1957 Ford Thunderbird Pink

1957 Ford Thunderbird Description

COMPLETE RESTORATION/’GREAT EYES’/JUST GORGEOUS ‘PALM
SPRINGS’ PINK/SKIRTS/OFF COLONIAL WHITE
INTERIOR/BEAUTIFUL STOCK CHROME THROUGHOUT/WHITE
PORTHOLE HARDTOP/UPRATED 302cid ENGINE
INSTALLATION/DATED HYDRAULIC HEADS/4V/ALUMINUM
INTAKE/NEW CUSTOM ALUMINUM RADIATOR SYSTEM/DUAL
HEADER EXHAUST SYSTEM/4-SPEED OVERDRIVE
AUTOMATIC/VINTAGE AIR CONDITIONING/RACK & PINION FRONT
END/POWER STEERING/DUAL LINE FRONT DISC BRAKES/POWER
WINDOWS/CHROME SPOKE WIRE WHEELS WITH NEW RADIAL
WIDE WHITEWALLS/FULL PADDED DASH WITH MATCHING
PANELS/UPRATED FULL DIGITAL GAUGES/IDITIT TILT STEERING
COLUMN/FULL RESTORED SHOW DETAILED UNDERCHASSIS/TOP
EXCITING PRESENTATION

1957 Thunderbird is a true everlasting high design of a luxury convertible that is completely restored to top modern driven show standards, finished in really striking special ‘Palm Springs’ beautiful strong Pink paint with factory skirts, that presents in just fantastic condition, great Driven Show finish and superior luster, great emphasis on excellent mechanicals just completed, installed is a brilliantly uprated fully built 302cid engine install, has a 4v carberator mounted on an aluminum intake, hydraulic lifter uprated camshaft, this combination of the lighter, easy to maintain and more powerful engine is a terrific idea, then to increase the power, the exhaust exits through an expensive headers set that go to the new dual aluminized exhaust system with new mellow mufflers, they exit through the factory proper rear bumper, makes strong streetable power, the great transmission is a 4-speed overdrive AOD unit, one of the very high points is the brand new custom installed aluminum radiator system for use in today’s ‘real world’, rear mounted electric fan, then to enhance the handling of this 1957 Thunderbird, this has the expensive to install the new rack and pinion uprated power steering system, better handling with the tubular ‘A’ arm front suspension, the dual line front disc brakes were added in the initial build and are just now rebuilt, stock rear drums, with the brand, brand new radial wide whitewall tires makes on the chrome spinner real wire wheels make this just a real joy to drive and have a wonderful appearance,

this exciting presentation with the famous 1957 flowing rear fins looks just dynamic with the chrome multi spoke true wire wheels with spinner centers and the new 205/75/R15 radial wide whitewalls, polished header panel, tinted windshield, factory optional side ‘wind wings’ and working power windows, a beautifully restored car with factory chrome bumpers make this a true classy presentation, this is fun to drive and enjoy along with the previous frame-off build that makes people just smile when viewed,

the new white stock interior to contrast the gorgeous pink and the wide whitewall tires on the spinner chrome wire wheels look terrific together, then with the white porthole hardtop with the working Vintage air conditioning system makes this a perfect car for Palm Springs or Palm Beach top up/down cruising, then when the top is down, the lines of this car are famous world over, the uprated white padded dash pad is new, matches the door panels and the seat that is fully padded, has the very cool working digital tachometer and full digital gauges, an expensive and very desirable Iditit tilt steering column with the smaller steering wheel that makes it much easier to get and out of the 1957 Thunderbird, features the working power windows, has a AM/FM radio, the underchassis shows that a frame-off build was initially done some 6000 miles ago with constant attention for show use, then for Spring 2016, this great 1957 Thunderbird goes through the professional Fraser Dante restoration shop bringing out the great frame and all new body and frame pads, very nice show detailing done, with the further excellent great cooling upgrades added, the radial wide whitewall tires and the fresh alignment, the full mechanicals and fluids replaced, the complete braking and beautiful cosmetics completed, this is a fantastic driven show car that can be enjoyed for dinner with the valet or cruising,

Engine: here is an very expensive, desirable installation of the ‘modern’ freshly built 302cid/V8,this Ford unit is smaller, easier to maintain and produces more power than the original ‘Y’ block, has very excellent dry cold reading compression 150 psi to 154 psi dry cold reading across (LINK), these are very strong and within 4 lbs across, the hydraulic lifer restored heads are dated 2.e.18 and 2.e.16 to match with fresh valve springs and new rockers, they use aluminum valve covers with decals like the original Thunderbird ones, then a Weiand aluminum intake manifold chosen for light weight, performance and fuel economy, then the Edelbrock 4bbl carburetor #1404 with 500cfm that is the perfect size for this engine for street use has the chrome air clearer and the Hi-Po air filter, this engine feeds from the uprated Shorty headers feeding the dual aluminized exhaust with new ‘mellow’ mufflers, this engine has more power and easier to maintain than original while yielding a clean look in the engine bay,
Special Valvoline high performance VR1 20-50 high zinc oil is added along with new filter for engine protection, (LINK) for great cooling for the engine and the air conditioning, this was found initially from the first build with a Ford stock radiator that Fraser Dante felt should be upgraded, now a brand new just installed very expensive aluminum radiator full system was built for this car, this again is lighter weight and yields more cooling, (SEE THE PHOTOS AND LINK OF THE RADIATOR AND INSTALL), the trained technicians spent many, many technical hours with the installation with item like the special made brackets, as this aluminum new radiator is longer than the stock unit, even has a special built aluminum gravel shield, now painted black, and built to protect said radiator as well as move the air flow upward through the grill straight forward to the radiator, then the new Aeroquip transmission cooling lines from the radiator for safety, new drain petcock and overflow tube, then all fresh antifreeze coolant is added, to enhance the cooling for the a/c, in rear of the radiator is a custom installed 15” electric cooling fan, this has new hand constructed special mounts to move it away from the face to work well, also has the serpentine belt system, the road checking and testing is then completed,

