001 BRD

When I was living at my parents’ home, the man across the street had a 57 T-Bird. He loved that car and worked on it all the time. One day he towed a 55 T-Bird to his home. It was a wreck. He told me he got it at the junk yard in Santa Ana. I never asked him how much money he paid for that piece of junk.

As he was cleaning it, he discovered the serial number was …0003. Mr. Watson wrote to the Ford Motor Company to see if it ready was the third T-Bird off the line. He was wrong. It was the very first T-Bird off of the production line. Boy, was he happy. He then restored it instead of using it for parts for his 57.

Later California was changing license plates. He wanted a special plate but at this time California did not have personalize plates. The local DMV told him they could not give him the plate which he wanted but did tell him where it would be issued. He contacted the correct DMV. They said they will be issuing the plate on a certain date and will only hold it for him on that date. He drove there and got it.

This coming Saturday at the Barrett Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, his car will be sold. It still has the plate on it: 001 BRD.



12 cylinders or walk

 

Wow that's a really cool story!! Any estimates of what it'll get at auction?

 

Awesome write up!

 

Cool, hopefully he'll get what he's looking for.

 

WOW awesome story -Thanks for the post

Found this online--

While it may look just like the others, there's just something special about the very first one built. Thunderbird #1, the first to roll off the production line in '55, will roll across the stage at the at '09 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ. Anyone care to speculate on the the sale price?

Thunderbird #1 will be sold at No Reserve during the 38th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale, Ariz., Jan. 11-18, 2009. The Raven Black 1955 T-Bird was produced by Ford Motor Company on Sept. 9, 1954, and represents the birth of Ford’s sports car program.


Penned by Ford designer Frank Hershey, the original Thunderbird was a hit among sports car fans across America and became an instant competitor for the Chevrolet Corvette. This T-Bird is equipped with a 292 Y-block engine, Fordomatic (automatic) transmission, power steering, power windows and power seats.


“After Ford authenticated this 1955 T-Bird as number one, it became a superstar in the automotive world and was paraded across the country for years,” said Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. The first Thunderbird has been displayed at venues across the United States, from Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., to the ‘84 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.


“For Thunderbird enthusiasts and general collectors alike, this is a rare chance to own the first production Ford T-Bird – an American icon. It’s been meticulously restored to original specifications and comes with plenty of documentation to tell its amazing story.”
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Do you happen to know who restored it?

 

He died.

 

$600,000

Not to bad!!



12 cylinders or walk

 

$600k, I'd say well sold. Nice car, but for that money, I'd rather have a sweet F40

 

Does anyone know who the gentleman is who won the bid on the '55 Thunderbird? His name is Mr. Pratt. Is this of Pratt Industries? Just curious! What a great car!

 

Ron Pratte... http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/01/22/who-is-ron-pratte/