I can still remember my auntie who was young single and very good looking shopping for her T-bird in El Paso Texas. At the time she was dating and engaged to Eric Hilton, son of the founder of the Hilton empire. She could have been Pairs Hilton's Mom!!! She was determined to get an all white interior with AC which was a major undertaking. I spent countless days and weeks on end staying and swimming at the Hilton on those hot El Paso summer days. Incredibly, she called off the engagement... All I can remember is feeling like a king riding in the back with those wrap around seats as if I were on a futuristic Disneyland ride. She loved to hit over 100 mph as if was nothing on those desert open roads. I miss her.
Thunderbird...Unique in all the world! Next to a 1957, the 1964 is my absolute favorite Thunderbird. The grill and trim on the 64 is unique and I think completes the look of the car. I have a white 64 hardtop similar to this car. Mine was equipped with factory power windows so I can't even set a bottle in the middle because that's where the switches are! Quickest power windows in any car I've ever owned. The cool thing about the FE is that there is a lot of aftermarket support for it. I have a few tricks on mine and, even for a 4500lb car, it scoots!
We drove to the 64-65 New York Worlds Fair in my uncles 62' T-Bird when I was a kid. I was in the back seat. I was impressed. My father was driving it. We had a 62' Olds Ninety Eight at the time. My uncle told him to take the T-Bird to see how he liked it. All just memories now of the good old days of sanity.
Back then, most cars were custom ordered. The dealer had a few on the lot to test drive or if you needed one urgently but otherwise they'd hand you a sheet to check off the options you wanted. If you had the money you could get pretty much anything.
That speedometer and wiper controls are unique. Swing-away steering column is like swiveling seats: innovative but ultimately unnecessary. I like the 60s and 70s turn signal lights on the fender. It's impressive what carmakers came up with in the 60s and 70s. This T-Bird looks very nice for its age. That radio has an LCD and a cassette deck. It's probably from the 80s. Credit to the owners for not hacking it up to fit a DIN radio. You can get modern radios to fit the original mount. Retrosound is one such brand. I read an interesting article about why Ford doesn't have a Corvette competitor. Ford did have a competitor in the first generation T-Bird, as both were small two-seat convertibles. For the second generation on Ford added back seats and went off in a luxury direction and never went back because it was a bigger market.
I saw one of these Thunderbirds last month and it looks a lot better than the new Thunderbird (which was a complete failure) Ford, if you're planning to make the Thunderbird again, please don't use the tri-tone garbage and use the Mach-E's chime instead. Still a beautiful T-Bird though!
Nobody thought about a T-Bird because it was economical. Only nerds back then were interested in economy. Back then it was about being cool, and comfortable.
I don't know if anyone pointed this out but the FE series engines which includes that 390 did not evolve into the 7.5 litre engine used in Ford trucks,,, the 7.5 - 460 was a completely different engine family with nothing in common with the 390...
My brother used to have one of those in the 80s, I think his was green & very rough. He had big dreams for it, but gave up upon closer inspection. He sold it a week after getting it!
I had a Salmon Pink 64 Thunderbird, under the hood was the Thunderbird 390. The original paint was still on the engine, it was gold. Also the carburetor was an 1150 double pumper, Motorcraft built by Holley. I also had the console shifter instead of on the column. Damn I miss that car.
I always loved this generation Thunderbird. Finally got a '64 (my favorite year) quite a while ago, but it was in very rough shape. But now I have 2 1966 T-Birds, one a Town Landau and the other a convertible. You are absolutely correct. These were all about style. Even the tag line, "unique in all the world" makes that point.
For years I've gone back and forth between this gen and the one immediately prior as my favorite 'total concept' 'bird. For the past several years, I'd have to say this one takes it. Give me a 66 with disc brakes, the 428 and the standard roofile (like seen here vs. that awful blind quarter*) and I'd be happy. *That said, I did give serious consideration to a Towne Sedan (a Landau but with a slick top) one year at Carlisle, but it was a 390, and these were heavy, heavy cars. 300 hp was gross, take like 20% off for net, driving a lazy transmission and you've got a 10-11 second car to 60. Moderately quick in the grand scale of 1964 cars, but certainly not nascent muslce or even a Riviera which was its only direct competitor (that year).
I looked at a 66' TBird in 1975 or 76 as my first non hand me down car that I would be buying. It had a 428 eng. The guy backed out of the deal and I ended up buying a 1969' Ply. RoadRunner.
1:25 nope, they did not, the 460 and 390 are completely unrelated, the 390 is an FE, the largest displacement version of which was the 7 liter 428, the 460 is a 385 Series, the FE was only produced from 1958 until 1976, while the 385 was produced from 1968 until 1998
Correction for you. The 390 was an FE block. The 7.5L (460) in the F-Series was a completely different engine. It was a "385 series" block shared with the 429.
4:22 That aftermarket radio is really freakin' odd. Obviously 80s with the cassette and digital readout, but with buttons for the station presets that look 60s. I wonder if this was an 80s-period aftermarket job designed specifically for a T-Bird (because even in the 80s, these were very much boomertastic/Silent-Gen chariots with a large aftermarket support).
Man, my dad had a red one since before I was born as well as a 1973 black Camaro and he sold the thunderbird because my mom told him to due to no garage space and I was absolutely heartbroken. He promised he’d fix up and gift me the Camaro when I finish college but I so doubt that💀 since that was his baby plus he’s done 0 work on it since I graduated HS. Although I like the Camaro I loved the Thunderbird and I hope to get my hands on one
I`ve owned 22 Thunderbirds in my lifetime...unfortunately, I don`t currently own one....Mainly because the dimwits at Ford decided to stop making them....
always been a fan of Fords fanciest car and sure many others fancy having one too. Some are quite fanatical about them , OK ,thats enough, LO, you are quite right though in saying we should enjoy ourselves a bit more carefully , no one is really impressed when you cut them off. just shows you already lost.
