Check this out:
This is a 1960 Ford Thunderbird. My grandfather bought it brand new from Gough Motors in Youngstown Ohio on September 7, 1960! He passed away from multiple myeloma in 1961, before I ever really knew him and before he really had a chance to enjoy the car. My grandmother kept it for the next 20 years, for 10 years or so in Ohio, and then she took it with her to Phoenix when she moved there in the early 1970s. She didn't drive it much at all, and was in a nursing home for the last ten years of her life, so when my Dad got the car in the early 1980s it was still in very good shape. Over the last 30 years he has kept it up, but his interest in the car has waned a little lately, and he has been focusing more on his boat than his cars, so he decided to send it my way. The car hauler pulled up to my place this morning, and off rolled my new Thunderbird!
The car has a few interesting quirks. One is the chrome spear on the doors. This was present on 1959 Thunderbirds, but not on the 1960 versions. My Dad can't ever remember seeing the car without the chrome spears installed, so either my grandfather bought the spears from Ford and installed them himself, or maybe he had the dealer do it for him before he took delivery of the car. In any case, they are on there now, and since that's the way it was when my grandfather had it, that's the way its going to stay.
One downside of the car is that as parts and knowledgeable mechanics have become scarce, it has been more and more difficult for my dad to keep the car in good running condition. He's not a hands on car guy like I am, so he relies on the local mechanics, and after several trips over a few years to various shops trying to get the brakes working properly, one of the mechanics talked him into ditching the factory master cylinder and power booster, and replacing them with a Corvette setup! UUUUgghhh!!!
Despite the ugly master cylinder and booster, and the associated hacking the mechanic had to do to get it installed, the brakes still don't work like they should. So, first thing on my list is to get that situation corrected, although I may retain a Ford style dual master cylinder for safety purposes, rather than returning to the single reservoir master cylinder. The 352 FE runs like a champ, although it seems like it may need some carburetor work to correct an off idle flat spot.
While I have a penchant for hot rodding all my vehicles, I think I'm going to keep this one as stock as possible, given it's family heirloom status. While driving it around today though, and dealing with the carb performance, I did give some consideration to popping my 3X2V setup on the engine. That would be cool, especially with a Thunderbird oval air cleaner.
Somebody stop me...
