having one too many, has decided to put the T-bird up for sale.
This matching numbers car has retained a huge amount of originality and has not been messed with or altered in any way. It’s also a rare E-code model (one of 1500 produced) which means it has the 312cu in engine with dual Holley carburettors, rated at 270bhp, power windows, seats, brakes and steering and comes complete with a hard top with portholes and a soft top. The Gunmetal Grey paintwork is believed to be largely original, as is the interior trim, other than a replacement dashboard crashpad, fitted in the last few years. Colour-wise it pretty well matches the steering wheel, but is a slightly lighter shade of red to the vinyl trim on the seats and door cards.
Actually getting into the driver’s seat of the T-bird required a certain amount of manual dexterity, as the large steering wheel is very close to the squab of the bench seat. Without wishing to sound too personal, it would really suit an owner who isn’t too portly, the slimmer the better… and not too tall either! Later models of T-bird were indeed fitted with a Swing-Away steering wheel to overcome this obstacle. Peter’s T-bird hadn’t been driven for a couple of months, but the 312cu in V8 fired up without hesitation and never faltered, coughed or spluttered throughout the test drive. Looking down that long bonnet, flanked by the rounded tops of the wings, gives an excellent reference point for road positioning.
The dual Holley carburettors definitely give this car the edge on acceleration, which is reasonably swift. It will certainly keep up with modern-day traffic flow. While the drum brakes are power assisted, a deft shove from your right foot is required for instant stopping, but overall they work very well. Also impressive is the steering, which remains light at all times and indeed has been the subject of a full overhaul. The automatic transmission performed well too, with almost imperceptible changes. The T-bird was originally marketed as a ‘Personal Car’ rather than an out-and-out sports car. This example handled, performed and drove very well.