Hey all, Just picked up this little gem yesterday. It's a 100% original, untouched survivor (Interior, paint, trunk mat, even the muffler!). Every single thing on this car is OG with the exception of a fresh engine rebuild. I actually found it here on the HAMB and huge thanks to nash510 for preserving this beauty! We were delivering my buddy's 27 T and this car was only 4 miles from where we were going so we stopped on the way. I instantly fell in love, bought it and followed them on to the drop off. The guy who bought the roadster was freaking out on the car and offered me more than I paid to leave it there. He was really freaking over the car and was adamant that I sell him the car on the spot. Here's where it gets weird... ...I said no! Now for those of you in the So Cal car club scene who know me as 'Trader Joe' from the Lifters know damn well I never turn down profit, especially for 10 minutes of work/fun. It felt really weird being totally sure that I wouldn't sell it for any profit at that moment. So we get home and start going through the old docs that were in it and found several of it's first registration cards from 64-65-67-68. The car was first owned by a couple here in my city of El Cajon, less than 4 miles from my house! Even stranger, the orginal black plates from '64 end in 971. My birthdate is 9/71. WEIRD DAY!!!
Now for ideas. My current plans are very simple as I wish to preserve her as much as possible. Rechrome front/rear bumpers, powder coat wheels gloss black and slightly bigger/smaller blackwalls.
Thanks everyone! Ive always been a thunderbolt fan and have wanted one of these. Im thinking the skylark may be leaving now which sucks because I dig it too.
Thanks guys. Im on cloud 9 with this one. Funny because I've had a lot of cool cars. There is something about it...
When I saw it in the classifieds, I played out justifying several times in my head but convinced myself I didn't need it. I saw the ad real early and knew it would be up very long. I love it!
Man that’s a nice find … it reminds me of the 64 2 dr sedan I found 25 ish years ago. It was a clean fawn one like yours. They were crushing out the yard … I gave them a deposit and said id be back after work with the rest. When I got there they had moved it …. When I walk over for a look I found they had run the forks threw the grill - core suport - firewall and dash. I almost went to jail that day ...
Just in case you get the urge to "re-do" your new ride, keep telling yourself that Thunderbolts were 2dr sedans...not hardtops.
Well I made some headway on the Fairlane. Brand new OEM radiator (The other one worked fine but this one is shiny and new to match the engine), re-chromed rear bumper and powder coated factory wheels gloss black with chrome lugs and new tires. Also, registered the original plates that came on the car in '64. Next up is dual exhaust with simple chrome tips. Really going for the "Less is more" theme on this one.
The Jalopy Journal
