For Sale: 1957 Ford Thunderbird in North East, Pennsylvania

1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible For Sale
This 1957 Ford Thunderbird is an E-code dual-quad example, restored frame-off by Hill's Classic Cars in 2008 to CTCI concours standards and subsequently judged a perfect 300 points under the Classic Thunderbird Club International's 300-point system. The car comes with the CTCI documentation backing that score. Hill's, based in Racine, Ohio, is the recognized authority on first-generation Thunderbirds; a frame-off built to their standard and judged to a flat 300 sits at the top of the '55'57 Thunderbird hierarchy.

Power comes from the 312-cubic-inch Y-block V8 fed by dual Holley four-barrel carburetors on an aluminum intake the factory E-code package, rated at 270 horsepower and the strongest carbureted engine option in the 1957 Thunderbird lineup, sitting one rung below the 212-built F-code supercharged "Battle Birds." The package also included a hi-performance camshaft and the dual-quad-specific intake and fueling hardware. Out back the car runs the factory 3.10 axle ratio the highway-friendly gearing that keeps the dual-quad 312 relaxed at cruising speed.

The data plate decodes as a Dearborn-built car scheduled for January 11, 1957, originally finished in Gunmetal Gray with a matching Gunmetal Gray removable hardtop and a red and white pleated vinyl interior. It was the 76th Thunderbird shipped to the St. Louis sales district for the 1957 model year. The 2008 restoration returned the car to its original livery, and the interior has held up exceptionally well in the years since carpet, seats, and dashboard all show the kind of finish expected of a CTCI 300-point build.

Production numbers carry most of the rarity story. Of the 21,380 Thunderbirds Ford built for 1957, only 1,499 left the factory as E-code dual-quad cars, and Gunmetal Gray was an uncommon color choice against the far-higher-volume Raven Black, Colonial White, and Starmist Blue orders. Most surviving E-codes are no longer running their original dual four-barrel setup owners frequently swapped to a single 4-barrel decades ago for everyday drivability which makes a correctly-equipped, concours-judged example genuinely uncommon today. The combination of the rare engine package, an unusual factory color, a Hill's restoration, and CTCI 300-point documentation puts this car in a small group within an already-limited pool.

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