Vehicle Description
1956 Ford Thunderbird Roadster
The Thunderbird and the Corvette have a long and sorted history,
with both initially competing for the same customer space.
Eventually the Corvette went to racing, and the Thunderbird became
the boulevard king. The ultimate getaway car from the kids with
only 2 seats, as well as the option to have a hardtop traveler, or
a convertible cruiser, it became the "it" car for mid-1950's
suburbia.
If you're looking for a sweet 50s-era classic that's valuable, fun
to drive and has the ability to turn Main Street into an instant
classic car show then this is "it" for you. An all Colonial White
exterior with a newlyrecovered turquoise and white interior and a
Colonial White hardtop you will think you are driving down the
street in a crisp clean bridal dress! Oh, don't forget we will be
enticing you with a fully rebuiltfuel system, new bumpers and an
updated stereo system.
Exterior
Starting upfront, we can see a beautiful brand spanking new and
mirror like bumper and directly above is a well-preserved shiny egg
crate grille complete with flanking on either side is a single
visored headlights. A long-scooped hood rolls its way back to the
passenger compartment, which is small, and is topped with a hardtop
in body matching Colonial White complete with the iconic
Thunderbird portholes. On the back, small fins tip round tail
lights again, emulating jet age design, and another clean bumper,
this time the bumper has the exhaust tailpipes coming out just
below. These cutouts flank the short decklid with the crossed flag
fuel filler door sandwiched in between. Medium wide white sidewall
tires wrap 15-inch steel heels and hubcaps with just a hint of
turquoise peeking out at the edged. All of the metal is painted in
Colonial White paint and has nicely preserved gaps with no rust
seen on its exterior. From its fender skirts to the chromed venting
on the front quarters to the tasteful fins and jet engine
taillights, and all is super snazzy.
Interior
The curvaceous thick door panels are wrapped in white vinyl with
some turquoise vinyl covered swooping upward long armrests, and a
turquoise padded window sill attached at the top. There is a large
panel of machined aluminum through the center which is the
background for the door actuator and in the white vinyl are the
shiny cranks for the windows. These are nice and clean, with the
aluminum showing a few dimples. These panels look the part, as they
melt into the curved dash keeping the machined metal line through
the center. A fan style black background with white numbered
speedometer is above on the padded turquoise dash top and below the
machined strip of aluminum is a pleasant band of turquoise steel.
Flanking on either side of the speedo are round gauges, one a
factory tachometer, and the right a clock. Also noted, a modern
AM/FM radio is neatly installed in the dash center. Fronting a near
perfect bench seat is a black accordion booted Hurstshift lever
well within reach of the driver on the hump. The bench seat is
complete with smooth turquoise bolsters and surrounds and shows
with white tuck and roll inserts and some piping at the seams, and
it stretches from door to door. Lightly faded and wrinkled
turquoise carpeting floods the floors, and the tan leatherette
wrapped turquoise bakelite and chrome horn ring steering wheel
fronts the pristine dash. A white tonneau cover is on the rear
body/passenger sill and covers the area where a soft top would be
stowed,however no soft top nor its frame is present. Totally
delicious in this presentation. And if the weather is bad, pop on
the hardtop!
Drivetrain
A 312ci V8 engine is in a clean and shiny engine bay. It is topped
with a rebuilt Holley 4-barrel carburetor and a chromed air cleaner
cover. Red is reserved for the block, and aluminum ribbed valve
covers with Thunderbird badging add some more bling to the bay. A
3-speed manual transmission and 3.73Dana 44 rear axle complete the
drivetrain. Just a very honest presentation under the hood.
Undercarriage
Just a hint of surface rust and some road dirt is noted but
otherwise the X frame and floor pans are really beautifully
preserved sporting a nice undercoating of rustproofing. Moving to
the inner rockers we note some invasive rust making an appearance
on the passenger side and a hastily installed replacement inner on
the drivers. Independent coil springs for the front, and leaf
springs for the rear make up the suspension with drum brakes all
around. We note a new fuel pump, and fuel tank as well as shiny
like new dual exhaust.
Drive-Ability
Not a ton of room in these early birds, but once in, they are
comfy. This car fired right up and took off for the test track
where it flew around in circles with ease. A strong accelerator,
and good stopper are also good qualities to have in such an early
car and they are there. This bird handled our test track with ease
on all fronts and provided a fully functional enjoyable drive.
All in all a wonderful example that has been restored a bit ago and
still retains its luster and charm. Go topless or don the hardtop,
and climate controls assure you happy motoring throughout the year,
although with a classic as such I personally don't know whether you
would be doing too much winter driving. Either way you can soar
through town, screech the tires, and turn some heads...all the way
around! Grab your poodle skirt honey we are going to get away from
the kids for a while!
P6FH212420
P-312ci V8
6-1956
F-Dearborn, MI Assy Plant
H-Thunderbird
212420-Sequential Unit Number
BODY 40A-Thunderbird
COLOR E-Colonial White
TRIM XB-Red & White Vinyl
PRODUCTION CODE 1BDI163
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.
