Members MsAnn Posted March 19, 2015 Members Posted March 19, 2015 Steve Wall 3y My parents first consummated their love affair with convertibles when they purchased a brand new 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente. They absolutly loved it and had a ball for many years tooling around town and across the country. Sometime later, the best man from their wedding and his wife bought the ’64 Ford T-Bird pictured above.They each enjoyed their vehicles, but my parents drove the wheels off theirs on many memorable trips and were finally forced to sell when the car was shelled. Their friends were transferred out of state in 1984, and decided to store their T-bird with only 60,000 miles on the odometer. And there it sat for 26 years. Last year a series of events finally combined to allow the car to once again see the light of day. The man who owned the car passed away and his wife was more than tired of paying the monthly storage fees. At the same time our family made rare return to our home town for the funeral of a great aunt. We were asked to stop by the storage facility while we were in town and see what was there and determine the condition of the T-Bird. At the storage facility we presented our letter of authorization for entry, and headed back to open the unit. The entire staff of the facility followed us, curious as to what was in the double storage container that had been unopened for 26 years, and paid for by a never-seen, out-of-state tenant. We pushed and pushed the rusty, creaky sliding door until it finally went up, and were quickly drenched in falling grime and dust. It took about 20 minutes of moving around old antiques and climbing over miscellaneous bags of stuff, but there she was. Flat tires, no brakes, old rotten gas in the tank and dust everywhere – but what a beauty! To make a long story short I ended up spending a week cleaning out the facility - part of a generous offer to purchase the ‘Bird. It took many months to get it purring like the original, but the interior was perfect and the progress of the rebuilding, detailing and replacing had me oooing and ahhhing like a kid. Now nobody loves a convertible as much as my folks – so the next step was to get it hauled down to Arizona where they reside. And after making connections with a transport truck the 'Bird is now a happy resident of Sun City Grand where the new owners know how to appreciate and treat a ’64 convertible! https://ec.yimg.com/ec?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7199%2F6784679422_4252fdc1a1_z.jpg&t=1426804947&sig=UBdT9R0tc.FDQ3cQtXEnCQ--~B Click on the link to see the bird as she was discovered As a side note, I was watching Chip Foose on his auto show restore a 64 once as a surprise to a couple. She was a hard top, and Foose cut the top off making it a permanent convertible. I never watched that show again. -- AdamSmith 1 Quote
AdamSmith Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Gorgeous. Amazing to remember what American styling used to be capable of. Set me to remembering my first car, a 1967 Mustang, which I bought used with a rebuilt engine in 1976. It was exactly this model and color... wayout, lookin and MsAnn 3 Quote
Members lookin Posted March 20, 2015 Members Posted March 20, 2015 Having conquered a blown head under the hood, AdamSmith tackles another one in the back seat AdamSmith and MsAnn 2 Quote
Members MsAnn Posted March 20, 2015 Author Members Posted March 20, 2015 Having conquered a blown head under the hood, AdamSmith tackles another one in the back seat Having been in the back seat of more than a few Mustangs in my day, one being my own teal colored 67 fastback, Mr Smith will testify, that one had to be Houdini to even sit back there, much less lose ones virginity. AdamSmith and lookin 2 Quote
AdamSmith Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Sister Ann speaks gospel truth about that! Trouble was, try anything in the front seats and we'd lose something else to that damned stick shift. lookin and MsAnn 2 Quote
Members MsAnn Posted March 20, 2015 Author Members Posted March 20, 2015 If I only knew. I would never have sold that car. AdamSmith 1 Quote
AdamSmith Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Oh, lord, don't we know it! That one looks like how you described yours -- what a beauty. Quote
AdamSmith Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 P.S. In the spirit of recent outings here, is it time to let the board know that you and I are really the same poster? MsAnn 1 Quote
