This one found a new home on BAT. Never thought this video would get so much interest. It’s definitely a unique bird. Check out all the cars we offer at www.caseyscars.com. Cheers!
There are two interesting things going on here. One is that they were able to make this work back in 1962. And two is it's amazing it still works today.
@@CantbeetPie problem with a lot of modern cars is that planned obsolescence is part of the design. Parts that were once metal or aluminium are now plastic
Also nowadays, depending on where you live, you might not be authorized to fix your vehicle yourself. Doing so will result in the breaking of your insurance contract, and in these same countries it is illegal to drive without insurance.
@@Soxynosmy state is weird. If the car is 24 years or older, I don’t even have to get it inspected anymore. So long as I have insurance, I can register it and legally drive it. I guess they figure that if the lights don’t work, or your brakes, eventually you’ll be fined one way or another, as vehicular accidents often lead to citations. They hope is you’ll get pulled over before then. But on the subject of repairing, if you live in an HOA, no freaking way. Can’t even change your own oil without doing so inside your garage with the garage door lowered. This could be deadly in the summer as AC in garages are unheard of. Of course, the recent inspection law does make things easier on people who,don’t live in HOAs. In the past, a resident could report you to the town as having a “junked vehicle.” A junked vehicle is a vehicle that is inoperable AND does not have current registration. Typically cars you are working on long term are not only inoperable, but may end up unregistered because they previously required that annual inspection. So now I can just annually register a shell, and the town can’t do anything about it.
My third grade teacher had one like this and it was red. Mrs. Porter. Her dad owned Herold Ash Dodge dealership in town and later her husband took the Dodge dealership over and it became Jerry Porter Dodge. Those were the days. Cars were awesome and they also had character.
You are Absolutely right sir, Back Then Cars Have Character Not Like Today's Rubbish And Ugly Cars , In Last 10 years Cars Become So Super Ugly With Huge Grills
@@S500- but actually there are some cars which still have character, like bentley, rolls royce, and Toyota sports cars. Right now the focus on cheaper cars is lightweight and aerodynamics with some design. These older cars may be beautiful but the design being specifically for a car is not good. Too heavy, too big, no aerodynamics.
I had a '67 Mustang convertible with the automatic top (and a glass rear window)... took about 20 seconds to transverse either way including locking or unlocking to the windshield... and I still had a trunk... after doing some research I believe it was the only one made that year with factory air conditioning...??? Boy do I miss that car...
This mechanism was first used in a little bit different form, on the 1957 to 1959 Ford Retractable hardtops. The identical mechanism was used on Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental convertibles from 1958 through 1966 on the Birds and 58 through 1967 on the Connies. It truly was a masterpiece of engineering.
Im a Mercedes Benz mechanic. I do most of the conv tops that come in the dealership. Mostly 1996 up to brand new cars. After I fix them I’m always amazed at how they work and manage to keep water out. They really are a marvel of engineering.
It's too bad they can't keep the hydraulic fluid in though! LoL... When the front pistons leak the customer wears some of it... Not to mention the cost of replacing all the cylinders, unless you want to join the Mercedes convertible top cylinder of the month club! 😂 Cost to replace all is exceeding the value of some of the older cars with higher miles. Complete money pits in many cases, but that's a aging Euro car for ya....
When my dad was finished with his active service in the army in 1960 at Ft. Sill OK. He bought a 58 Ford retractable hardtop from the used car dealer across from the main gate and drove back to Detroit because he didn't want to take the bus or train the Army offered to him. He sold it 3 years later to put a down payment on the house I grew up in.
My father bought a 63 for my mom and every Saturday dad would put the top down and drive us around it was the coolest car and fast with the 390 will never forget how .ugh fun that was.
My uncle had one , it was like sitting in starship the way the dash curved in front of you. He worked for Ford and got all the bells and whistles. A really cool car , made in the day when they had style My favorite car of all time.
