My 1959 Thunderbird convertible was purchased in Columbia, SC in November, 1986. It had been partialy restored by the previous owner. I drove the car home to Wharton N.J. (approximately 750-miles), having to rebuild the generator on the way. In addition, the car turned 100,000 miles on the way to its new home.

During the almost nine years that I have owned my Thunderbird, I have completely redone the car with the exception of the upholstery, which is my next job.

The original engine is now bored .060 over and has a performance cam to give more acceleration at the low end. When the engine was out of the car, I rebuilt the entire front end. The chrome has been entirely redone, and the exterior repainted candy apple red. I removed all the chrome myself and block sanded the entire car (never again).

With the new white convertible top and wide whitewall tires, the car is now in great shape and runs and drives like new. I now have 112,000 miles on it.

Gordy Winch

Copyright © 1995-1996 by Gordy Winch

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