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If you would like to see what your Squarebird could have looked like in 1959 and 1960, buy a copy of Alan Tast's "Thunderbird 1955-1966" and take a look at the pictures of concept cars that were being considered for those last two years of Squarebird production. There were some neat designs that I wish they had gone with, but were discarded for one reason or another. You will also enjoy the comments he writes about regarding the reasons for not adopting those ideas and why our Squarebirds look like they do today. Here are some additional comments from Mark.
"Note on page 72, right column, people were disappointed with a lack of lower rear axle ratios, std and overdrive transmissions and larger brakes on the 430 T-birds. Other articles in this book comment on poor handling of the T-Bird with the heavier 430 engine. So, this T-bird (of his-my added comment) addresses all of those concerns including oversize brakes from somewhere. So was this thing a car used to try out "stuff" I also know from working on the suspension years ago, the coil spring dia and number of loops in mine are more than std T-Birds. All of the modifications on mine would be aimed at making a heavy car like the T-Bird handle better, which it does. Food for thought anyhow.
Thanks
mark"
Last edited by YellowRose; September 23, 2011, 11:17 AM.
Reason: Additional Information
My opinion, he's got an interesting custom T'bird, nothing more. I think he's reading into what he's seeing on his car. There's nothing to suggest that it's anything more than a custom with some performance mods too. Most guys who are into customs, are at least somewhat into performance too and it's not uncommon at all to modify for performance and looks. Sometimes, a guy goes to build a racer, gets bored with it and ends up turning it into a show car (or the other way around).
I doubt that we'll ever know the real story behind it, but any suggestion that this is some kind of Ford prototype is a long shot at best.
maybe it was set up for the CanAm racces in Mexico at the time. I knew a guy in Iowa that was with that Ford team. Maybe someone brought it home with him? Just a thought.
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