62 with factory sunroof?

[fast Ed]

Hello all

Not a current Thunderbird owner, but have previously had an 88 TC, a 95 SC, and a 66 Town Hardtop, A bucket list car for me is a 61-62 Bird, that’s what I was actually looking for when I ended up with the 66.

Anyway, a few hours away from me in Ontario Canada there is an ad for a good looking driver quality 62 hardtop with what the seller believes to be a factory sliding sunroof. Doing some interwebs searching I’ve found references to the option on a 60, but didn’t see anything definitive for a Bullet Bird. A search on the forum here didn’t knew me anything either but maybe I was going at it wrong.

So the question is, could this be a factory metal sliding sunroof on the car?


Thank you,
Ed N.

[aa010175]

I saw a 1960 with the sunroof.

[Alan H. Tast]

No. Never offered from the factory. Probably adapted from another car like a '60 T-bird that had one (they were sourced through the Golde company from Germany); aftermarket conversions were done by American Sunroof Company (ASC) and installed by them along with customizers. ASC subcontracted with Ford to install them on 1960 T-birds as a factory option, then it was dropped until the late 1960s - the 1969 T-bird reintroduced the option and continued through the 1970s and later. It would be interesting to see interior / exterior photos to learn more about i, though.

[fast Ed]

Thank you Alan. I’m hoping to arrange for a look at the car next weekend so as you mentioned it will be interesting to see what it looks like from the inside of the car. My thought too was that perhaps someone had grafted it in from a 1960 at some point in its life. The seller has owned it for 25 years so it isn’t something done recently anyway.

I will follow up after a look at the car, and will certainly be active on here again if I make the purchase.


Thanks,
Ed

[RAVEN]

Good luck with the viewing of the car. Being a member of the Southern Ontario Club for more than 45 years, I am not aware of any Sunroof Bullet Bird, in the area. (GTA). Interested in what you have found.

R

[fast Ed]

Partial update on this. I was going to potentially make the trek this morning to look at the car, but after talking to the seller on Friday night to get some more details about it and the condition, I was hesitant. After conferring with a good friend who has been my sidekick and guide in pretty much all of my automotive adventures over the past 40 years, we decided that the car was still overpriced despite the seller having lowered it a few times over the course of the summer and fall.

Overnight Saturday in to this morning, the seller messaged me to say that after speaking to me and doing some more research on the potential value, he’s decided to drop the price again a few grand. It’s closer now to the price I’ve got in my head. I’d already made some other plans for today and couldn’t make a last minute change to head north for a look. I think next weekend my buddy and I will head there, assuming it doesn’t get snagged in the meantime. End of season here though so less people looking I’m sure.

The seller did talk about joining some T-Bird groups on FB, but when I mentioned SOTC he was unaware, which is a shame considering that he’s owned the car for 25 years, The few times that I attended the Bayfield show with the other Birds I’ve owned, I always enjoyed it.


Cheers
Ed

[fast Ed]

Late reply here, made the 3 hr drive to have a look at this 62, Turns out to be a Golde sunroof from back in the day that’s been installed. Overall the car was tired cosmetically, had been restored about 30 yrs ago. To look really good the car would need a full resto again, but I’m not the guy to do that, Had the typical FE leaky exhaust manifold, very old bias ply tires, and various other issues that made me decide to pass. I’d be better off spending more money up front to get a better car.

So for now anyway, not getting back in to classic T-Bird ownership unless something happens to pop up over the winter.

[ICON 1956]

I would wait till early Spring, You were smart to actually see what interested your thoughts. Glad you passed on it.

[fast Ed]

One reason I was looking late in the season was to try to catch a deal from someone who had lost their storage for the coming winter, and needed to move the car along.

More stuff for sale in the spring for sure, but prices tend to be higher because of more potential buyers too.