1959 Thunderbird Convertible considering purchasing

[fau1]

looking at this 1959 Thunderbird convertible, no rust 5 year old paint job, interior is fai. runs but has sat for a few years. very complete around 105k miles. front end has been rebuilt suspension components

352 with an automatic transmission

He has all the trim that is missing, and hub caps. was taken off when painted.

What is the value of a car like this?

it seems to be up and down

[jopizz]

It's difficult to put a price on it without more detailed pictures. You say no rust. Does that mean there's no rust that's visible. It's very unusual to find one that has no rust at all. Sometimes it can be well hidden behind the splash shields and outer rocker panels. I would check the undercarriage very carefully including the floors, trunk pan, inner wheel wells, spare tire well & radiator support. If the interior needs to be completely redone including dash pad figure on about $3000. How is the chrome? That's another major expense if the bumpers need to be redone. Just going by the pictures I'm thinking $5000-6000. Resale prices for nicely restored ones are in the $18000-$23000 range.

John

[YellowRose]

1959 Thunderbird Convertible considering purchasing

John is right in what he says about checking all those areas for rust. On my '59, my rust areas were the passenger floor panel and the radiator support under the battery. Those two areas had to be repaired or replaced. Regarding the interior, what is the condition of the dashpad, the side panels, the seat covers, the foam padding in the seats? Are you going to have to replace them? Do the gauges all work? Horn, turn signals, etc? The car has been sitting for some years. Does the engine need an overhaul? Those are things that come to mind. Go to the Technical Resource Library and down at the bottom of it you will find the Vehicle Check List our members put together to run against a Tbird that you are checking out. It will give you a lot of items to check on to help you make a better decision. It can confirm that it might be a good candidate to restore, or it is one to stay away from...

[fau1]

It's difficult to put a price on it without more detailed pictures. You say no rust. Does that mean there's no rust that's visible. It's very unusual to find one that has no rust at all. Sometimes it can be well hidden behind the splash shields and outer rocker panels. I would check the undercarriage very carefully including the floors, trunk pan, inner wheel wells, spare tire well & radiator support. If the interior needs to be completely redone including dash pad figure on about $3000. How is the chrome? That's another major expense if the bumpers need to be redone. Just going by the pictures I'm thinking $5000-6000. Resale prices for nicely restored ones are in the $18000-$23000 range.

John

I passed on the red one, and I found this one for 7500.00 BUT it is missing the convertible top and hardware. not sure how much that detracts from the value. It was restored 8 years ago at the cost of 20,000

[YellowRose]

1959 Thunderbird Convertible considering purchasing

Let me put it this way... IF you are never going to take it out of the garage on a rainy day, like so many of us will NOT, then you do not need a convertible top.... Many of us will not take our Tbirds out in inclement weather or what looks like it is going to be inclement weather.... Sooo... maybe you don't need a working top, if that is how you are going to use this Tbird.. Just saying....

[simplyconnected]

How can a convertible be restored without a top?
I would have to check the data plate to see if it ever was a convertible.

[Joe Johnston]

Many of us will not take our Tbirds out in inclement weather or what looks like it is going to be inclement weather....

To prove this point, my 57 has been driven in the rain once since 1972 and my 63SR hasn't been in the rain the last 31 years! Even so, not having the top and all systems would deduct 50% in my opinion. It looks like a nice car, but even if everything was there and it just didn't work would be a huge plus. Without a parts car, it would be very expensive to return to a complete convertible.

[jopizz]

I would bet the house that they took a hardtop and cut the top off. The upholstery is a real butcher job in my opinion. I would rather have the red one to be honest. At least that was a real convertible.

John

[YellowRose]

1959 Tbird Convertible considering purchasing

Dave has a good point. There are those who have been known to chop the top off a Hardtop to turn it into a convertible. That is not a good thing to do to a Hardtop. Unless you take the additional measures of adding the strengthening measures to the body that a convertible has in it and the hardtop does not. Hardtops that have been chopped into a convertible are known to have problems with windshields cracking, and body problems because no one added the necessary components the convertible has, to prevent this from happening. Dave mentioned checking the Data Plate to see what the car left the factory as. If your Data Plate says Body 63A then that will tell you that you do NOT have a true convertible, but a Hardtop that has been chopped. If it says that the Body Code is 76A then that tells you it left the factory as a true convertible. Unless someone replaced that OEM data plate with one to make it look like it was an OEM convertible. That has been known to happen also..

Carl Heller ~ partsetal on here, specializes in Squarebird parts and has a lot of them. He might have the hardware you need, and maybe a top. If you want to restore it with a top on it, contact him. Many of the Tbird parts houses also will have the tops and the hardware. All our parts houses are listed in the Advertisements Forum. If you get a Tbird, you will need the shop manual and others, and ask for their free catalogs also.

Looking at those pix again makes me wonder if that is a '59 or a '60. That is a '60 bumper on it, and the gunsights look like '59's. The door spear points are from a '59. The drivers side door grip looks like it needs to be replaced. You need to see if the VIN # for this car starts with a 0. If it does, it is a 1960 Squarebird made to look like a '59. If it starts with H9YH it is a '59 with a '60 bumper. If it has 6 tail lights, instead of 4, it is a 1960..

[Tbird1044]

Most of the parts on the car look like a 59 with the exception of the front bumper. There are also no hash marks on the rear 1/4 panel.
If you look at the picture with the steering wheel, it appears that the power top switch is there and located in the panel under the dash. Seems strange that someone would replace this panel and put one in with a power top switch if it is a chop job.
Nyles

[bird 60]

John, you took the words right out of my mouth. A hard-top cut off job. If you had the solid top to take on & off if you wanted to it wouldn't be too bad, providing you re-enforced the chassis.

Chris....from OZ.

[Dan Leavens]

My two (2) cents is pass on this one and find another. Too much can go wrong and the cost down the road
My " spidy senses " are twinging on this one

[jopizz]

Most of the parts on the car look like a 59 with the exception of the front bumper. There are also no hash marks on the rear 1/4 panel.
If you look at the picture with the steering wheel, it appears that the power top switch is there and located in the panel under the dash. Seems strange that someone would replace this panel and put one in with a power top switch if it is a chop job.
Nyles

The correct location for the top switch on a '59 is to the left of the hood release. I don't know what that switch is but it's not in the right place for a '59 convertible.

John

[Tbird1044]

One of my friends has a 60 and his top switch is located where this one is shown. Hmm?
Nyles

[jopizz]

One of my friends has a 60 and his top switch is located where this one is shown. Hmm?
Nyles

The top switch for a '60 is on that side but it's not in the finish panel as shown in the picture. It hangs from a bracket below the dash. '60's have a fully automatic top so the switch is in a different location. '59's have a semi automatic top which is completely different.

John