More 'birding


Coupe's long, flat roof was a big contributor to 'Square Bird' nickname.
    The vast majority of Ford Thunderbirds built for 1958 were two-door coupes like this one I came across in Santa Cruz del Norte.
   With the rectangular roof that helped earn the '58-through-'60 T-Bird its "Square Bird" nickname, the coupe is a handsome and distinctive design. Still, I have to say I prefer the convertible version.
This coupe, though clearly having travelled many miles, retained nearly all its original chrome trim. And while the front seats are obvious replacements, I was surprised to see the original "panel console" with auto shift lever still in place. The '58 Thunderbird was one of the first cars to get a console. Ford installed it to disguise the prominent transmission tunnel in this low-slung car.
 
Console was a new interior feature in 1958.
A Ford 352 V-8? Not a chance.

   The owner popped the hood so I could photograph the engine. I thought at the time it was the original 352-cubic-inch gasoline V-8, perhaps still coupled to a three-speed Cruse-O-Matic transmission. Now, looking at that rear-mounted distributor, I realize that's no 352.
    An earlier Ford Y-Block? A Chevy small block? No, I'm calling it a Chrysler V-8, and not an "A" engine from the 1950s, but Chrysler's later "LA" V-8, a 273 or 318, from the 1960s. How that engine reached Cuba to find its way into a Ford Thunderbird, and what brand of automatic transmission it connects to, will remain mysteries.

Survivor: 1958 Ford Thunderbird has obviously seen much use.




See also:




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Discovered in Cuba, a rare Mercedes bird

Image
(December 2012 note: See update link, below.)     GUESS I'LL have to set aside my search for the younger Batista’s 1956 Corvette. An even tastier trophy has emerged – a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, better known as the Gullwing.    Even on the Island of Surprises, I’d be astounded to come across one of these rare beauties. But in a brief section on Cuba in Automobiles Lost & Found (Haynes Publishing, 2008), I see a photo of a battered 300SL observed by author Michael E. Ware outside a private garage near Havana.    The Gullwing, unmistakable lift-up doors in place, is dented and rusting and missing its engine, yet still would be prized by collectors the world over . . . if only they could extract it from Cuba. Restored, the Silver Metallic example with Lipstick Red interior might be worth more than $700,000 U.S.    Reached in England, Mr. Ware tells me he was holidaying in Cuba when an acquaintance brought him to an unnamed communit...
Read more

The Cuba Gullwing chronology

Image
How the 300SL would have looked new. Wikipedia photo.     IN SIX YEARS , no topic here has drawn more attention than the story of Cuba's rotting Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe. Visitors from around the world seem endlessly appalled and fascinated by the sad fate of such a rare and beautiful car.      The same analytics program that tells me the home nations of these visitors tells me where on this blog they land – and it's apparent that many are missing the full story (or as full as anyone has been able to make it). The world's largest Internet indexer – you know who I'm talking about – insists on routing the curious to a five-year post and refuses to make note of subsequent entries.    Why? Who knows?     To provide a more complete picture, here's a list of CARISTAS entries on the Gullwing, which, to be clear, was first brought to the world's attention by British auto historian Michael E. Ware in Automobiles Lost & Foun...
Read more