64 Thunderbolt, are you there?

gandude wrote:
I was going to city college in auto shop when a fellow student driving a Toyota Corona cut off an instructor in a thunderbird. I couldn't stop fast enough and rear-ended the Thunderbird. Almost no damage to her car but it totaled mine. Only accident I was ever in.

It needed a new motor when I got it. I put a 289 in it with a toploader. The body was immaculate before the accident. Front end parts weren't the same as standard Fairlane so I junked it at a Richmond (Gertrude) wrecking yard. Sold misc parts off it and recouped what I paid. Back when I had it, these cars were considered ugly and nobody wanted them. Things have changed though, and now it's a collector item.

To think of the cars we had back then - friends had a 57 Bel-Air, a 66 Malibu, a 68 GTO, Cameros, Mustangs,. We bought them for just a few dollars and sold for the same. ...now look.

My current project is a 63 Valiant convertible.

I'm sorry, I'm a little confused.

You had an actual 64 Thunderbolt and you were driving it on the street and rear ended at Thunderbird and totaled it and then put a 289/top loader in it and then junked it?

Thunderbolts were built by Ford for drag racing ONLY with a 427/4-speed and were sold only to Ford dealers. I don't think you could actually register them for the street.

Actual hp on these monsters were probably over 500 but only advertised at 427. Those cars were stripped down to bare bones...no heater, no radio, little skimpy seats out of a van, fiberglass front fenders, bumpers, 9" rear end. Only 100 were ever made and are worth well over a million $$ today.

The only difference in the front end was that the shock towers were shaved down for the headers of the 427 to fit and stiffer front springs/shocks. Also the two inner headlights were removed and large 4" tubes ran from the opening to each of the huge 4v carbs.

Are you sure you had a real Thunderbolt and not a plain jane Fairlane or maybe a Hi-Po Fairlane?