50 cars in 50 days, celebrating 50 years of Old Cars: Day Forty-Six
Old Cars wants to celebrate our 50-year anniversary by bringing you “50 cars in 50 days.” Today we offer up a 1965 Ford Thunderbird.
Old Cars is turning 50. In honor of 50 years of the privilege of bringing the old cars hobby to our valued and faithful readers, Old Cars will revisit 50 of our past featured cars in 50 days, to commemorate the half-century of Old Cars. Here's to fifty more years of Old Cars!
DAY FORTY-SIX: 1965 Ford Thunderbird
Tom Willfahrt, a resident of Auburndale, Wis., wasn’t exactly sure if he was buying himself a dream gift for his retirement or a big box of headaches, but he swallowed hard and took the chance. In hindsight, buying a 1965 Ford Thunderbird limited edition Special Landau coupe that just needed a little attention and some TLC doesn’t seem to be too big of a risk, but the T-Bird was Willfarhrt’s first hobby car and came with a little trepidation.
The car had sat idle and untouched for more than 20 years. The previous owner had planned to restore it, but the project never really got off the ground.
“My concern was that this was the first [collector] car I ever bought. I didn’t want to overpay for it,” Willfahrt said. “The day before Christmas … the lady who had it said, ‘If you want it, you got to take it now.’ Her husband had it, and he was deceased. So the day before Christmas we picked it up and brought it home.”
The fancy Ford had rolled up 100,000 miles during its daily driver days, which were apparently all in Wisconsin. The car was sold new in West Bend, Wis., to a family in Marshfield. It was apparently parked sometime in the late 1970s, then changed hands twice later on, but was never driven.
The Landau coupe was one of three body styles available on 1965 Thunderbirds. It was joined by a two-door hardtop and convertible. All were similar in styling to the 1964 models, which debuted Thunderbird’s fourth generation with a shorter roofline, longer hood and different front end appearance than previous years.
To learn more about Willfahrt's T-Bird <CLICK HERE>
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