Value of a Custom 1964 Thunderbird

[ak7an]

Hi,
New member here, name is Ed and I live in Central Utah. I am looking for some input from Tbird owners.
I am looking at a 1964 Hardtop, it has gone thru a total restore within the last 5 years. It is in no way an original car. I will start with the engine and trans. Engine is a 351 W, stroked, MSD ignition, and MSD Atomic EFI, aluminum intake, headers, chrome alt and valve covers.. really looks top notch and runs awesome. Trans is an AOD modded with additional clutching and shift kit, shifts are quick and solid.

Exterior is in Metallic Ice Blue and is a top notch job, has a few little paint scratches, but overall looks really great. The lettered THUNDERBIRD has been removed from the front of the hood, thunderbird insignia on the front fenders right above the feathers.

Interior is where a lot of customizing has been done, 10 way power seats from a Lincoln, late 70's Early 80's Steering wheel, auto shifter built in to the console (looks like it was done form the factory), and a total interior redo with gray leather on the front seat, that have cloth centers on the seating and center of the seatbacks, rear seats are the same style with hi grade gray vinyl, with the cloth centers in the seating and seatbacks. The AC is a Vintage air kit that has not been finished, needs hoses and a drier. This car is a real eye catcher and runs and drives very well.. It has a few little issues that need attention. The only Gauge that functions is the Alt meter, so I suspect that the CVR needs replaced for the other 3.

The information that I am getting from the broker, is that it was a 80K restoration and customization. It does have Pictures documenting the job, car was totally disassembled and restored..

Oh almost forgot. it has power disc brakes with the dual master cylinder. Stops very smoothly and the brakes function with authority. It also has the Kelsy Hayes wire wheels.

My question is to the value. I know that not being original takes away the collector value. So how does one put a value on a Custom like this one.. I can probably get it for 20K, since the owner is wanting to liquidate this one..
Input??
Thanks
Ed

[RedBird64]

Hello Ed and welcome! Sounds like a super nice ride!
I have no idea of the value. If it were me, I would ask my ins. agent at Hagerty, Grundy, etc. They will have auction results and can get you a value.

Scott

[sseebart]

With a unique car like this, the value will have to be found at the magical intersection of your highest offer and the buyer's lowest price.

$20,000 is a lot to pay for any 64 hardtop and very close to the cost of a convertible in good (or very good) condition.

If I were looking at a custom car like this, I would be mostly concerned with the quality of the work. If simple things like gauges were overlooked in the build, it would be difficult to believe that the rest of the work was done meticulously. If you can share photos of the car, it's possible we could help to assess the build (and therefore the value) better.

~Steve

[ak7an]

Here is the link to the Ad with some pictures.
https://cars.ksl.com/listing/5514078?ad_cid=15#
The owner is ready to liquidate this car, and the broker told me that they want it out of their showroom as they have had it for over a year..
Thanks for the replies.
Ed

[rzcrisis]

If I were looking at a custom car like this, I would be mostly concerned with the quality of the work. If simple things like gauges were overlooked in the build, it would be difficult to believe that the rest of the work was done meticulously. If you can share photos of the car, it's possible we could help to assess the build (and therefore the value) better.

Totally agree with Steve. Need to evaluate the quality of restore based on critical functions working such as dash gauges and try to see past the "bling" of the rest of the resto.

Randy

[paulr]

If simple things like gauges were overlooked in the build, it would be difficult to believe that the rest of the work was done meticulously.
~Steve

Clues. Odd that with all the attention to detail under the hood (which is appealing and which would interest me), the old analog gauges are still in the dash. Where is the new volt meter? Also, one has to wonder if the OEM ammeter is still employed, which would be a glaring (and dangerous) fault given all the other work.

There is some custom work on the interior upholstery, a matter of taste, that on close inspection reveals some poor finish. The interior chrome isn't great. I'm really not a fan of the dull ubiquitous 80s steering wheel; it just lacks all the cool of the mid-century choices, even the '66 CC wheel would be better. There's some real badging schizophrenia; a '58-60 Bird emblem decorates the interior dash; a '65 center bumper emblem fills the rear bumper; the "feathers" on the front fenders are a peculiar custom addition of arbitrary design but the '64 never had any feathers and, the "Limited Edition" (limited to 1) fob stuck on the trunk lid is something that, while literally true, just looks cheesy. You could remove it. JMHO.

I think you could get this car lowball. The seller is motivated. Many of the custom design features seem not to be coming from any common theme or plan, but just scattered around until the car is filled with bling. It's confusing. Potential buyers have passed on this one for a long time because the taste is too personal to whomever did it. Bid low. Take it off their hands. Then enjoy the performance features that I suspect may be very enjoyable. Plus, it's a nice color.

[stubbie]

It's difficult to put a price on something that has been modified. Car looks ok to me. A couple of strange items but overall looks good. As Scott said it's really what price your both going to agree on. If your willing to go to $20k then maybe start low and work your way up, you never know your luck. If it has as you say been totally restored from the ground up it should be good for sometime, weather you get your money back in 10 years time is another story.

[ak7an]

Thanks for the explanation of some of the details with the badging and trim. That helps a bunch. I am sure that some of the extras could be removed. There are other items that aren't my style, but what appealed to me is that it would have dependability and some economic viability, being fuel injected and an OD trans. I am not looking for a true original anything, and if I would restore one on my own, (which I really don't have the desire or time to do), I would probably stray from all original with minor customization. I was never looking to buy one and the make money... Fun factor means quite a bit..
Thanks again
Ed

[sseebart]

I'd say the car has nice "curb appeal." As Paul noted, it's a nice color. It's also got a good stance and appears to be pretty clean.

A few years back, I monitored eBay for every Flairbird that came up for sale, trying to get a sense for value. I looked at a lot of pictures, which taught me a great deal about how photos can fail to tell the whole story. Red flags for me in this set include:

No up close shots under the hood. The engine bay looks clean, but with a major engine graft, I'd want to see more. (And I don't know that the driver's side cowl brace is doing much of anything. How do you check the brake fluid?)

No shots of the trunk. Maybe the owner didn't do any work in there?

No undercarriage photos. I would certainly want to see how clean the underbody is, check for rust repairs, and get a sense for the quality of the suspension work done, if any.

Not related to photos, but perhaps a worthwhile haggling point is the state of the electrical system. It's hard to say how the car was originally equipped, but with power seats, computer controlled EFI (+fuel pump), a new tach and a multiple speaker sound system some provisions should have been made to carry the extra load.

I agree with the others, it could be a sweet ride. I wouldn't count on 100% reliability--it's still a vintage car underneath that chrome. Start low and see what they say.

~Steve

[scumdog]

Nice looking car but the blow-hard advertisement write-up turned me off.

And the door-card with a mixture of speakers and Lincoln emblems is rubbish.