A Thunderbird For Lohnes For Christmas? Surely, This 1963 Roadster T-bird Can’t Be Hated!


A Thunderbird For Lohnes For Christmas? Surely, This 1963 Roadster T-bird Can’t Be Hated!

Unless it’s one of the very early two-seater types, Brian Lohnes hates Ford Thunderbirds. He’s been very clear on the subject, but I pride myself on locating one that I don’t think he’d have any way to say no to. Case in point: the early 1960s “bullet Birds” were well-received by the general public, with just under a quarter-million moved in three years’ worth of production. Not bad. The only engine offered was the 390 hooked to the Cruse-O-Matic, though if got lucky you might find a 3×2 carburetor setup. But in the eye of Brian, it’s still got two seats too many.

Okay, let’s fix that problem.

I don’t know what vibe the builder was actually going for, but what I’m getting is a phantom “what if” build that begs the question: what if the NASCAR Convertible Division didn’t get phased out in 1959, what would the racing machines have looked like? Granted, they probably wouldn’t have looked quite like this, with it’s flared rear fenders, modern wheels and brakes that were raided from a C5 Corvette, but you can get some flavors of 1960s LeMans intermixed with the cage that takes up a good portion of the car. While there hasn’t been any effort to shorten the car to a proper two-seater’s layout, that can be made up with that shifter sticking up through the console that is attached to a T-10 four-gear.

The look is classy, but the hardware says racer. Go with what excites you most here, but if Lohnes can find an excuse to hate this car, I’m all ears.

Craigslist Link: 1963 Ford Thunderbird

(Courtesy: Bring A Trailer)


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8 thoughts on “A Thunderbird For Lohnes For Christmas? Surely, This 1963 Roadster T-bird Can’t Be Hated!

  1. john

    In 1971 my student teaching semester was at the Mansfield Reformatory (OH), where “Shawshank Redemption ” was filmed. The auto shop raced a ’63 T Bird at the local speedway. That was a cool car…only hope that the experience for the inmates helped them to the straight and narrow.

  2. KCR

    Come on man ,a square bird is hard to make look cool. This is very cool. The work is top notch.Its has side pipes,who don’t like side pipes.Its also now a true roaster .Fats at all 4 corners. The crowd would walk right past all the fiberglass coupes and any year Camaro to look at this.To top it off it has a big block. I’m no Ford fan but this is cool

  3. Russell

    Pretty cool but there is no way I would pay any where near 40k. Maybe they hit the zero to many times.

    And I like Thunderbirds!

  4. Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie

    The builder should get the money together for production of this absolute beauty!

    Maybe fit a windscreen though to prevent being choked by flies….

  5. Matt Cramer

    “I don’t know what vibe the builder was actually going for.”

    This looks like a vehicle for the Joker in the 1960s era version of Batman. And I don’t mean that’s a bad thing, either.

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