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By joey - 18 Years Ago
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Anybody else been watching this? Is it me, or is just about every other car on the block a Chevrolet? Last night I turned it on at the start and watched for 3-1/2 hours. In all that time I saw exactly one Ford car: a '65 station wagon. 
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By bird55 - 18 Years Ago
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I saw a pink (Dusk Rose) 57 bird not a major resto but extremely nice and original looking, go for 55,000, I recall.
As far as I'm concerned let the mindless masses keep putting small block chevies in anything they can find. It is easy, cheap, unchallenging and uncreative. And keep painting them orange too.
More yblocks for us. sorry that's my rant, just had to get that off my chest.
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By Jim Rowe - 18 Years Ago
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I've been watching it too. More money than brains it seems/
$65,000 Ampicar?????????????????? Last year one sold for $125,000.
They were not good cars and poor boats. This wouldn't make them collectable even if they made only 2.
Like you guys I haven't seen enough Fords. Especially Y-Block powered Fords.
If I only had the Cash...... Let's see a 56 sunliner "P" code, with dealer installed powerpack, a 55 Crown with a 292 and a nice 57 "F" code sedan.
Oh, to sleep is to Dream !
Jim
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By pegleg - 18 Years Ago
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Well Gents, look at the bright side of that story on the Amlicar, The guy who sold it turned around and bought a real F code 'Bird which he is restoring! Nice guy, sold him some parts for it. So some dummy paid 125 k for a German boat with wheels, or a car with a propeller, and the guy who was smart enough to sell it, builds a Y Block. There was a silver lining in that story. Also, as long as they concentrate on the scrubs, they'll leave us alone! I don't watch any more, got tired of the stupidity of the so called "experts." Frank/Rebop
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By joey - 18 Years Ago
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pegleg
So some dummy paid 125 k for a German boat with wheels, or a car with a propeller, and the guy who was smart enough to sell it, builds a Y Block. There was a silver lining in that story. 
pegleg
I don't watch any more, got tired of the stupidity of the so called "experts." Frank/Rebop Yeah. The commentators were sure making a lot of questionable statements. One of them saying how he could tell a classic TBird resto was done wrong because the power steering pump was located driver's side front. Uh...OK. Maybe it's my imagination, but no sooner does an untricked Ford hit the block when they start pushing it off again. There was this one '55 Crown Vic, very nice car. The auctioneer cut it short and the car went for low 40s money, even though bidding obviously wasn't done. If I was the seller, I'd've been real ticked off.
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By Jim - 18 Years Ago
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But did you guys see what brought the most $$$???? It was no bowtie, but was Carroll Shelby's Super Snake Cobra!
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By speedpro56 - 18 Years Ago
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I saw it, and it was great to see the bowties take a back seat where they belong.The Shelby Mustang didn't do to bad either.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 18 Years Ago
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I too have been watching the Barrett-Jackson show, but I do it right. I record everything on a DVR the day before so I can zip through the scrubvette/mopar auctions and slow-mo/replay the Fords.
For the last few years the so called "expert" commentators have all acted as if the Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels were an original option on 50s T-birds. Several times I have sent them emails explaining that, due to this misconception, EVERY car brought to the auction will soon have them, since no one wants his car to look underdressed and sell for less. They have repeatedly ignored me, and now I am convinced that the Roadster Wheel company that makes the copies must send everybody there free product, the way GM initially promoted the 265 scrub V-8.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 18 Years Ago
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After watching a wee bit of this B-J thing on several evenings - I've come to the conclusion that the number of viewers is probably going to drop. Out of boredom. Used to be they had all sorts of interesting cars - now its just a steady stream of Camaros, Mustangs, Chevelles and Hemi Cuda's. What happened to the older cars? And the racing cars? too few in the current format if you ask me (and no one did actually).....
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By Canadian Hot Rodder - 18 Years Ago
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Gentlemen, The positive way to look at this is that the "scrubs" are disposable and no one really cares if they sell them. Ford lovers, love their cars and tend to hang on to them as opposed to selling them for a quick buck. I hung onto my Ford powered Model A as long as I could, but family commitments ment I had to sell it. It was like I was selling my own child!  I litterly cried my eyes out as I drove away. When I sold my 69 chev to build the "A" ( yes I did own a scrub) I was happy as heck counting the cash and dreaming of what I could buy for the "Old 28"! Let them sell their cookie cutter crap............. I'm keeping "Old Vicky".  Rob
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By Nat Santamaria - 16 Years Ago
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Hey guys, going back to the Roadster Wire wheels on my 57 Bird. I had 2 sets on my car in less than a year. I could not balance the vibration out of them. The second set was better than the first but driving on the highway I still had a vibration. I put the stock rims back on and I now have the Roadster wire wheels collecting dust.
