1957Birdman

I think the Tropical Rose/Snowshoe White is a nice 1950s color combination and who cares if it doesn’t qualify for HPOF? Just show it in the DPC area and have fun. I did notice that the data plate is attached to the firewall with Phillips head screws, which is incorrect. The owner must have taken it off the refurbish and didn’t have the correct rivets for reattachment. One thing that is unusual is that it has power windows and it seems to be well appointed with power steering and Ford-O-Matic. Is anyone familiar with Ford Crestmark Plate on the car. I have never seen one. Was it Ford’s attempt to keep up with “Body by Fisher”? Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

This is the "I don't really want to sell it" price and a good example of how not to market a car. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

My dad owned one of these with the 221, automatic transmission, and power steering. The 221 would not be a selling point for me and it is telling that the 260 V8 was added to the mix of engines mid-year. This may be a good price, but I wouldn't pay it considering what I remember about the car we had. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

If you buy one of these to restore be very careful with the rear glass. I think that glass is in short supply. I would say the other thing that hurt the Barracuda was that the Mustang design was fresh and exciting where the Barracuda just looked like the Valiant with a redesigned top. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

Th price might be reasonable if it was a convertible. This car also looks to have a leather upholstery, which I would have thought would have only been in the convertible. It also appears to not have a radio. The engine of course has been souped up, so some work needed to bring it back to stock. All in all, the car looks very nice and hopefully runs the same. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

A pretty nice looking “Mexican” Lincoln that looks to be all there. Although the seat covers look new, they also look pretty plain which makes me think they are not an original style. The other minus is the bumpers would need to be rechromed at some point. Having said that, the price is not outrageous and is another car that could be a good one for someone just getting into the hobby. A big plus is that it is a rust free California car. Once again, paying the freight to have the car shipped east would make a lot more sense than trying to restore an east coast rust bucket car. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

It certainly has a nice paint job and the engine compartment is well detailed. The gauges are comprehensive, although the placement of the speedometer is unusual. As for the car itself, it looks like it could have been a car the Joker drove in one of the early Batman serials. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

The 312 is not correct for a 1955 (should be a 292), but who cares? They look the same on the outside. It is also nice to see floors that are rust free (thank you Arizona). Even the chrome looks presentable. Looks like a great starter car for a handyman looking to get into the hobby at reasonable price. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

Unusual to see these cars with black wall tires. I think they look better with whitewall tires. It is a low mileage car with nicely detailed engine compartment. Agree that the asking price is too high, but I think $14.5K is too low. Maybe $20K is about right, based on low mileage and originality. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

It would be a crying shame if this car was not restored to original. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

Steve, assuming that the power seat is in proper working order it will move back and front, up and down. According to the owners handbook the seat moves four inches fore and aft, and one and three quarter inches up and down. The adjustable steering wheel (which a lot of people aren’t aware of) has a total fore and aft adjustment of three inches. It would probably cost $5000 to get a soft top for the car, either an original restored one or the reproduction ones that the Tbird parts suppliers have (not the same as original, but looks the same from the outside). As for rust repair, you are most likely buying a car that did not have to have any patch panels welded or has a ton of Bondo. Also the car probably does not have a lot of rusted nuts and bolts underneath. My car was sold in California originally and not having to deal with big rust issues is a real benefit. If I was in the market I would definitely consider it. I would also contact someone from the local chapter of CTCI to see if they know about the car or to have them take a look at it to see if it is a good buy. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

It would be interesting to know why it was parked after only 12K miles. It is a nicely optioned car and the price probably isn't too far off from what it may be worth. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

