How to track an old Tbird

[jwreese]

I have nearly completed my 1969 Mustang FB and was thinking of looking for a nice 1961 tbird. Our family had one in the mid 1960s and I thought it would be fun to try to track it down while I was looking for the right bird. But I am not sure how to do this, any assistance would be great.

Also my Dad always called the color of our bird "Desert Rose," is that a real color on the 1961? I have seen Sahara Rose and Coral talked about also.

Thanks Jim Reese

[Randy Mattson]

You may want to check the Thunderbird Registry. If you have a VIN #, someone may have registered it. www.tbirdregistry.com

I have no idea about the color. Perhaps Alan Tast would know.

Randy Mattson

[tbirdgreg]

I think the coral came out in 64. I would suggest you look at the advances in the Thunderbirds from 61 to 62 to 63 with some body changes in 63. There were 37 changes in the 63 some of them significant i.e. the alternator and AM/FM radio. We all know the last of each of the three years was usually considered the best of that body design. Good luck hunting there are still some very nice Thunderbirds available.

[Wklink]

I don't disagree with Greg about that.

I have owned all 3 years.

Your best bet is to pick up a 63 if you have a choice in all the models. A lot of the early bugs were found out in the first couple of years and were modified and corrected in the 63. The cars look pretty close to the same but I suppose if you were set on getting a car that looked like your dads a later year 62 would look a lot like it (only appearance differences were the grill, taillights, hood bumps and chrome trim on the rear quarter) but would have some suspension fixes that the 61 needed.

Having said that, there is nothing wrong with any of the three years. My old 61 HT is something I miss from time to time. My current driver, a 62 HT is a much better car but isn't quite the same. My 63 is in pieces right now (it is an identical colored roadster to what Greg has) so I can't really get a feel for her.

Get what you want, the nice thing is a lot of the things that made a 63 better, like the alternator and am/fm radio will plop right into a 61.