T-Bird Delivered Last Evening

[mike3121]

Got my 1957 T-Bird last evening in the middle of a cold wind storm. Love at first sight. Way back in the "old'en days I had a turquoise 55 rusted Michigan bird with no hardtop. Loved it though but had to sell it when I got orders for Vietnam. This car is great and with only 37,261 miles. I mean it looks original to me; maybe somebody has a time machine? I didn't want a trailer queen but a nice driver. No PS or PB and boy does it show. I'm spoiled by the handling and braking of present day cars. I'm going to have 4 wheel power disc brakes and power steering installed along with a few other things updates.

I was terrified of buying a car sight-unseen from a dealer clear across the country but the sales manager was nice and walked me through the process.

Here's a link, it's a D model.
https://www.futureclassicsnj.com/vehicl ... hunderbird

[jatkinson]

You have a very nice car there! Enjoy..

[CSPIDY]

Very nice indeed, welcome to the club

[ICON 1956]

Welcome to the club. What a nice bird ! you scored big time. Enjoy the car and most importantly Thank you for your service.!

[bobgreco2000]

Great looking car. I too bought a vehicle last year sight unseen and was a nervous wreck until it showed up. Thankfully, it was exactly what I was expecting, which sounds the same as your experience.

Congratulations on the car, thank you for your service and Happy Thanksgiving.

Bob

[cscolastico]

Beautiful. Welcome. I understand your initial anxiety. I, also, purchased a 1957 Dusk Rose D code sight unseen. I live in Southerner California and purchased the vehicle from a dealer in Florida. But I wasn't as brave as you, I had a local appraiser who specialized in classic T Birds inspect and appraise the car before I made the deal. But I was still very anxious until it arrived in all its glory. Enjoy!!!

[thessler]

That's a beauty good luck with it.

[Daddio]

Nice car. I found a huge improvement in ride and handling after installing radial tires. Neither my wife nor I have ever felt we needed power steering, but power brakes are almost essential.

[ICON 1956]

It's good to read that all of your Birds arrived as you expected...I have heard a few individuals tell me horror stories about their experience. and some with scamming experiences too. Like the old saying says "Buyer Beware" .

[mike3121]

Daddio and Wife. Thanks for the information on power steering. I took the car out today to get some gas and I agree, I don't need the power steering. Hey it's not an MG or Mini Cooper. You guys saved me some money. The power disc brakes are a different matter.

Now that I've got everyone's attention I want to relate a story about my old 1955 T-Bird. This was way back in ancient time, about 1966 or so. I was going to college in Port Huron MI. I had a turquoise 1955 that was ratty, rusted, no hard top with multiple holes in the soft top. You can imagine what it would be like in those brutal Michigan winters. It was a bleak winters day and I'm driving through a suburban area of Port Huron. The snow was deep with only a small narrow path to follow. I went to slow down - nothing! I then had an OMG moment. The brake pedal went right to the floor. Lucky no pedestrians or cars were around. My only alternative was to deliberately bounce off snow banks to slow my momentum. That worked.

It seems the 55 had a small metal plate that would separate the drive shaft from the rubber brake line. The plate rusted away and burned a hole in the brake line and dumped all the brake fluid.

Then there was the time on the ice on Lake St. Clair....

[CSPIDY]

With the radial tires, power steering is helpful when parking.

[57Dave]

My 57 has Coker radials. When I first drove it, I felt power steering was needed, but the tires were at 26 lbs. After reading Gil's Garage, I increased the tire pressure to 35 lbs. Big difference! Check your tire pressure.

[ICON 1956]

Agreed ! proper air pressure DOES make a difference !

[seany-boy]

Welcome, nice looking bird. I went with the American Classic Bias look radials as I was concerned about wider radials with manual steering and generally very happy with them. They tend to have an issue with balance that I have read on other sites but easy to turn when moving, parking is a little more work. The manual steering is fine, my brother drove it recently and commented it was much more relaxing to drive than my 70 Mach 1 with pwr steering.
I left the drum brakes with pwr and find them fine. Also put in the 15 inch wheel (another reason I was concerned about too wide tires) and it is a big improvement regarding room in the cabin.