1956 Ford Thunderbird

Convertible

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

Gasoline

This beautiful 1956 T-Bird was restored approximately 15 years ago, engine was rebuilt as well. Seafoam green with white hardtop and soft-top, Auto transmission, numbers match and it runs great, this car was ahead of its' time. Sold new in California, it has lived it's entire rust free existence here. Although this car is not what I'd consider in show condition, it has been amazingly well kept. There are a couple of very small spots with some rust showing, but only inside the outer vents and I've provided pics. The paint is showing its' age just a bit but honestly from 25 feet away it looks spectacular. If you have your eyeballs within a couple feet of the car then you will definitely see imperfections. The leather is in good shape but hardly new, and the convertible top has no rips, works smoothly, but again not in show condition or close to it. That being said, the car is all there and the enthusiast will appreciate it. Just consider it a solid 6 or 7 on a scale of 10. The car has a blower but doesn't have AC, the top and hood are fiberglass, and all the chrome on the car is in beautiful condition. This is a real bird, this is not a replicacar, and anyone who knows birds can tell by looking at the pictures. The price I'd let this car go for is more than reasonable, and a lot less than some of the T-Birds on here that got plenty of bids but the owner's wishful expectations were just too high. Go for it, and Good Luck! The Ford Thunderbird began life in February 1953 in direct response to Chevrolet's new sports car, the Corvette, which was publicly unveiled in prototype form just a month before. Under rapid development, the Thunderbird went from idea to prototype in about a year, being unveiled to the public at the Detroit Auto Show on February 20, 1954. Like the Corvette, the Thunderbird had a two-seat coupe/convertible layout. Production of the Thunderbird began later on in 1954 on September 9 with the car beginning sales as a 1955 model on October 22, 1954. Though sharing some design characteristics with other Fords of the time, such as single, circular headlamps and tail lamps and modest tailfins, the Thunderbird was sleeker and more athletic in shape, and had features like a faux hood scoop and a 150 mph (240 km/h) speedometer hinting a higher performance nature that other Fords didn't possess. Mechanically though, the Thunderbird could trace its roots to other mainstream Fords. The Thunderbird's 102.0 inches (2,591 mm) wheelbase frame was mostly a shortened version of that used in other Fords while the car's standard 292 cu in (4.8 L) Y-block V8 came from Ford's Mercury division.[4]Though inspired by, and positioned directly against, the Corvette, Ford billed the Thunderbird as a personal luxury car, putting a greater emphasis on the car's comfort and convenience features rather than its inherent sportiness.[4] Designations aside, the Thunderbird sold exceptionally well in its first year. In fact, the Thunderbird outsold the Corvette by more than 23-to-one for 1955 with 16,155 Thunderbirds sold against 700 Corvettes.[5] With the Thunderbird considered a success, few changes were made to the car for 1956. The most notable change was moving the spare tire to a continental-style rear bumper in order to make more storage room in the trunk. However, the addition of the weight at the rear caused steering issues. The spare was moved back to the trunk in 1957 when the trunk was restyled and made slightly larger. Among the few other changes were new paint colors, the addition of circular porthole windows in the fiberglass roof to improve rearward visibility, and a 312 cu in (5.1 L) Y-block V8 making 215 horsepower (160 kW) when mated to a 3-speed manual transmission or 225 horsepower (168 kW) when mated to a Ford-O-Matic 2-speed automatic transmission; this transmission featured a "low gear", which was accessible only via the gear selector. When in "Drive", it was a 2-speed automatic transmission (similar to Chevrolet's Powerglide). On Sep-12-11 at 13:35:19 PDT, seller added the following information: Here's some more pertinent info: Serial #- P6FH328777 BODY CODE - 40A COLOR CODE - ZE (THUNDERBIRD GREEN) TRIM - XF PRODUCTION CODE - 9GCL422 (MANUFACTURED ON JULY 9TH, 422ND UNIT DESIGNATED TO BE SOLD IN CLEVELAND, OHIO)On Sep-16-11 at 12:50:44 PDT, seller added the following information: Listing will end 8:30 Sunday evening pacific time and the car will be sold to high bidder. I will be gone until Sunday late and won't be able to answer questions this weekend ( gone fishing, hopefully to catch some albacore tuna :) ) Good luck to those of you interested in the car, the car will have a new owner Monday morning. On Sep-16-11 at 13:09:33 PDT, seller added the following information: Oh yeah, 1 last thing, Title is clean(California), in hand, with no liens and clearly states 1956 Ford on title. Thanks.