1963 buick riviera and 1963 ford thunderbird

#1963 buick riviera and 1963 ford thunderbird full#

And sales? How about 16,155 versus 674 Corvettes in 1955!įrom every angle, the 1963 Thunderbird looks perfectly balanced. And with the optional V8 engine beneath that pretty bonnet, the T-Bird certainly offered more thunder than its six-cylinder Corvette rival. The Ford Motor Company had found an answer to the challenge posed by the Chevrolet Corvette, only unlike the Chevy marketing dudes they weren’t going to call the brilliant new Thunderbird a ‘sports car’ much more creatively they dubbed it a ‘personal car’, affixing the evocative name of the mighty bird. The odometer reads 48,000 miles which, according to George is more likely 148,000.įrom the outset, the original 1955 Thunderbird won the public over in a huge way. The renowned 390 cubic-inch ‘Thunderbird’ V8 is equipped with a four-barrel carburettor and delivers strong, smooth performance. He also had the engine reconditioned because the car had sat for a while and was leaking oil. It was given a major body-on restoration not long before passing into George’s custody and, as the photos clearly show, is in pristine condition. Since arriving in Australia the car has been used sparingly. George’s Thunderbird spent its first half century in the US and he believes it has been garaged throughout its life. My brother has a 1972 and a 1978 Mercedes.’ But now the bug has bitten: ‘I think that if we could find a two-bedroom, six-garage house that would be ideal!’ ‘At 45, I feel I am among the youngest classic car collectors, and am still early in my journey. This is his first classic car and what a sensational opening gambit! It had been the property of the owner of Old Skool Classics and was auctioned by Mecums. Now, in early middle age, he has fulfilled his dream of ownership. George Tawadros, owner of the lovely 1963 model you see here, fell in love with Thunderbirds in childhood (initially the 1958 version, as indeed did I).

#1963 buick riviera and 1963 ford thunderbird full#

A white 1956 T-Bird – the most glamorous machine in a film full of gorgeous cars – is the stuff of romantic dreams in American Graffiti (1972), where it is represented as the American Dream, tantalising and forever just beyond reach. Is there another American car of the 1950s and 1960s as famous as the Ford Thunderbird? Many observers would answer in the negative: the Thunderbird, named for a Native American mythical bird said to bring thunder, has created its own powerful mythology.