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Production Numbers
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 The way for you togo is clear... 1964 Thunderbird ...welcome to the jet age! Above: 1964 Ford Thunderbird Convertible |
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TOTAL PRODUCTION: 92,465 63A - Hardtop 60,552 63B - Landau 22,715 76A - Convertible 9,198 |
INTRODUCTION DATE: September 27, 1963 Production Started: August 12, 1963 Production Ended: July 24, 1964 |
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Whether or not a Sports Roadster was built in 1964 has been debated for
many years. Ford did continue to offer the beautiful Kelsey-Hayes wire
wheels, and there was a tonneau cover available for the new body style.
Reportedly about 50 cars left the factory equipped with these two items.
However, the term "Sports Roadster" was not used in any Ford
advertising or sales brochures, and two key items of the Sports Roadster
package were missing: the passenger assist bar, and the emblems used on
the tonneau cover and front fenders. The emblems appear in some early pre-production
photos and illustrations, and the assist bar even made it into the 1966 Thunderbird Shop Manual, but there is no record of any cars leaving the
factory equipped with these items.
It is believed that the reason a tonneau cover was offered in 1964 was
that the design of the new cover had been completed and initial orders
placed for production of the new cover before the Roadster model was officially
cancelled. Rather than take a total loss on the tooling costs and on the
order already placed, the cover was offered as an option for the Convertible
model. A handful of 1965 Convertibles were reportedly equipped with the
covers, but this was done at the dealer level, using covers in stock in
various dealer parts inventories around the country.
Officially, the Sports Roadster model ended with 1963 production, but it is believed that actual production of this model was cancelled during the 1963 model year, and after Spring 1963 Roadster-specific parts may not have been available through the factory. There are reports that in a few instances, dealers had to obtain parts from other dealers' inventories to fulfill an order for a Sports Roadster late in the model year. You could certainly make a 1964 convertible look like a Sports Roadster, but disappointing sales for 1962-1963 led Ford to quietly discontinue the model late in the 1963 model year, which means that the few 1964 Thunderbirds that left the factory with both the tonneau cover and wire wheels are certainly highly desirable, but they are in fact standard Convertible models equipped with two rare options. See 1962-1963 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster: What Went Wrong? [link opens in new window] for our explanation of why the model wasn't popular. |