Just how many are left ????

[Guest]

I have always been curious to how many (or an estimate) of how many Squarebirds (by year if possible)are actually left in this world. I have seen very few (about 3) on the road in my lifetime..........the last being seen in 1985. I must say though.........there have been quite a few popping up on E-bay in various conditions........but does anybody have a number ? Every time I take mine out I get the same question (unless they are over 50) "What in the world is that" hehehe

[Alexander]

RE: Just how many are left ????

I don't think there is anything officially published. From my observations the survival rate for the Squarebirds is best for the 1960, followed by the 1959. The poorest survival rate is for the 1958. I would estimate that the survival rate for the 1960 Thunderbird is 10%. This no means an official or scientific estimate.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: Just how many are left ????

The Thunderbird registry has good info on this - at least as far as the number that are registered. www.tbirdregistry.com

-Scott
'58 hardtop

[Guest]

RE: Just how many are left ????

OK, I can tell you how many squarebirds (all body style) we have in Sweden. Referring to the Swedish vehicle register, there are 63 for the 1960, 36 for the 1959 and 11 for the 1958. It was less than I thought. Then it could be some parts car that's not in the register.

[pirate]

RE: Just how many are left ????

Jed Zimmerman got info from the President of VTCI and the list had been kept for over 20 years Below is his statement
Ed 58 and 63

Here are a few words from Jed:
In the 4 years I've owned my Bird I have never seen another 58 HT in real life at any of the car shows I have gone to. Of course I've never seen one on the street either. I've seen a few on the internet in different web pages, but never one in real life that I can really compare my resto notes with. This led me to think that I had something kinda special and one year ago I started my mostly Internet search for other 58 HTs.

In January of 98, Alan Tast, Pres. of the VTCI turned over the 58 HT segment of the clubs data base to me. He has been keeping data base registries for near nearly 20 years on all models and years of Birds. He turned over a list of 127 58 HTs to me of which about 30 were junk, scrapped or parts cars.

Since January I have increase the list to 165 cars, about 40 junk and parts cars. So basically we're looking at out of 37900 originally made in 58, only 125 cars are known to exist throughout the world today. This makes our 58 HT Birds the rarest of all models and years of Tbirds. Even rarer that the little birds, the 58 converts, and the 62 roadsters. Sure less were made of these others, but more are known to exist today.

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ALONG.

These are the facts on his bird:

Serial Number - H8YH107120
H - 352 Cubic Inch 300 Horsepower
8 - 1958
Y - Manufactured and assembled in Wicksome
H - Thunderbird hardtop
107120 - Consecutive unit number
Door Plate Codes
BODY COLOR TRIM DATE TRANS AXLE
63A B XE 26C 4 1
63A - Hardtop body style
B - Winterset white
XE - Blue and white interior package
26C - March 26, 1958 came off assembly line
4 - Cruise-O-Matic transmission
1 - 3.10 to 1 Axle ratio
Email Jed Ca58tbird@aol.com
Here's a 58
off Bob Claborne's hompage

This looks like another 58


I found this 58 bird for sale on Deals on Wheels

HOME

[Guest]

RE: Just how many are left ????

Looking at the T-Bird Registry, the following cars are registered:
year/style - units produced - T-Bird Registry - % registered
58 HardT - 35,758 produced - 326 registered - .91%
58 Conver - 2,134 produced - 92 registered - 4.31%
58 Total - 37,892 produced - 418 registered - 1.10%
If 5% of the 1958’s survive there are 2,000 around

59 HardT - 57,195 produced - 213 registered - .37%
59 conve - 10,261 produced – 104 registered - 1.01%
59 Totals - 67,456 produced - 317 registered - .47%
If 7.5% of the 1959’s survive there are 5,000 around

60 HardT - 76,447 produced – 364 registered - .48%
60 Conve - 11,860 produced –100 registered - .84%
60 GoldTp - 2,534 produced – 184 registered - 7.26%
60 Total - 90,841 produced - 648 registered - .71%
If 10% of the 1960’s survive there are 9,000 around

Of course some of these are long gone, but still the 59's and 60's are less than 10% of the 10% or so assumed to be surviving and the 58's are maybe 20% of the 5%......