My father collected Ford/Lincoln/Corvair convertibles. How many kids can say they drove '66 / '67 Lincoln & bathtub Corvair Spider convertibles to high school & college? Was the engine running while the top was operating? Even with new relays that top seemed a little slow...My personnel favorite was the '57 Sunliner with police pkg & continental kit. It's burbling exhaust note was so sophisticated! Loved it...
@@caseyscarsinc.7818 Thank you for answering, those wheels are Stunning, btw I took my son to car swapmeet and bought him (9y.o) a model of his choosing and he picked The T-bird Sports Roadster, a Franklin Mint model..So I never got one but maybe my boy will. Thank you for your time Sir.
I had an Infiniti M30 convertible and loved it. There were motors in the roof that would screw into the windshield frame so technically it was touch-less but they suggested that you give the roof a tug to make sure it was seated properly. And there was a trunk you could use even with the roof stored.
I had one and the you put it in park and slide the steering wheel to the side and it turned the front seat you were in out toward the door when you got out very neat I have a 2003/11 generation Thunderbird now hardtop/convertible but it’s not the car that my 62 was
Tell your friend it's not about who is first to grab the T-Bird out of his garage, but it's who can forge the grandpa's signature on the pink-slip the fastest.
My Mercedes SL500 does this, only quicker. But these old T-Birds do it nicer!! PS I have trunk space with the top down. Not much, but at least I can take her shopping!! Beautiful Bird!!!
My auto electrics instructor told the class if you get a classic retract cable roof (hard top) to adjust, charge them three time your rate and you may break even. ;-)
.Y FAVORITE MODEL...GORGOUS...NICE WORK...THE TOP THE MECHANISMS SWITCHES MOTORS...I USED TO REBUILD FORD ELECTRIC MOTORS FOR POWER WINDOWS etc etc...THE GEAR HAD 3 NYLON BEARINGS THAT WOUKD WEAR OUT OR DISINTERGRATE...WE HAD NYLON RODS3/8" dia) AND CUT TO LENGTH...RE GREASE EVERYTHING...BINGO...
Had to be fun trying to drag the spare tire up and out of there without rubbing it across the fender. Plus it pretty much wipes out the trunk space. But it is pretty slick.
Always wondered how that worked. Not sure if Ford had the most intricate tops or Benz or someone else? Between this, the continental and the sky liner it must have had some very interesting engineering meetings.
This was accomplished by Ford relatively easily. Ford learned how to do this, with the 57-58-59 retractable hardtop, aka the Skyliner. Soft tops were a piece of cake.
Had a 61 T-bird rag-top in high school my dad picked up for 2,300 used in 1963 (the same price of a new stripped down Chevy Belair or Biscayne ? What ever. Some times the top went down and would not come back up. Most time when it started raining. I should have WD-40ed the blasted thing. The back seat was so small... well my steady was just the right size at 5'.
Modern cars may do it faster, butthis one is like when ur belowed slowly strips down on dim light with gentle music before u make hot slow and gentle action. It have style, it test ur patience, it gives u one of best rewards for ur patience
I can't help but laugh at some of these comments, "my -whatever- does it much faster". 60 eFFing years later, 60 yrs of advanced tech, I sure hope so! These Thunderbird Sports Roadsters were on a different level in '62, the tonneau cover/head rests, fully retractable top, Kelsey Hayes chrome wire wheels, and the tri-power 390 under the hood. They were just cool incorporated!
I didn't know the T-Bird roadster allowed putting the top up with the tonneau cap. Tall articulation with working the top. I can drop or raise the top on my '99 Z28 inside my garage--ceiling is just over 8 feet, top doesn't come close. 15 seconds to full up or down, can raise or lower under 30 mph.
I'm digging the car, but my gosh....any rain would've come and gone by the time the top was done 😂 I wonder if anyone ever thought about upgrading this system
This took like forever to close the roof..you better start the roof closing opperation as soon as you hear the weather cast on the news the day before..otherwise you'll get wet 😂