Members MsAnn Posted March 20, 2015 Author Members Posted March 20, 2015 P.S. In the spirit of recent outings here, is it time to let the board know that you and I are really the same poster? You're Sybil to? Damn, I guess the Mustang thing just kind of outed us. AdamSmith 1 Quote
Members RA1 Posted March 20, 2015 Members Posted March 20, 2015 www.vintagecorvettes.com/1963white.html This is pretty much what my first car looked like. White with red interior. 340 327 engine with AFB (Aluminum Four Barrel), close ratio 4 speed with 4.11 rear end. When you ordered that engine, the only options other than interior and exterior color + rear end ratio was AM/FM radio. AC, power doors, windows, brakes, etc. etc. were not offered. The top went up and down manually but was easy to do. The biggest problem I had was that tires of that era were not what they are today. With that much horsepower, even with Positraction (limited slip differential), one went through tires all too often. In spite of being young and dumb (as opposed to old and dumb) I never got a ticket while owning that car. Yes, I went very fast and did a lot of highway driving. I got stopped a lot because the various police and deputies wanted to look at the car up close but they never wrote me a ticket. At 88 MPH (4,000 RPM) it got 17 MPG on high test. At 90 it got 12. The easy conclusion is that two barrels were open at 88 and the other two opened any faster. Once during a closed section of highway I got it up to 142. Scary to think back doing that on those tires. I enjoyed owning and driving this car but my insurance pretty soon started up to astronomical numbers and the last price quoted was basically equal to buying a new car every year. Even though I was not getting tickets, this was the price of being under 25, single and driving a "fast" car. Best regards, RA1 MsAnn and AdamSmith 2 Quote
Members MsAnn Posted March 20, 2015 Author Members Posted March 20, 2015 . White with red interior. 340 327 engine with AFB (Aluminum Four Barrel), close ratio 4 speed with 4.11 rear end. The biggest problem I had was that tires of that era were not what they are today. With that much horsepower, even with Positraction (limited slip differential), one went through tires all too often. At 88 MPH (4,000 RPM) it got 17 MPG on high test. At 90 it got 12. The easy conclusion is that two barrels were open at 88 and the other two opened any faster. Once during a closed section of highway I got it up to 142. Scary to think back doing that on those tires. Best regards, RA1 Ya know, I get a little turned on when you start talkin about four barrel carbs, rear end gears, posi-traction, with a limited slip, and 4,000 RPM's. Kinda macho RA1. You would have fit nicely into the back of my fastback. BTW. The 63 was one of the best Vette designs that ever went into production. What a looker!!! Quote
AdamSmith Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 You're Sybil to? Damn, I guess the Mustang thing just kind of outed us. I won't say anything if you won't. MsAnn 1 Quote
Members RA1 Posted March 20, 2015 Members Posted March 20, 2015 I would gladly buy back the car I had then, especially at the new car price ($4400). It had plenty of deficiencies, some of them simply products of the time, but I obviously enjoyed it. Best regards, RA1 AdamSmith 1 Quote
Members lookin Posted March 20, 2015 Members Posted March 20, 2015 Having been in the back seat of more than a few Mustangs in my day, one being my own teal colored 67 fastback, Mr Smith will testify, that one had to be Houdini to even sit back there, much less lose ones virginity. My younger self likewise wriggled into a few tight spots in pursuit of a teenage quickie. AdamSmith and MsAnn 2 Quote
Members RA1 Posted March 20, 2015 Members Posted March 20, 2015 If indeed one went over such as Niagara Falls in a barrel somewhat entangled with another, it would surely be the quickest quickie on record. Best regards, RA1 Quote
Members lookin Posted March 20, 2015 Members Posted March 20, 2015 If indeed one went over such as Niagara Falls in a barrel somewhat entangled with another, it would surely be the quickest quickie on record. So one might imagine. In the day, however, I think I could have managed a quickie and half a ciggie ere the bunghole touched the foam. AdamSmith 1 Quote
Members RA1 Posted March 21, 2015 Members Posted March 21, 2015 Did you also have time for a polka or is that a different segue? Best regards, RA1 Quote
