1968 Ford Thunderbird

Landau Coupe

429

Automatic

Clear

Offered here is a 1968 Ford Thunderbird 2 Door Landau. I bought it a few months ago as a parts car for my 67 Hardtop, but when I got it home, I realized that its too nice to tear apart. Here's why. 1. It runs. It runs on its own gas tank. Once I got it home, we threw some gas in it and it fired right up. I had to run it down the street, and it goes like a bat out of the infernal regions. It has a 429 Thunderjet in it, and the paint on the engine is pretty bright. It has dry rotted tires on it, but they have plenty of tread, and I was turning over the rear tires. I did not change the points, plugs, nor even the oil! It's got a Holley 4 barrel on it, which is currently running very rich. 2. I think it may only have 16,000 miles on it. I think this because the paint on the engine is pretty bright, and is the correct Ford Color. The edge of the driver's seat has NO visible wear on it. None. The interior is in fabulous shape, except for the driver's side arm rest, which was a plastic thing and disintegrated in a few years. The dash pad is not cracked. It has the original paint on it, and its in oddly good shape. Most importantly, the brake pedal on the accelerator edge has NO wear on it. We looked in the owner's manual and around the car for oil change stickers or other indications of the mileage, but they were not readable. It goes like a 16k car. I have a 40k 67, and this is a lot faster. 3. If you are in the Antique Automobile Club of America, this would be a GREAT muscle car to show in the Historic Preservation of Features Division, and you could do it with not a lot of time of money. It's fast, and it RUMBLES! Honestly, it's not a popular car, so you would never get your money back with a full resto, which is why the AACA has a class for original cars, which preserve their historic features. "You can't restore one if you don't have anything to go by" is the thinking. 4. It's pretty cool. It has the bench seat with arm rest, AC (not working) and an impossible to find AM/FM radio. When you switch from AM to FM, the plate with the station numbers goes up and down. It has the one year only 68 interior mirror. It has a recent exhaust system, and rides like a dream. The high beam indicator is a Thunderbird. Did I mention that it goes like stink? 5. "Not a lot of time and money" does mean some. The windshield is cracked. The driver side arm rest is in pieces, but if you search on ebay for "Lincoln arm rest" there is a guy who will rebuild and upgrade them for about $100.00. The driver door skin is in good shape and included, but it's not on, because the arm rest holds it on. I think the exhaust donuts are shot, but the rest of the exhaust is pretty new. It has some cancer in the lower rear quarter panels, but it's hard to see in the pics. It's been fixed once, but the bondo has fallen out over time. It's missing the passenger side rear emblem/reflector, and its the one without the light in it. It's got some dings here and there on the body. One headliner seam has split, so one edge of a panel is coming down. The power brake booster needs the right angle plastic thing that goes in the big hole on the front of it that connects to the vacuum line, so I don't know if the booster works or not. It has some brake, but not enough to drive it. There is a tear in the front seat. The vinyl top disintegrated long ago. We ground the rust out wiht a wire wheel and brush painted it with black rustoleum to preserve it. Sometime in the past the passenger front fender was repainted, and the new paint shows. 6. Can you drive it home? I've only driven it about 10 miles, but it did not overheat. The tires lose air over days, and are dry rotting, but none has popped, and I did get it up to 70 mph. Because the carb is running really rich, it's a little cantankerous at stoplights. The brakes work, but need some pumping. I'd ship it or haul it if I were you. With a few inexpensive items, you can drive and show it while you are working on it. 7. I'm not asking an arm and a leg for it. It's a 68 Thunderbird, not a 68 Boss 429 Super Cobra Hemi Mustang or something. For some reason, everyone thinks these cars are worth $6000 and up, and they are just not, and they don't sell at that level. There's a restored '67 on here that the guy wants $120,000 for! Har dee har har. I'd like to see this car fixed up and shown. The starting bid is what I bought it for, plus the costs of hauling it home and the gas I put in it. I have a clear NC title. $1900.00 for a running fire breathing muscle car is a pretty good deal! However, if you want to pay $120,000, I will not hurt your feelings by refusing. 8. VIN is 8Y84N112375. I've put it in the Thunderbird Registry, No. 45539. The VIN decodes as 8=Year 1968;Y= built in Wixom, MI (You don't want an LA built car);84=2 door Landau; N=429; and it's number 112,375. The Data Plate decodes as 65D=2 door Landau; Color Y Medium Gold Metallic; Trim 4Y=Light Nugget Gold Vinyl; Date=21M; DSO=17 (Washington DC); Axle 3=2.80:1; Trans U=C6 9. It's located just north of Danville, Va. Zip code is 24527.