Values of the 4th Gen in your area

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Jesse65
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 13, 2020 5:49 pm

Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by Jesse65 »

Hello. New guy here. Searching for an older car is hard but fun. I'm a 40 something male from the PNW. I'm looking for my first Thunderbird. Owned a 1968 Ford Falcon for about 4 years and was fun but not very pretty. I want something long and low. So here I am, looking for some opinions and guidance. I really like the 65 so that is that stats I am basing this on.
What did you pay for your car? Is it original or modified? Rusty or clean?
Where are you from?
What do you think it's worth?

I looked at the Hagerty Valuation($11,600 for a "good") and up was wondering how accurate it was.
I would love to hear your opinion.

Thanks.
Actively looking for a 1965 or 66. :joker:
georgemii
Posts: 111
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2018 7:52 am

Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by georgemii »

FWIW: I’m in MN. Bought my ‘65 two years ago (in Omaha) for $8800.
Now shows 130K miles.
Not concours, but clean and straight; no rust. I’ve replaced several
parts (the usual suspects) - shifter/steering column issues, master cylinder,
brake lines and hoses, water pump, front end parts and sway bar, tires.
Had the local upholstery shop install front seat covers.
I’ve got a pile of receipts. Haven’t added ‘em up, but I’ve probably got
something like $12K into it.

NOT FOR SALE! ::?

I see that you’re new here. If you hang around, you will find that this
Forum - and it’s members - offer a wealth of information.
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sseebart
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Location: Northern California
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Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by sseebart »

Jesse65 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 7:35 pm Hello. New guy here. Searching for an older car is hard but fun. I'm a 40 something male from the PNW. I'm looking for my first Thunderbird. Owned a 1968 Ford Falcon for about 4 years and was fun but not very pretty. I want something long and low. So here I am, looking for some opinions and guidance. I really like the 65 so that is that stats I am basing this on.
What did you pay for your car? Is it original or modified? Rusty or clean?
Where are you from?
What do you think it's worth?

I looked at the Hagerty Valuation($11,600 for a "good") and up was wondering how accurate it was.
I would love to hear your opinion.
Welcome to the forum!

I've always found the Hagarty estimates to be on the high side. For over $10k on the West Coast I'd expect a car with no or slight rust in really good running condition with a decent interior and paint--not a show winner, but a driver needing minimal work to keep it on the road. I used to follow sales on eBay pretty closely, but haven't done so in a while. When I did, there were plenty of Flairbirds for $5k or less. For that price, you can expect a lot of rust remediation and some significant mechanical issues.

Thunderbirds are full of features, which makes them a lot of fun. But all those gadgets are fragile and complex. Keeping them working is an on-going process. Fix one thing and something else is bound to go. You'll spend (maybe a lot) more on this car than its resale value, but it will turn heads and spark grins whenever you drive it.

~Steve

P.S. As an aside, I'm in Northern California, but I know a number of club members are in the Pacific Northwest--it's a great T-Bird community up there; you'll find lots of local support and help.
64ZCODE
Posts: 385
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:41 pm

Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by 64ZCODE »

I'm in agreement with what Steve said in his post, and would add that convertibles typically sell for more than hardtops.

Suggest looking on the Bring A Trailer site in the archives to see auction results, then deduct some money to approximate a private sale because BaT prices tend to be on the high side. Here are the search results for '65 TBirds:

https://bringatrailer.com/search/1965+ford+thunderbird/
1964 TBird Hardtop
1969 Galaxie 500 Convertible
1990 Mustang 5.0 LX
1974 Porsche 914 2.0
DakotaLee
Posts: 214
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:20 pm

Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by DakotaLee »

Keep an eye on local postings, and eBay. These cars seem to be slowly, but consistently, gaining value. Find the one that speaks to you most(let the car find you), and you’ll be happiest. As said before, you will learn that these cars are amazing, complex, and expensive all at once. The more you end up doing yourself, the more you’ll save. I, and I’m sure others, are more than happy to help. If you find any candidates, feel free to PM me and I can do my best to give you any guidance I can.

Dak
'66 Town Hardtop
SoCal
Jesse65
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 13, 2020 5:49 pm

Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by Jesse65 »

Thanks everyone. I have been scouring the locals and I have found a few that are in a good price range and clean. I will keep you updated and continue to look through the archives for as much info as I can.

Thanks again.
Jess
Actively looking for a 1965 or 66. :joker:
JamesR
Posts: 312
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:47 pm

Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by JamesR »

I'm still trying to figure out why the early four seater T-Birds (i.e. 2nd to 4th gen.) remain a good buyer's value despite having generally admired (even iconic) styling and a reputation for being a substantial and reliable car. Another way to state that would be: I wonder why they aren't worth more?

One reason might be because that they're generally under-performers in terms of acceleration, and probably handling (as in cornering at speed.) Because they're styled to look "fast" with low profiles and the short deck/long hood styling, their performance can be disappointing to people who don't understand what the cars are about. Related to that, they had virtually no presence at race tracks when they were new, and that was a big deal back in the '60's.

I paid $3500 a year and a half ago for my basically good running/OK driving driver that had some relatively standard rust issues and conspicuously worn paint. There's NO WAY I could've even hoped to get a two door hardtop Impala, Chevelle or Tempest/LeMans of the same year and condition for that kind of money, and all of those cars were very downscale from the Thunderbird when new.

I'll need to address some previous body repair when it comes time to get the car painted, and I don't know exactly how I'm going to approach that at this point. The dilemma is that a driving project T-Bird can be really affordable to get into, but also really easy to get under water with, as in you'll never get back what you eventually put into it.

Realistically, I'll end up having another 10 grand in my car to have a presentable driver, so I could've been better off looking for a cleaner car in the 10-12 thousand range up front. But the other side of that is you can buy a more expensive car that looks great, but ends up needing expensive work, too. My impression is that if you spend more than 18-19k on a pretty nice 66 T-Bird hardtop, you're getting into diminishing returns territory. But all the Chevy guys think their Chevelles are worth 35k.
64ZCODE
Posts: 385
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:41 pm

Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by 64ZCODE »

Out here in California, to get more than $18K for a flair bird, it'll need to be a concours quality restoration.
1964 TBird Hardtop
1969 Galaxie 500 Convertible
1990 Mustang 5.0 LX
1974 Porsche 914 2.0
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sseebart
Posts: 1686
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Location: Northern California
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Re: Values of the 4th Gen in your area

Post by sseebart »

64ZCODE wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 2:40 pm Out here in California, to get more than $18K for a flair bird, it'll need to be a concours quality restoration.
I've seen decent convertibles in Northern California in that price range.
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