[Guest]

RE: Just how many are left ????

Pirate........I was the My58 until my computer crashed...........now Im 58tdactyl. I saw a 58 when I was 10 and fell in love with it. It was a black non-running car used for storage.............. About a year later I actually saw one pull into a parking lot and vowed I would get one one day. That was 1977....I never saw another one....I did see a 59 in 1985. Mine was originally owned by a lady who was married to a surgeon. She was so in love it she bought a 59...........and a 60. She kept all 3 until she died and her family sold them each for a few hundred dollars in 1981. All 3 were still running. The next owner bought the 58 and drove it for a few years then parked it in a garage where it stayed for 20 years. I found it on "Car Collector Trader" and drove 8 hrs to see it and claim it. I have yet to register it (ill do that when its finished). It has 65000 miles on it...........but was absolutely filthy.........no lights,dead mice , cat urine,wrinked up dash,eaten up exhaust, rotten rocker panels held together with bondo,and frozen brake pistons. When he started it up and I heard that rumble..........It was mine. Ive had to do ALOT (I mean ALOT )to get it to its present state and its been a fun , frustrating experience. I will be done this summer. Mine is strange in the fact that the color combination is not listed. It was originally Gulfsream blue.........but with a black top (not the usual white). It was built in May of 58 and was number 13000 and something. The interior was Gulfstream vinyl and cloth. It was painted (horribly) at one point in its life to 57 Chevy Turquoise. Ive redone the interior to Gulfsteam and white....including replacing the $#%#$^&* dash....and will paint it black........since all 10 coats of blue have to be sanded off. The inner and outer rockers on both sides had to be replaced as well as other sheet metal. Im driving it now and then to keep it from sitting but HATE the brakes. A car this size and weight with manual brakes is not fun to navigate in todays traffic. Im converting to front Disc-brakes........and will rebuild the front end while Im at it.................then its painted and done. I knew there were only 37000 or so built but had no idea that so few are left. I do think one reason is the fact that they ate up like crazy along the bottom..........and from the inside out.............and the fact that when car restoration as hobby took off..........the poor Squarebird was passed over for other models. It will be intresting to see what will happen in the near future as to prices for them when they stop making Birds all together. I drove mine to work today for the first time and (even in its unfinished state) had a crowd around it within minutes. They are definately attention getters.

[Guest]

RE: Just how many are left ????

58tdactyl - this is a little of the thread but would like to hear about how you repaired your rockers as I am planning on doing some repairs on mine this summer. did you make replacement pieces, or use a donor car? I am thinking about opening up the bottom of the box towards the seat for re-inforcement. This would allow me to keep the outer rocker intact, which is not all that bad.

[Guest]

RE: Just how many are left ????

Khanson..........

Mine was a mess............it had MAJOR salt damage to the point where I had to cut the old rockers off........rivets and all. The inner rocker on the drivers side (where the gas and brake lines are).........was practicly gone. These cars were designed so as water rushed into the cowl........it ran down into the rocker panels..........and exited near the rear wheels. These cars are famous for looking OK on the outside........but eat up where you cant see. I had to completly cut the bottom (inner rockers)off both sides and have my fathers shop make new inner rockers...........and weld them on before the outer rockers went on. The best places for any type of Squarebird parts is Bobs Bird House........and Pat Wilsons T-birds. You can get the sheet metal already formed (stamped). If you are good with a torch and have done this type of work.........its a matter of marking and cutting correctly..........then spot welding and grinding. Before I welded anything on..........it was painted with 2 coats of por-15.....on all inner parts. I bought 3 outer rockers so I would have extra metal if needed (which I did). Its hard to make that bottom lip on your own. My father showed me a trick though.............before you weld anything on.........drill a small hole or two and screw the rockers into place..........this way you can line everything up within an inch of its life. It will stay in place as you weld..........and the screws can come out . I filled in the tiny holes with a putty that por-15 sells. It dries hard as a rock and is water proof. Tip 2..........space all your spot welds or the metal will heat up and warp. Do not make the mistake of simply putting a new rocker over the old and smoothing on some bondo to hide it............you will regret it. It took me 3 months to do all of this myself (mostly weekends).