1956 Ford Thunderbird From George Lucas's American Graffiti Movie, Documented

1956 Ford Thunderbird Description

This is it,THE1956 Ford Thunderbird from the iconic 1973 George Lucas Film:

American Graffiti.

Offered for theFIRST TIME,publicly, for sale.Don't let this get away!

For any American Graffiti buff, you know the story about the cars in the movie; they were sold, traded, and used for other movies. However, this car,the '56 T-Bird, had been kept by the owner, andwill always be remembered as the car driven by the blonde, who was obsessed by the guy in the back seat of the Edsel.

The car was owned by Clay and May Daily, for more than 50 years, and rented to the studio for the film. It still lives in Petaluma area. When the car was purchased by Clay Daily, it was red. When he moved to Petaluma, in the early 70's, hehad it painted white,as it remains today. Originally thestudio wanted a yellow T-bird for the movie, because that was how the script was written, but agreed on Clay's car when they were told that white would be fine for night time filming.The current owner, who has cared for it for five years, has decided to let this iconic car have a new owner and home.

This it THE documented car from the movie. The current owner has letters from the studio, ownership history, and complete provenance on this vehicle, and will provide it to the new owner upon purchase.

Passenger side sun visor recently signed, by actors and studio executives from the movie, at a private display of the car.

The car, today, has changed little from when it was in the movie.In the mid 70's a drunk driver backed into the front end of the car, and when Clay had the car repaired, he had the body shop cover up the front marker light holes because one of the marker lights was damaged, and he had no time to try to locate a replacement marker light that was out of a 1968 Charger. The holes are still in the fenders, but they were fiberglassedfrom the inside of the fender and the repair/patch can be seen in the photos.The headlight rims were also changed, and currently on the car are a set from a 1955 Crown Victoria. The original headlight rims are included with the car.

In the filming of the movie, the car had a rear tire cover from JC Whitney, and had a T-Bird emblem that was attached through the cover into the rim.Clay installed a full cover because the T-Bird was his daily commuter from Petaluma to San Francisco, and he did not want dirt and debris to get into the spare tire area.Clay also had the rear side marker lights, from a later model T-Bird, and the fender marker light installed for better visibility when he was driving the car on his commute.The emblem that was on the rear tire cover is included with the car.

The car runs and drives well. The engine block, internals, and heads are from a 1957 T-bird. As a daily driver, Clay wore out the original engine and the machine shop could not service the block.The intake and the exhaust manifolds are original. The carburetoris a Holley 4bbl with an aftermarket air cleaner.

The charging system has been upgraded from a generator to an alternator. The engine has an electric fuel pump, 7 blade cooling fan, and an auxiliary electric cooling fan for parade use.

The seat has been reupholstered from white with red beading to white with red bolsters.

The engine has some blow-by that can be seen after the engine has idled for a few minutes and has a lifter noise when cold. The front suspension needs to be rebuilt, the bushings are worn out, and there are some oil leaks.The tires are 25 years old and they need replacement.

If you have any questions, please email me through eBay.

Buyer is responsible for pick up and transportation.

Bidders with zero (0) feedback MUST contact me through eBay prior to placing bid or bid will be cancelled.

Additional pictures available at:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOfktMhACHB3BQbbeWB8ICwDfJK6CfZOUI33DtSUccZ6nyNT3gDwW2xNR_j-Wnx5A?key=aTE4bEYyRWdZeXhla1hMTmhscGhidWZKVFV1RTF3