![]() ![]() We would say it’s as good as you could hope to find. There is very little in the way of paint damage the odd knick here and there but no chips or scratches. The paint has been well applied, with no peely areas or drips. We can tell from the Ford data plate that it has the code EE which means the car and the roof were both originally ordered in white. Thankfully it is still in its original colour of Colonial White, matching the removable hardtop. Here you will also find the controls for the optional power windows and the power seats which all worked beautifully when we visited.Įxamining the door jambs closely reveals that the Thunderbird has been repainted, probably some years ago. The door panels have also been refurbished, with the aluminium inserts sweeping round above the red armrests, and set in a white panel with embossed Thunderbird logos. They are in good condition with no tears or holes, but the top surfaces have some UV fading. The seats are again red vinyl, and look to have been replaced at some stage. The owner was intending to replace it completely, and there is a newly refurbished roof frame, still bubble wrapped, that will go with the car. Behind the seat is the original hood frame which at present doesn’t have any fabric attached. There is a set of red vinyl mats complete with Thunderbird logos in the boot (trunk?). The red carpets are clean, if a little baggy. Just below the dash to the right of the steering wheel are the controls for the Overdrive that works in all 3 forward gears. There are various other jet styled knobs for lights and wipers, an AM/FM push button radio and simple heater and fan controls. The gauges are quite simple a large speedometer and smaller gauges for fuel level, temperature, RPM and a clock. The instruments are set in an engineering turned aluminium panel that sweeps the entire width of the dash and half way along the doors. The steering wheel, with its chrome horn ring and centre boss is original and still in nice condition although it has faded a little. ![]() The round-edged hood features, as before, a delicate scoop finished which gathers air through a polished grille.Ordered with Trim Code XH the Thunderbird was built with a Flame Red Vinyl interior which looks great. The twin-headlights setup was retained for 1957, as were the metal eyebrows of the two headlamps. On either side of the grille, rectangular indicators are incorporated in the bumper which goes around the short front overhang and ends in line with the front wheel well. That's why the front fascia now had a more boxy appearance although the U-shaped bumper had rounded edges where it went down to accommodate the grille. As such, the bumper now went down in the middle to not cover the T-Bird's gaping mouth. Up front, the grille was enlarged which is why the front bumper was also reshaped. Ford then withdrew from fighting the Corvette just as factory racing was also banned and went on to introduce a larger Thunderbird for 1958 to make ammends with the customers that were complaining of the tight interior confines and limited trunk capacity. Ford looked to build on the Thunderbird's strong popularity, which translated in 10 T-Birds being dispatched in 1956 for each Corvette, by giving it a fresh appearance and more power. ![]() Introduced in October 1956, the 1957 Thunderbird sported a restyled appearance front and rear and was longer 6.1 inches to accommodate the spare wheel which was back in the trunk. ![]()
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