Chance to buy a '58 Tbird hardtop

[snowbird]

Look at all those baby Birds behind it!

Joe

Yes Joe, all those little baby Bird owners now have little baby's so they need a car with a back seat .

[NotU]

Roger, with the convention in NOLA next June, do what needs doing to it, then offer it for sale then.
I would be interested in taking a look at it.

[Elky64]

At least you can do the work on the old ones, in about a third of the time of our Retro's. Also most importantly, 0 computers to fail. If you have space and like it this is a no brainer!!
Happy Motoring!

[birdfan]

Well, as the owner of a '60 that has been in the family since new you could easily guess what I think.
As asked earlier - when was it last run and were/are there any issues with it. Parts are really not a problem, there are a number of suppliers out there. An easy search will find them, and as someone else stated, Squarebird site is good and there is VTCI and ITC. Both of which likely have chapters close to you.
The biggest question is - do you have room for it. If not do what I did, build another garage, LOL (although I actually did that for all my 'summer' cars).

[Vintage Merlot]

Mike Schwartz is sending me a parts catalog for '58-'63 Birds. The car was driven briefly a couple years ago. A little research shows parts will be no problem. The interior and paint are very good for the age. Bonnie and I will take a trip to Iowa in the Spring to inspect and if it passes we will arrange to have it shipped. One estimate received is $725 from Davenport to New Orleans.

Our biggest concern is garage space. We have enough length space but limited to 88 inches in width between columns.. The '58 is 78" wide. Maybe I should build a car wash style track system to guide it into place. Amazingly the Bird is 5"s wider and about 9" longer than Bonnie's MKZ sedan.

[wcoates]

Roger, did you really expect anyone here to say don't do it? Can't wait to see pictures. I am also a square bird fan.

Happy new year.

[007Cruiser]

I would say that the shipping cost is right in the ballpark. I paid that years ago for my 75 when I brought it from Florida to New Jersey. I opted for enclosed shipping at the time from DAS Transport.

[Alamobird]

I played with the Carmax site and they will charge $499 to move a Toyota Sequoia (chosen for size & weight) from DesMoines to Kenner; $799 to move one from from Warwick, RI, and $899 from Santa Rosa, CA.

I found Kathy’s Cadillac at an Autonation Mercedes dealer in Florida, and they shipped it to Texas for $700 so I could blow the horn and kick the tires before we actually bought it.

Your budget number should be reasonable. Hope you enjoy your new toy.

[Vintage Merlot]

I just completed search on a massive site listing more than 450 thunderbirds and only found five 1958s offered.

The amazing discovery is that more than 75 percent of all Iistings were for '55, '56, and '57s. Several hundred listings. They are coming out of the woodwork. Most are quite expensive. Many are body off restorations in the $80 to 90K range. Who will buy them? Who is their market? What do you do with a saturated market if you are a seller?

[007Cruiser]

The owners of the baby birds are no doubt dying off. Ours is probably the last generation attached to them in a sentimental way. The sellers will need to find an eager ill informed buyer or lower their price.

[birdfan]

I am not surprised that there aren't many '58s for sale. Their initial production was delayed so they only built just under 38k for that year. Much less than '59 and '60.
Funny you mention the size of the car. When I told my sons that it was considered a small car when introduced they looked at me like I was trying to fool them. Then, once we were at a show where a '60 was parked next to a late '50s Lincoln and when compared side-by-side it did look small (much to my son's surprise). We forget how large cars were back then compared to most of the cars now (not so much some of today's pickup trucks, they are pretty huge).

[Ol'Dave]

Back in 04, I had just finished and sold a 64, was enroute to Memphis to pick up another to start on. Then...... Ray Reed (TBNer) called about a 60. Torn, cause I just loaded the 64 on my trailer. Long drive homeward, weighed heavuiy...how to explain this dellima to Claire. Well...long story short, the 64 still in my barn here (neglected), I did a turn around and headed to Illinois, By the by it was 29 degrees and snowing up there that night. Needed a lot to bring her back. BUT. Was the BEST decision EVER. Love this thing, now 17 years later, and she is my escape. Now I have plenty of toys, but this gal......, Soooo,

JUST DO IT

[NotU]

I am not surprised that there aren't many '58s for sale. Their initial production was delayed so they only built just under 38k for that year. Much less than '59 and '60.
Funny you mention the size of the car. When I told my sons that it was considered a small car when introduced they looked at me like I was trying to fool them. Then, once we were at a show where a '60 was parked next to a late '50s Lincoln and when compared side-by-side it did look small (much to my son's surprise). We forget how large cars were back then compared to most of the cars now (not so much some of today's pickup trucks, they are pretty huge).

My kids had the same reaction to a 1966 Thunderbird I had purchased. They thought it was a large car until I parked next to a '65 Bonneville at a car show.

[snowbird]

Had this " little " '58 shipped from LA., ( Lancaster ) from a wrecking yard up to Detroit back in the mid '80's . Picked it up there and brought it home . If I remember right, it was about $ 700.00 back then . The fellow that I purchased it from loaded it up with other parts that he had sold to someone in my area . Had some fun bringing it across the border . They said it did not look like a parts car . Did manage to convince him . All that for some parts for my '58 project .


58-hardtop.jpg

[CROW]

RANDY, you thinking of another Bird? Great idea, means you will be around for years to come. R U missing the 65 and want to fill it's old parking space, or looking for a project to fill the retirement times?