1956 Ford Thunderbird

Convertible

312

FordOMatic

Clear

Gasoline

Here's a great old barn find Thunderbird that would be just as comfortable as a rat rod as it would fully restored. The last inspection sticker on this car expired July 31, 1970. That vintage Pennsylvania sticker is still on the car. The first picture is the way we found it in the barn. Others were taken when the dust was cleared off. It's the rare "Z" code Thunderbird green or Ford called it Sage Green. The interior is also Green and White. This one has all the desireable options. Power Steering,Brakes,Windows,Seat. The 312 Y Block is hooked up to a Ford O Matic automatic transmission. I have a copy of the original build sheet showing that it was ordered July 24,1956, rolled down the assembly line on July 30, 1956 and headed to Loudin Motor Sales in Minerva, Ohio August 6, 1956 with 10 gallons of gas billed out at $2.22 on the build sheet. It has a clear West Virginia title so you can choose how to finish the car and be assured of no DMV hassles. It also has the tonneau cover which is really rare. The condition is as you'd expect. It will have to be completely refurbished after sitting in a barn since 1970. The frame is good, the floor has a few areas that will need patched. It rolled freely coming out of the barn which was amazing. Right rear brake shoe finally hit some rust in the drum and that one required me to pull the wheel and take the shoes out. That's why no hubcap is pictured ( but I have it) The body is reasonably solid with rust under the RH headlight and on the side of that fender and on the nose. The inner fender on the RH side has a big hole rusted through where the heater inlet air went in. The left side inner fender is pretty rough. The firewall is nice.The rear wheelwells aren't bad , but the fender lips are fragile. The rockers show enough surface rust to cause the paint to peel and would only be used if it was driven as a ratrod. The wheels are authentic factory steel Kelsey Hayes 5 x 15 with the correct rivets holding the wheel centers. I put four radials 205 x 15's on them and they hold air great. Five hubcaps come with the car as well as the dog dish cap on the Continental Kit. The windshield is fine, but one side window is broken and a wing window is missing. The door post is off the RH door in a box. The trunk lid got closed with no key to open it, but when I looked at the car initially, the trunk area was in decent shape. I'll add a picture once "junior" climbs back through the seat into the trunk to pop it open. Mice have eaten away pieces of the original seat covers, and tonneau cover. There's no carpet left at all. The dash area is nice. The radio is gone ( probably staged for an eight track player!) The door panels were taken off and stored and they look exceptional after cleaning. All the original power switches are there as well as the shifter and gauges. The horn ring is loose and probably needs the contact to complete the steering column. Overhead in the barn we found a left and right NOS front fender and NOS inner fenders. Two sets of fender skirts were there. I'll let one used set go with the car which you can see in the picture. I also pulled down an N.O.S. set of fender skirts and the two moldings that go on them, NOS rocker panels,NOS headlight bezels, NOS front gravel shield, NOS fender shields, some other things I've yet to identify, and sheet metal out of boxes that would repair the front upper grille area, inner rockers,and rear quarters. All of those parts in NOS condition are extremely rare. Some of the sheetmetal parts are available today. They are not a part of this auction. I repeat, these parts are NOT part of this auction. However, if you decide to restore this car, I will give the buyer the first option to purchase these within two weeks of the sale before I put them on Ebay. In summary,this is a good old car that is generally complete for it's age. Look at the pictures and feel free to ask questions. There is no warranty on this car of any type. I'm selling it "as is". I can't possibly comment on every detail, so once again, contact me wiith the specific questions important to you. All sales are final. The buyer will be responsible for paying for the car and picking it within seven days of the auction end. A non-refudable deposit of $500.00 is due within 24 hours of the auction end. It will be applied to the selling price when the car is picked up. On Jul-30-12 at 09:23:16 PDT, seller added the following information: Several people have asked about the trunk area.I'm adding two pictures of the trunk floor. In general, the trunk is very good with the original paint and sealants in tact. The only rust is at the junction of the fender well housing and floor. You'll see in the photos that it's relatively insignificant. Remarkably,the trunk weatherstrip is in good shape. Additionally, the paper jacking instruction on the trunk lid is still there. Another question that's been asked a lot is "does the engine turn over?" The car has been sitting since 1970. I want to sell this to the new owner as the time capsule it is. I will not attempt to turn a dry, minimally lubed, engine. If that's not OK with you, I'd rather that you bid as if it was locked up. It wasn't an issue to me because I planned to completely disassemble the engine. Based on the condition of the rest of the car, it looks liket the storage was dry for all those years. I'd guess that all of the rust happened while it was driven from 1956 to 1970. Please feel free to ask more questions. I'll investigate for you.