One Willow Green 1957 Ford Thunderbird
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

All pictures are "clickable" for larger views
Updated!! - new picture near bottom
 

Every car has some kind of history whether short or long. Since this car has survived 45 years (built in October 1956) and we have owned it for over half of that time, I can give some of its history.
Through affiliation with CTCI , we were able to obtain the factory invoice from TARTC.  Click on the invoice  if you would like  to read its contents:
The car was originally Thunderbird Bronze.  Though we have changed the exterior color, the interior has been kept like the original - all white - a fairly rare option in 1957 but well-liked by restorers of today.  When we bought the car in the summer of 1975 from its second owner, the car was purple with black seats and black canvas soft top along with the original white dash and visors.  The previous owner had tired of cleaning the white seats.  We left the exterior purple for about a year before changing it to '69 LeMans  or Corvette Blue.  The soft top was replaced with a white vinyl.  The seats stayed black for 10 more years.   We added the '66 Mustang "Styled Steelwheels" and used them for several years.	At it's new home Fourth of July Parade for the  1976 BiCentennial
By 1985, the seats needed replacing so we went back to the original color of white and I made slip covers for the seats that could be easily washed.   We drove the car up to Vancouver, British Columbia for the 1986 EXPO
In 1988, we decided the car needed a new paint job so we contracted a friend of ours to do the painting and some bodywork.  About a year and a half later - after a body off restoration - the car wwas back on the road.  This time adorned in the beautiful '57 Thunderbird color of Willow Green.  The seats are still the same from 1986 (slip covers have helped a lot) and we're still using the original sun visors though they do need replacing.  The dash has been replaced twice since we've owned it -both times with white.  We finally started using the fender skirts which had come with the car.
The background picture was taken in April of 1990 on the coast of Washington State.  The Rhododendrons were just beautiful at that spot that year and we couldn't resist the chance to take the picture. By The Way, a similar photo of mine was printed in the 2002 Thunderbird Calendar by BrownTrout, month of May,  taken at the same location.  Yes, it's part of my memorabilia collection.
Isn't it amazing how different the car looks with a new top.  We had this top installed in the summer of 1999 and the car made its debut at the Witchita, Kansas CTCI Regional at the beginning July, 1999.  This is a marine canvas soft top - the only way we could get close to the color we wanted..The top color is hunter green.  We love the top color so much that the top is rarely down now. By the way, we finally bought new white sunvisors for the car in 1999 - the original ones had been dripping foamm on the dash thru the cracks in the vinyl around the mounts..
Next project may be  the engine rebuild which George is in no hurry to do.  The engine has been holding up fine with over 120,000 miles since the heads were rebuilt in 1975.  It appears that the base block in this car is still the original since this car only had 106,000 miles on it when we bought the car in 1975. Car still had original carburetor which has long since been sidelined.  The leaky rope seal in the 312 was replaced last spring with a modified Mopar neoprene rear main seal.  If you would like to know the modification process, visit the late Walt Nuckels site. A switch to synthetic oil was also made a year ago (2000) so we know the seal is working great.  2004 - The engine rebuild was completed last year but with a very hopped up cam.  Alas, too hopped up, and the gas mileage dropped by 6mpg & no longer starts quickly,  so it's due for another overhaul back to the original cam & block. The seat covers are getting old now and due for renewal.  So that will be another project soon.  Keeping an old car up is an ongoing process, particularly when it's driven all the time.  It will see many miles this next year.