Thunderbird… Unique in all the world” - 1963 Ford Thunderbird magazine advertising theme To be sure you access all the more than 145 photographs, as well as a short start-up and walk-around video, please go to our main website: Garage Kept Motors.) I casually gave him my number like I did this sort of thing every day and started packing up to go to the office to settle up.(Please note: If you happen to be viewing this 1963 Ford Thunderbird 2-Door Coupe on a website other than our Garage Kept Motors site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many photographs of the car due to third-party website limitations. I decided $500 wasn't going to make much of a difference, so I gave the nod, and he immediately yelled up to the auctioneer with a whoop and a raised arm.Ī few seconds later, the gavel fell and I was being congratulated for my purchase by an energetic assistant. The bidding had stalled and it looked like the auctioneer was about to throw the gavel. Dang it! Now the bid assistant was in my ear, asking if I wanted to go up another $500. Bidding started anew, and I threw out my high bid a fraction after another bidder had been recognized for the same amount. Just then, the driver hit the switch for the power convertible top, which dramatically rose into the air before folding itself gracefully back into the maw of the open decklid. Suddenly, the auctioneer announced that the reserve had been lifted! I was surprised because it was early and the price was still very reasonable, but lifting the reserve meant that the car would sell for the high bid no matter what. There was some online bidding, but as the number crept closer to my limit, it was just between me and one other person. As far as I could tell, there was only one other bidder in the room. The bidding started as the Diamond Blue Thunderbird rolled onto the block. There was a driver sitting in it with the motor running, scooting the Thunderbird forward as each car ahead of it passed through the auction block. Leaving my son at our table, I walked past the gesticulating and raucous auction assistants, out to the tent housing the queued up cars. Intrigued, I noticed that this T-bird was only four cars from coming across the block, so I had better get in gear if I was going to bid. I had also explored the possibility of buying a convertible, but at the time the cost for one was past my budget. The wrap-around interior and bullet styling has always captured my imagination, but at that time had given up on my search, not finding a suitable candidate. I thought back to a couple years previously when I had been shopping for this exact car, except at the time I was looking at hard-top coupes, not convertibles. It was a 1963 Ford Thunderbird Convertible with 87,000 original miles. Since attending one of these auctions as a bidder was on my Want-To-Do list anyway, I decided to hook up Big Red to Black Betty, and head down the road with my 14 year old son to see what we could see about this so-called auction.Īs I flipped through the final few pages, my eye fell on a car which had until now escaped my notice. Now, I have watched plenty of classic car auctions on TV (Barret Jackson and Mecum come to mind) and I am familiar with the pace and routine of these events, but never have I actually attended one - much less registered as a bidder. ![]() I clicked on the ad for the Mustang and it informed me that if I was interested in the car, it would be available at a classic car auction that weekend a couple hours away from where I live. I've never been known for my good timing. Values have been on the rise over the past few years, so now is the time - or, more accurately, a couple years ago was the time to buy one. I've owned several Fox body cars, and had a recent hankering to get behind the wheel of another. I had been shopping for a fun summer project that I could work on and enjoy using at the same time. My part of the story began with an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a 1986 Ford Mustang GT convertible.
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