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By PWH42 - 16 Years Ago
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I didn't watch much of it(learned my lesson a couple of years ago),but I did happen to flip to that channel as they were selling Bird number 1.Which,by the way,the "experts"said had a 312 engine.Did any of the Bowtie's bring the money this Bird brought?
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By bird55 - 16 Years Ago
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Well, I hope to see a rerun of the 55 bird that sold.
I remember when George Watts first found that car behind an old building, and restored it. Late 60's I think.
The vin # was in question for awhile but then soon sorted out.
Bingo, Numero Uno Bird. He then later sold it to…FORD. sheese. 
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By ejstith - 16 Years Ago
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Well I watched it almost from beginning to end (what part I didn't sleep through). On the first day there was a '59 4dr ht that went for 12K and it looked brand new. I'm no fan of '59's but that looked like a hell of a deal to me. And yes, a couple of the baby birds went for a good price. The supercharged one with the T-85 and #1 went for big bucks. Shelby's own Cobra went for big money. I didn't see what the new 700 hp Mustang went for, missed that one. I like watching it and can't wait until Palm Beach. I did the fantasy bid thing. Good thing I'm not in the business of buying and sellin' these classics. I'd either loose my ass or I wouldn't have anything. I was way off on lots of them. Oh well, was fun ..
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By Y block Billy - 16 Years Ago
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I watched some of it, I just like knowing what things are going for and compare it to stock market value so I can argue with my wife that investing in cars is better than investing in stocks. Anyway, on to the bird thing, what gets me is it is not exactly number 1, The vin is 1000005 being the 5th thunderbird produced, the first 4 were used for testing and whatnot and never sold (What happened to those ones?), it is the first one that was let go to the general public though.
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By bird55 - 16 Years Ago
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I've not researched this recently. I remember from when it was originally found was that the birds were made on the same assembly line as the other cars- so it was not the first car off the line, but the first bird off the line.
Just what I read.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 16 Years Ago
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Al: After 100005 was discovered and restored, I read where 100004, a Bird, showed up. Never heard any more about it, it may have been a scam. I think you were right, cars and Birds on the same line were all consecutively numbered.
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By PWH42 - 16 Years Ago
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The paperwork from Ford with the car stated that the first cars of that sequence of numbers were full size cars.This one is apparently the first Bird.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
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First three (or four) T-Birds were not assembly line cars. They had VIN#s, but only to tell them apart. Numbers were not official as demo/prototypes never sold to the public.
Mysterious demo #4 DID have many super early/preproduction characteristics. Maybe the guy stamping data plate #s that day came to work drunk, and no one ever caught the error? I don't think any original invoice was ever found for it, and since most all the '55 paperwork was lost, I think we may only have "pink lady's" (FoMoCo employee) word for which T-Bird was first (?), and she died recently.
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By Oldmics - 16 Years Ago
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From another site that I frequentOldmics,
You are correct, the Thunderbirds were the only cars built at the Rouge
plant until the passenger cars started on Monday, October 25. Other Ford assembly
plants started production earlier in October. My opinion is that Ford was
focused on getting the new Thunderbird into the market place, possibly causing
a delay at the Rouge Plant for the passenger cars.
Another interesting note is the 1955 Thunderbird production ran until
September 16, 1955 while the 1955 passenger car production ended on August 30,
1955. Therefore, only Thunderbirds were being assembled at the start and
finish of the 1955 model year run.
#100001, 100002 and 100003 had build dates on the data plate as August 9.
#100004 had a date of August 25. and #100005 had a build date of September 9 as
well as another hand full of Thunderbirds.
As reported the first three was destroyed, and #4 is in Pennsylvania. Some
theories is that the prototypes were given VIN numbers for tax purposes Stands to reason that Birds were numbered in sequence until the passeger cars were also built on the line.Thats when the Bird and passenger car data plate numbers would have been intermixed. Rumor has it that #3 was dropped from a helicoptor for its destruction.
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