Vehicle Description
1962 Ford Thunderbird Hardtop
1962 Ford Thunderbird design gave us the "bullet bird" with its
rounded to a point front end to the twin turbine rear tail lights.
We were firmly into the jet age, beehive hairdos, fedora wearing,
pipe smoking suburban dads, and the white picket fence surrounding
the New England style house. From the day it was built, this car
became a desirable collectable, and dripped with suburban
success.
For consignment, a wonderful bullet bird first restored in 1997,
then acquired by the current consigner in 2002. Now with a fresh
tune up, fully rebuilt brakes and a new from the exhaust manifold
back exhaust system. A few replacements for this car including
upholstery, carpeting and headliner. A few other faults for the
interior but overall a good example of the second gen bird from
1962.
Exterior
With its bullet like appearance this beautiful bullet bird features
a horizontal styling line that runs from the point where the bumper
and fender meet back through the door and angled down. Small
horizontal bar chrome accenting rectangles were added in this area
on the rear quarters. All bathed in a Silver Mink respray, with a
few minor faults in the paint when looking closely, and some minor
misalignment gaps of the doors, but overall, very nicely
presenting. All chrome and trimmings are in excellent condition,
and this includes the "shaver styled" front grille with its
horizontal dual headlights and pointed crafted bumper for the
front, along with a hood scoop with a chromed intake covering, and
of course the iconic rounded bullet styled front quarters. Window
surrounds are all excellent as are fender toppers badging, plus
mirrors and handles. The hardtop of this car is painted in a
contrasting Corinthian White respray. This was deemed a rare body
color option for the 1962 bird. On back the jet engine styled
taillights framed with large smoothed over bezels and another shiny
bumper below. Fins are smaller and still holding on tight to this
diminishing trend, but works well with the turbine styled
taillights.
Interior
Two tone door panels await your entrance, and have a mixture of red
vinyl all padded and nice with an interaction of aluminum panels
and some horizontal chromed bars at the delineation of the red and
aluminum panel. These doors and their ribbed center panel line up
perfectly with the dash aluminum, which is on the dash front,
swooping through the center of the otherwise red padded dash with
dual eyebrow design. A swing away steering wheel allows for easy
access for the driver and reveals a trio of round chrome bezel
gauges embedded into the dash. We also see within the confines of
the dash, controls for A/C, a power driver's seat, power windows
and locks and an AM radio within the sculpted dash top that shows
some cracks in the padding. Cascading downward from the futuristic
dash is a center console which consists of more ribbed aluminum
paneling and a snazzy red vinyl covered armrest/glove box covering
also showing a crack or two. On either side are overstuffed red
vinyl bomber style buckets with matching red tubs to sit within.
Seating for an additional 3 is provided by the rear bench which has
a nicely padded center giving the appearance of more buckets. Near
perfect red carpeting floods the floors, and power windows for the
back are also installed and working just great. A tightly whitey
vinyl headliner floats above all this early 60's futuristic
styling.
Drivetrain
A flip of the hood and we see a deep blue painted block and valve
coverings as well as the air cleaner. A 390ci V8 is inserted into a
fairly clean engine bay, with supple hoses and wiring. On top is a
single 4-barrel carburetor, and on back a Cruise-O-Matic 3-speed
automatic. The rear axle weighs in as a Ford 9-inch with 3.00
gearing. A full tune up was performed on December 13th, 2022
including a new distributor car, rotor, points and condenser as
well as a fresh oil change and new dipstick.
Undercarriage
Underneath we can say it is gracefully aged with lots of patina,
some road dirt and surface rust. In the back there are a few areas
of invasive rust which you can inspect on the photos. Rear power
drum brakes with leaf springs are noted, and in front more power
drum brakes with coil springs are bolted on. Our consignor notes
that the entire brake system was overhauled at the same time as the
tune up and includes new brake lines, hoses, master cylinder, wheel
cylinders, hardware and shoes. Also, an entirely new dual exhaust
system was installed from the exhaust manifolds back.
Drive-Ability
A quick starter, and some nice smooth limitless acceleration for 4
barrels on top of the 390 cubes, smooth automatic shifting and
braking. Also we noted the A/C is inoperable, as is the clock and
gas gauge, and the consignor states the heater core has been passed
due to a persistent leak.
Modern space age styling...and the rare combo of the Silver Mink
and Corinthian White, red interior with plenty of aluminum
accenting. Welcome back to the future!
VIN DECODE
2Y83Z165029
2-1962
Y-Wixom, MI Assy Plant
83-Thunderbird 2 Door Hardtop
Z-390ci V8 4bbl 300hp
165029-Sequential Unit Number
WARRANTY TAG
BODY 63A-Thunderbird Hardtop
COLOR GM-Silver Mink & Corinthian White
TRIM 55-Red Vinyl
DATE 22E-May 22nd Build
DSO 25-Richmond
AXLE 1-Ford 9" 3.00 Conventional
TRANS 4-Cruise-O-Matic
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
