1957 Ford Thunderbird | Projects

1957 Ford Thunderbird

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The Project

Following successful completion of a paintwork refresh on a 1967 Ford Mustang, this returning customer booked his recently restored 1957 Ford Thunderbird in for works in April 2024. These include minor electrical work and for the car to be undersealed to keep it in top condition when being taken to shows and used on British roads.

Updates

10th April 2024: The car arrives and investigation work to fix an issue with the indicator switch begins, along with the underside of the vehicle sealed with clear underseal.

11th April 2024: Works to the car have finished and it’s now ready to be collected by its proud owner.

History

In 1957 Ford modified the Thunderbird with new front and rear ends as well as a more powerful V8 engine. This more powerful model was met with great enthusiasm by consumers who purchased over 20,000 units that year.

Upgrades to the 1957 model year included larger 14-inch wheels, increased chassis rigidity, a new suspension, larger brakes.

Five distinct V8s were offered. On the lower end was the 292 in³ and a D-code 312 in³, called the Thunderbird Special V8, with a single Holley carb. Higher spec cars included the E-code which used dual Holley four-barrels to produce 270 bhp or 285 with a racing kit which had 10.0:1 compression large port heads, dual 4 barrel carburettors, 290 degree cam and reworked distributor. At the top end was the F-code McCullough-Paxton supercharged model which offered 300 horsepower.

Friendly, helpful, extremely knowledgeable, patient enough to explain the processes and reasons for doing things and highlighted even more how approachable the team are. They tried to accommodate our needs and requests to get our beloved old riley back on the road as soon as possible despite the ups and downs that were thrown our way and into the teams path! We could not have wished to deal with a more personable company after encountering some other teams that really made a botch of stuff, seemed uncommitted and were not professional at all. Carrosserie as a team were totally the opposite . . would we recommend them ? ABSOLUTELY !!! We would not go anywhere else now, THANK YOU TO Steve, Neil, Graham and Nicola . . Oh and Karen who spilled the beans about the the birthday surprised to my partner (whose car it is ) . but made the experience all the more special when a bottle of wine was presented as well as a treat to Simon for his birthday AND made it all the more worth dealing with the team ! THANK YOU AGAIN !!!

My car was the subject of some body and paint repairs here in Spring 2024, to address corrosion plus some substandard paintwork. An annual service was also carried out. There was good responsive communications, advice, and attention to detail throughout, to ensure a high quality, durable result, with the final paintwork being indistinguishable from factory finish, and easily better than any franchised dealership repairs. If you are invested in your classic car, want to make it last, with an exemplary finish to be proud of, then you need look no further.

I can't recommend Carrosserie highly enough, the service was exemplary from start to finish and the workmanship is second to none. I highly recommend giving the team a call for any work you need doing to your classic car, no matter what it is, you will not be disappointed!