I own a ‘59 J Code Convertible with factory air. How many were produced that year with both factory air and the 430 ?

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Cgould
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Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2018 9:10 pm

I own a ‘59 J Code Convertible with factory air. How many were produced that year with both factory air and the 430 ?

Post by Cgould »

How many J code convertibles were manufactured with factory air in ‘59?
64thunderbird64
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Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2017 9:45 pm

Re: I own a ‘59 J Code Convertible with factory air. How many were produced that year with both factory air and the 430

Post by 64thunderbird64 »

Production numbers on the "how many" are not available until 1967. the best thing you can do is go to www.tbird.info and look to see.
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Alan H. Tast
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Location: Omaha, NE

Re: I own a ‘59 J Code Convertible with factory air. How many were produced that year with both factory air and the 430

Post by Alan H. Tast »

:n00b: take time to look through VTCI's website. Production statistics can be found by going to VTCI's home page and clicking on the pulldown "Thunderbird Stuff" then hit "Production Statistics"

http://vintagethunderbirdclub.net/prod.htm

From the Production Statistics page:
1959
"H" 352 cu.in. Hardtop 54,041
"J" 430 cu.in. Hardtop 3,154
"H" 352 cu.in. Convertible 9,093
"J" 430 cu.in. Convertible 1,168
Total 67,456

Note 1: No separate production figures were recorded for "G"-engined low-compression/export cars: they are included with the above totals. None have been registered with VTCI.

Regretfully, a breakdown by model and accessories was not compiled by Ford. None of the invoices for pre-1962s were saved. At best, a guesstimate can be made based on industry percentages for accessories installations for the model year. If memory serves me correctly, 35% of all cars sold in 1959 had air conditioning (that may be a high percentage - I have these stats but not readily handy). For convertibles, I would think that this percentage may be somewhat high, but not by much. Option percentage statistics may be found in VTCI's 1958-1960 Original Factory Specifications (OFS) manual in chapter 6-Accessories. A copy of the OFS can be purchased by VTCI members by going to this link:

http://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net/c ... _books.htm
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
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