A lot of the cars delivered to California were hardtop only, I guess because they have a rainy season when you can put the top up, otherwise you store the top in the garage. This really is a very lightly optioned car, considering that the power seat was standard for 1955. The one thing to notice on this car is that the steering wheel has been replaced and sourcing one with the correct horn ring might be a little difficult. From what I could see of the pictures underneath it looks like the typical no rust California car. I think when you discuss whether the 1955 Thunderbird was a “sports” car you must consider direct competition. The 1955 Corvette did have the 265, but it was hitched to the 2 speed Powerglide transmission. In straight line performance at Daytona Speed Weeks the Thunderbirds beat out the Corvettes. The Thunderbird had three transmission options, 3 speed, 3 speed with overdrive, and 3 speed Ford-O-Magic. Even Road & Track felt that the Thunderbird was a “touring” type sports car, but realized its limitations when competing against cars such as the Ferraris. It definitely held its own against the Corvette and as for sales, it was no contest with the Thunderbird winning handily. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

The one I was referring to initially is the one with the broken website, secondchancegarage.com, which is related to auto restoration. The other ones seem to be charity sites. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

They may be having a server problem. Hope they work it out. It is a useful website. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

Secondchancegarage.com was a website that had articles about auto restoration. They restored a 55 T-Bird (probably the reason I discovered it) over a series of articles where they took on various challenges fixing the car. As I said in my first post, there was a lot of useful information for beginners and more "seasoned" auto restorers about various tasks. There were also articles about restored cars. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

The other day I was surfing the internet and decided to see what was going on at secondchancegarage.com. The website appears to no longer be up and running. Does anyone know what happened to it? I thought they had a lot of useful information, especially for the novice auto restorer. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

So let me get this straight, a $27,900 “project” needing a fair amount of work to really get it going. At that price I don’t think it will be changing hands anytime soon. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

The guy who fixed up this Ranchero wasn’t targeting the antique car crowd., IMHO. I don’t ever remember seeing one with painted bumpers when they were new. Still, it is a pretty reasonable price for someone looking to get into the hobby. It even has the benefit of being able to pick up your mulch from Home Depot in the bargain. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

Looks like a really nice car, especially since it does not have the opera windows and vinyl roof. Better have a nice sized garage to store it. Definitely a good exterior and interior color combination. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

I am no expert on the 368, but I do know that its design is pretty much the same as the 272, 292, and 312. Y-Blocks. The parts on those engines are not interchangeable with the 317, 341 and 368 engines. One key difference is the Lincoln engines had hydraulic valve lifters while the Ford/Mercury engines had solid valve lifters. The biggest problem with the Ford Y-Blocks was the overhead oiling problem. If any sludge got in the oil passages it would cause the valve train to be starved for oil, not a good thing. This was mostly a problem with the ash content in the oils of the day. I have had my car for 26 years and have never had a problem with that since I have better oil and there isn’t any sludge build up. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

Three on the tree may have been awkward, but it was a real benefit to the middle person when sitting 3 across, for obvious reasons. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

I don’t believe there is anything wrong with the top. Some of the pictures seem distorted. Probably an issue with camera or the lens the owner was using. It does have a vinyl cover that someone added over the years, not a good thing IMHO. It could be a scam, but the car will need a fair amount of work, such as a new paint job, rebuilding the power brake pump, engine compartment detailing, etc. The plus is that the car can be driven and enjoyed while repairs are made from time to time, as your budget allows. It also may be that the car has been driven many miles since they don’t normally succumb to the ravages of rust as do cars in other parts of the country. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

The price on this car is dirt cheap for one that is running and is rust free. By the time you fix most of the rust on the average east coast car you would be money ahead paying to get this one shipped east. This car also has power brakes, although they may not be working. Most likely it is a hardtop only car which does affect its value some, but a running car at this price is well worth considering. It even looks like the bumpers are in reasonable shape. You could pay a lot more for a lot less car, especially considering the interior is in excellent shape after restoration. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird

The standard engine for Mercury in 1957 was the 312 advertised as 255 hp. The 368 was an option with 290 hp. I still prefer the single headlight version of the 57 Mercury. The dual headlights look tacked on to me. Other than that looks like a pretty nice car. Lew Bachman 1957 Thunderbird