instead of the original base 2-speed Fordomatic transmission, this new install and build has the very desirable Ford 4-speed overdrive automatic AOD transmission, this gives more power with the lower starting gears, it is lighter, better fuel economy for the overdrive 4th gear, great highway cruising and easier to maintain,

Interior: new 1957 designed off white interior called Colonial White from the factory is redone including new off white dash, great padding, proper door panels with Thunderbird embossing, when received, the initial builder did not have safety belts as period BUT now Fraser Dante ordered and installed a set of DOT approved dual set of off-white safety belts with new buckle for safe driving, new black carpet, floor mats, nice door handles, has working power windows,

A great upgrade are the very cool and accurate Dakota digital gauges in the stock location that has a working tachometer as well as gauges that look great and yield accurate readings, then this has installed the tilt polished Iditit steering column that makes a very easy fit coming in and out, then a smaller tri-spoke Billet steering wheel is used, working power windows, note the under dash vents for the working new Vintage air conditioning system, has an AM/FM radio,

The trunk is nicely done with the proper plaid matting, a spare tire is included with a scissor jack,

Brakes/Suspension: important photos in the Fraser Dante shop in Spring 2016 show the uprated great stopping abilities with the dual line master cylinder working with the manual front disc brakes, they work easily and great with all systems checked and just have fresh pads, just redone rear drum brake system, these yield better stopping than factory new, (LINK), With the new rack and pinion uprated power steering system, tubular ‘A’ arm front suspension, dual line front disc brakes, the underchassis shows all signs of previous frame-off build, all black, new body pads, the chassis of the car is detailed, (LINK),

note: according to a builder and associate well known to this writer, the above 302cid/4v completed engine install, AOD 4-speed transmission, full new front tubular suspension, uprated breaking, the air conditioning and full digital dash and instrument upgrade is worth up to $50,000 plus the painted and restored car, he did 5 in the last year and sent to Europe,

Brand new wide whitewalls when this car was first built, it was equipped with narrow band radials, since this car maintains the beautiful stock look, these brand new Coker Classic radial 2 3/8” P205/75/R15 wide whitewalls with four brand new tubes are just installed and the wheels balanced, these are very expensive and make the Thunderbird just stand out as they are mounted on 15x6 just gorgeous chrome wire spokes wheels with spinners and black center caps, the invoice that will come with the car also gives lifetime spin balancing at Discount Tire, (LINK),

History on this car: please note that the attached data tag (LINK)shows that this was a factory pink build initially, called ‘dusk rose’ (X) color from new, also this had the factory pleated Colonial (XK) Vinyl on the off white interior from new, thusly the presentation is an uprated factory build that can be enjoyed with smiles on everyone’s face,

Presentation: this gorgeous 1957 Thunderbird has all the stock appearance as factory with all aspects to make this a show presentation, even has the polished windshield header panel, the cool look continues the windshield side ‘wind wings’, the redone and stock bumpers just make this Pink beauty stand tall and make everyone smile, the Fraser Dante team has brought this car up to even better standards than when found,

Summary: a very expensive full uprated build of the famous 1957 Thunderbird with the special gorgeous pink color, a wonderful and terrific engine with an uprated transmission, has a new stone shield to protect, great aluminum radiator with stone shield to protect, fully built to be a top Driven Show Car for Summer 2016 or go to dinner and have fun, looks better than new with the updated color, chrome wire wheels, radial wide whitewall and striking appearance, a real ‘gift’

History of the classic Thunderbird:
inspired by the Corvette, Ford billed the Thunderbird as a personal luxury car, putting a greater emphasis on the car's comfort and convenience features rather than its inherent sportiness, the 1955 Thunderbird outsold the Corvette by more with 16,155 Thunderbirds sold against 700 Corvettes, for 1956 the most notable change was moving the spare tire to a continental-style rear bumper in order to make more storage room in the trunk, then the Thunderbird was revised for 1957 with a reshaped front bumper, a larger grille and just gorgeous tailfins that followed the design lines of the car leading to the lengthened rear of these fins also allowing the spare tire to be positioned back in the trunk, then this design ends at the larger tail lamps, the interior had a whole new instrument panel with round gauges in a single pod, the 312cid V8 became the Thunderbird's standard engine and now produced 245 horsepower, even more powerful versions of the 312cid ‘Y’ block were available including one with two four-barrel Holley carburetors and another with a Paxton supercharger delivering 300 horsepower, this design was so beautiful that sales of the Thunderbird rise to a record-breaking 21,380 units for 1957 ending the 3 year run of one of the most famous car designs ever, a landmark vehicle!