1959 FORD THUNDERBIRD HARDTOP Factory Raven Black 352ci V8 Absolutely Gorgeous!

‘Red Hills Rods & Classics’ is very happy to offer you this absolutely beautiful 1959 Ford Thunderbird Hardtop, finished in its factory correct (Code A) Raven Black exterior, wrapped around a beautiful factory correct (Code 8X) Raven Black & Colonial White Sof-Textured Vinyl bucket-seat interior. This is an early 1959 Thunderbird, built on October 15th, 1958, @ the Wixom Assembly Plant, Wixom, Michigan. The second-generation of the Thunderbird was produced from 1958 thru 1960, and are commonly referred to as the 'Squarebirds' due to their design. The designs of the Corvette and the Thunderbird went in two different directions, as the Thunderbird continued to further evolve into the luxury car segment. Robert McNamara, the CEO of Ford at the time, made the final decision to morph the 2-door Thunderbird into a 4-door, and the decision was made in an attempt to increase sales. The major complaint of many of the owners of the 'Classic' or 'Little Bird' Thunderbirds had been due to its size, mainly because there was no back seat & limited trunk space. This second version of the Thunderbird addressed both of these issues.
This beautiful 1959 Thunderbird is mainly a survivor w/ one professional repaint, rebuilt drivetrain, and several cosmetic items such as seat-covers, carpeting, door sill plates, seat belts, etc. The car is in outstanding original condition, w/ super-straight body panels all of the way around. The new Raven Black paint has been meticulously polished to a brilliant shine, and is absolutely exceptional! The chrome bumpers, chrome/ stainless steel trim, emblems, etc. appear to be all-original as well, and are in amazing condition for being over 50 years old. She sits on the original 14” steel wheels w/ original chrome wheel covers, wrapped w/ new whitewall radial tires. This was a wild body-style indeed, and you can walk around this car a dozen times and never get bored looking at it. This ’59 Thunderbird represents American automobile manufacturers in their heyday!
Open the driver’s door and you will find a beautiful factory correct Raven Black & Colonial White vinyl bucket-seat interior that is in wonderful condition throughout. Besides the new seat covers, new black carpeting, and new door sill plates, the interior is basically all original, and shows beautifully. There is a bit of pitting on the chrome interior trim pieces as would be expected, but I much prefer the original patina to reproduction parts, that’s for sure. The original steering wheel had a black cover on it for years, so we decided to remove it and found that the original wheel was in pretty darn good condition, w/ no cracks or broken parts, and looks much better without the cover in my humble opinion. A little bit of white paint and it would look excellent. Someone replaced the original AM radio w/ a cassette player (probably in the late 80’s - early 90’s), which actually fits in nicely and is very hard to notice. It almost looks factory correct. All of the original gauges, lights, blinkers, etc., are in perfect working condition, and the factory air-conditioning blows nice & cold. Overall the interior is in excellent original condition. The trunk area was completely restored w/ high-quality replacement parts including boards, trunk mat, fleece, etc. and looks outstanding. Of course the spare wheel, tire & jack assembly are all present.
Pop open the hood and you will find the original 352ci V8 (300hp) 4-barrel motor, linked to the original 3-Speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission, which feeds power to the original 3.10 rear-end. The engine & transmission were both completely rebuilt to factory specifications in 2010, at the same time as the repaint, w/ less than 1,500 miles driven since. The engine bay, like the rest of the car, is extremely tidy, and besides the new battery, appears to be in factory correct stock condition throughout. She fires up instantly w/ a flick of the wrist, and she runs, drives & performs beautifully. These ’59 T-Birds are an absolute blast to drive and are extremely comfortable. This particular Raven Black bird gets all of the attention that you’ll ever want, and anywhere that you decide to take her, I guarantee that there will be a crowd around the car within minutes.
These second-generation Thunderbirds are getting more popular by the day, and are taking on a life of their own in the collector car market. The body style is so unique and is really starting to get noticed more & more by classic car collectors worldwide. Whether you are a T-Bird fanatic, or simply searching for a beautiful classic car that can be driven & enjoyed to the fullest, you will want to take a very close look at this gorgeous Raven Black 1959 Ford Thunderbird.