Customs '62 T-Bird/Info Search/Easy To Customize??

here is my old '63 i built..
shaved of all the badges,and door trims,,nosed,airbags..Bitchin' ride

 

Dang, these posts make me want one of the Birds...I think I am going to get one.

 

That car is sick...nice job on that one. Los Boulevards has some of the best rides around in my opinion. check out my 63' Catalina.

 

My friend, Alan Tast, alerted me about this thread about the fastback bulletbird. Thanks, Alan, for the nice words and the link!

About this restyled Thunderbird: This is NOT a Ford concept car or styling study. It was not styled by Ford, nor was it constructed at Dearborn Steel Tubing. This is a "private" project of very recent origin.

My son first saw this car sitting on a used "special interest" car lot in downtown Salt Lake City about 4 or so years ago. He called me and sent me a number of digital photos. He went inside that dealership and asked if the car was for sale; when told it had been sold, Eric asked who built the car, and was told that it had been constructed very recently in Orem, Utah which is a small community south of Salt Lake City (there are some very high end shops along the Wasatch Front).

Those photos are included in a styling analysis I've posted to my website. Go here to read that story ( http://www.customclinic.com/Styling_Analysis/styling_analysis.html ), and view the photos of this car when it was parked in Salt Lake City a few years ago. I personally witnessed that car in Salt Lake. The car was quite well done, and exhibited a wild array of T-Bird parts.

I am something of an expert on Ford concept cars in the Sixties, and am writing a book on the Ford Custom Car Caravan. I have collected, over the last thirty years, at least a thousand pieces of concept car literature (e.g., press kits, photos, memos, etc.) as well as thousands of vintage custom car magazines (e.g., Rod and Custom, Customs Illustrated, Car Craft, Hot Rod and many more titles). This car doesn't show up ANYWHERE in any of that literature/publications: If this car was truly historic, it would have been widley covered. Moreover, no Ford concept car/styling study was ever called a "Pilot Car."

The burden is now shifted to anyone who claims that this car was built by Ford/on behalf of Ford in the early Sixties, or was built by anyone during that time. This "hard evidence" must be in the form of undisputable photos, media coverage, Ford memos/photos, and the like.

In my opinion, this car is a very recent build and pretty well styled. Any claims to the contrary are highly-questionable.

If I can answer any questions, please drop me a note at: [email protected]

My best wishes to everyone.

Mark S. Gustavson

 

Cool idea, but what about a '58 T-Bird roof on a '58 Ford (and I'm not talking about the retractable hardtop), but a properly proportioned car?

 

Thanks for your note. See the long note I posted about this car today.

Mark G.

 

Thanks, Alan, for your note. I've posted a note supporting your assessment of this car.

Best wishes,

Mark S. Gustavson

 

Here's my '61. A work in progress.

 

+1...couldn't agree more! I think the roofline of the 60-61 Starliner is one of the nicest postwar...and it sure as hell fits the character of the T-bird at the time...elegant, classy, understated.

 

Here's my '63 Bird..... You guys are giving me inspiration to do something cool with it.

 

On the Red 'Bird with the Starliner Roof:

Although I prefer the stock backlight, shortening the greenhouse proportions the roofline to the wheelbase and overhangs perfectly. Keeping the car at or near stock height, using wire wheels with no skirts, and leaving the rest of the exterior relatively original just adds to the mystique. The style of these cars cries out for the later 64 to 66 interior making the inclusion of it here a natural also.

No doubt a lot more work than the beautiful simplicity of the final product would suggest, and a very nice adaptation of the Starliner Roof, making one ask the question; why didn't Ford produce these cars this way in the first place?

Perhaps if someone here knows him, he could get the builder of this car to post a thread on the HAMB detailing the actual build.

 

I think I saw this one at the Hunnert Car Pileup this year. It actually hadn't rained at all, the mud all over was from me drooling over this Bird. I love these things!

 

Nay one got any info on the red and gold chopped car looks like stock windshield???

 

The red and gold one that Centurion posted was built for John D'Agostino by Lucky 7 Customs in Antioch, CA. It was featured in the July 97 issue of Custom Rodder. The top on the car was definitely chopped, don't know what was done with the windshield though, as it wasn't mentioned in the feature.

 

This what i did.

 

bird builder.... i need pics ha ha .... what did you do for a bag set up on the front of your car and the same for the rear... i been staring at mine trying to figure out a good set up to use on the front

 

Waterdown show last year.

 

dang! some of these look great. figured id add these
(from a website called speedhunters covering a customs/rod meet in japan)

looks like its a work in progress but the chop is pretty neat looking

 

heres mine ,homemade carson top kinda weird but hey it was my first attempt

 

Holy ancient thread revival! Was there a comment or question to go with this, magoozi?

 

Ok here is the scoop, A friend of mine purchased a what appears to be a second Italien fast back 62 T-bird and a custom 62 sports roadster convertible , both cars appear to have been done in the early sixties .I ended up with the convertible in a trade I did with my friend so I am trying to find out any history on the car .
I can't remember how to load pictures on this thread. I have pictures of both cars on my phone on messenger and any help would be appreciated.

 

similar model

Hello,

Before our high school friend bought his 61 409 Biscayne off of the lot in 1962, his mom had purchased a new 1962 Thunderbird. It was the brightest Red we had ever seen. Custom accessories include a tonneau cover that gave the open convertible a cool sleek look of a two seater, even if it was a large two/4 seater.

Our friend had the keys to the convertible and his mom said it was ok to “use” the T-Bird on Saturday nights. So, of course, who could turn that down? At first, it was two in the tonneau cover seats. It was not like driving around in our hot rods or fast sedans. For us, it was pure cruising. The top down, nice night on the town and lots of fun accepting those glances and accolades, although we did nothing except cruise around. The car did all of the talking.

Then as more of the friends wanted to hang around the cool T-bird, he took off the tonneau and made it into a 4 seater Now, it was a cool cruiser, lowered with teenagers aboard and it was still a sleek, lowered sporty car, cutting a shape through the night. With only two of us, we did cruise to the epitome of nighttime cruising locations, Hollywood Blvd. That was fun, for sure.

The suspension was ok for two, but when 4 teenagers were inside, it was very low and intimidating.

The overall custom look of the tonneau cover made the convertible better looking, but friends will be friends. The killer thing was the “looks” we got as young kids driving around in this custom Thunderbird convertible.

Jnaki

We wanted to surprise his mom and do some minor custom things, like Buick Skylark wire wheels, but it came with Ford wire wheels that were part of the package, not as nice as the Skylark wheels, but cool enough. Custom applications were not the thing as the 62 Thunderbird had the nicest custom accessory in that tonneau cover. Who wants to change that look? Suspension and power could have improved, but why change a cool looking cruiser that already had custom touches? YRMV
We thought of something that would not take us too long or damage the "new" car, so, we looked into what it would take to add in some chrome tubular bars in the grille area.

The tubular chrome bars across the grille was a popular item to add on to any car at the time, so this Thunderbird could have used those chrome tubular bars across the stock grille that looked like a barbecue grill. But, any work would have changed the custom factory design that brought back some glory to the original Thunderbird sporty car. We just enjoyed the cruising atmosphere from this open convertible.