1965 invoice data

[joelhutchison]

I was able to get a copy of the original invoice from Marti and it lists
"WH COVERS KO HUBS & SHIELDS"
I know it means it had wheel covers and skirts but not sure about the "KO HUBS" portion. Does anyone have that information?
My car had full size Ford fake spoke covers on it when I got it.

[redstangbob]

your car came with Deluxe hub caps, you can find lots of them on ebay.

s-l400.jpg (53.29 KiB) Viewed 2212 times

[Scott6T6]

Wheel Covers KO (Knock Off) Hubs & (Rear Fender) Shields. Redstangbob is right on!
You have a very heavily optioned '65 Landau.
Transistorized Ignition was relatively uncommon, few Thunderbirds came with it.

[JamesR]

Congratulations on getting the invoice and thanks for sharing it with us, Joel. I noticed that your car was sold new in Phoenix and that you reside in NM. Has it always been a southwestern car?

It's cool to see this old paper work. Some stuff is amazingly inexpensive - like power antenna for $29 list - but some stuff is also more than I would've expected for that era, like the retail for A/C: $424. That was a lot of money back then...but I don't know, maybe that's what you'd pay today when adjusted for inflation.

[joelhutchison]

Thanks Bob, I thought it might be that it had the high dollar caps on it. I already rounded up a set of nice standard caps for what one of the deluxe caps cost online. Maybe I'll upgrade someday.

Thanks JamesR; I actually bought it in PHX and like most cars of this age from phoenix, any and all vinyl and rubber is dust and completely cracked up but the sheet metal is in excellent shape save a few exceptions because of an IPO. If you've ever lived in Phoenix you would understand the cost of A/C was worth every penny. It even still had a little bit of pressure in it when I disconnected it to pull the suitcase out of the car to clean it up.

Scott6T6 (clever name) I even have the transistorized ignition working after fixing some rat/squirrel eaten wiring. We'll see how long it lasts once I get it running. I've already created an emergency harness with a TPS unit that will drop right in with a couple of quick jumpers to bypass the resistors and a hot wire to the coil. Now if only I could find a cover for the perma-tune panel on the inner fender. They are so rare I would copy it and start 3D printing them and selling them if I could only find a good one.

[RAVEN]

Question Joe for info. I have a situation of a possible conflict and am doing some research. Since you own a 65 and it can be a Special Landau, what colour is your steering wheel, and/or is it Wood grain or Parchment.
The next question is the Mylar band around the edge. Is it 180* or 360* wrap around?

A possible correction is needed for the Factory Specs, and I need that info. Thanks beforehand

RAVEN

[joelhutchison]

Hey Raven,
I don't believe it's a special landau. For one it's a C paint code which is Honey Gold with a light ivy gold interior (58) and doesn't have the special landau badging. It does have a wood grain steering wheel (cracked) and the strip covers the bottom 40% between the spokes but there is a groove in the upper part and I assume it used to go all of the way around. I need to look a bit closer to see if there might be some glue residue when I can get to it hopefully later today.

I hope this is helpful.

JOEL

[RAVEN]

Yes it does. You have a Hard Top ? so Mylar strip only wraps around the lower wheel between the spokes. There never was an upper cover in your application BUT does raise a question.
This question adds to the wonder. Do you have wood grain dash, but not of the Special grain style, and a coloured vinyl roof.?
I may be adding confusion to the story, but I am thinking of possible Concourse errors. I AM the one creating the inquiry

R

[redstangbob]

Wally, why are you thinking this is or could be a SL?

[RAVEN]

Bob, great to have you tag on.
I AM trying to clarify a possible conflict to the SL Landau and a 65 Lancau, and a standard hardtop.
This all stems to their respective steering wheels.
Perhaps you can expand on the subject, I know you are more versed on 65 units as I am on 64s.
The OFS says one way but have possible conflict on some cars I know. Just trying to verify data, before I go further.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
DO NOT WANT to have Alan go down another rabbit hole. LOL If I can figure it out.

[redstangbob]

milepost has some data, FWIW. http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird196 ... andau.html the steering wheel is mentioned in the THUNDERBIRD SPECIAL LANDAU INTERIOR DISTINCTIONS

[Scott6T6]

Raven, joelhutchison has a '65 Landau. It's not a Special Landau.
For starters, the color scheme of his car is not that of a Special Landau.
If it was a Special Landau, the factory Gate Release Form would also have the Special Landau designation on it.
.
The steering wheel in the Special Landau was Parchment, it was not wood grained like those steering wheels found in the regular Landau models.
The "chrome" trim strip on the Special Landau's Parchment steering wheel was only found at the bottom half of the rim running from spoke to spoke. The same as the steering wheels found in the Hardtop Models. At least that is what I've observed.

The '65 Landau (not the SL) steering wheel was of course wood grained and had the "chrome" strip running around the entire inside perimeter of the steering wheel.

Does this help? I agree, best not to bother Alan with this...

Scott

[Scott6T6]

This may deviate a little from the original topic, but Wally was inquiring about steering wheel details and the difference in the wheel found in '65 Special Landau models.

Redstangbob posted a link to the AUTOMOTIVE MILEPOSTS website.

I think the Automotive Mileposts website is very informative regarding Thunderbirds. I've visited the site countless times over the years and I've also contributed information myself. However, I feel their description of the steering wheel found in the 1965 Thunderbird Special Landau is inaccurate.
Here's a quote from their website;
"The steering wheel on this model is also Parchment, instead of the more familiar simulated woodgrain found on the standard Landau models. This one incorporates a metallic ring inset in the full inner edge of the steering wheel, differing from the standard non-woodgrain wheels, which normally include this ring below the spokes of the wheel only." - AUTOMOTIVE MILEPOSTS.

On all of the Parchment Special Landau steering wheels I've observed, the metallic or chrome Mylar band is only found BELOW the spokes at the bottom half of the steering wheel rim, just like those steering wheels found in the Hardtop & Convertible models. If there were two possible versions of the Special Landau steering wheel, I am not aware of this and I'd like to see evidence. I have photos of several original '65 Special Landau steering wheels documenting the Mylar band at the bottom portion of the wheel rim below the spokes. I've included one in this post.

Only the regular production Landau model had the "chrome" Mylar band running 360 degrees around the inner edge on the rim of the wheel.

The V.T.C.I. Original Factory Specifications manual for the 1964 - '66 series identifies the steering wheel in the 1965 Special Landau as; "Parchment w/silver Mylar insert around entire diameter of face" I would say this is probably an error as I have personally never observed that on the steering wheel rim of any Special Landau. Perhaps this is the possible error in the OFS that Wally was investigating?

I invite anyone who owns a '65 Special Landau to post a photo of their steering wheel. Should be pretty easy to resolve this for the record.



I've also including a photo of an original Gate Release Form for a 1965 Thunderbird Special Landau simply to show the "Special Landau Edition" designation found on the invoice.

Scott

[Scott6T6]

Here's another example I have verifying the Mylar "chrome" band on the LOWER inside face of the steering wheel rim on the 1965 Special Landau.
Scott

[joelhutchison]

My parts car is a base hardtop and has the mylar strip only on the bottom part of the wheel. The woodgrain wheel in my Landau also only is covered on the bottom portion but it doesn't look like it ever had anything it the groove in the upper part of the wheel though I've been working on it for a while and I don't remember if when I cleaned it up it had residue or remnants of a strip in the upper portion. I know this isn't really helpful but the only picture I have from a year ago when I picked it up shows the empty groove up top.