Edmunds CarPool

Vehicle: 1957 Ford Thunderbird (D-Code)
Trim Level/Options: Soft convertible top, three-speed Ford-o-matic transmission ($150), Signal Seek Radio ($79.60), heater ($58.50), power windows ($48.75), power seats ($45.00), power steering ($44.63), fender skirts ($18.75), tonneau cover ($18.75), engine dress-up kit ($15.00 chrome air filter cover, chrome oil filler cap, finned aluminum valve covers), full wheel covers ($10.20), seat belts.
Purchase Price: $3,205 (est.)
Edmunds TMV: N/A (likely near $30,000)
Modifications: GM alternator, electronic ignition, wide whitewall tires, down-firing exhaust pipe, heater valve bypass kit
Other Currently Owned Vehicles: 2005 Lotus Elise, 2002 Harley-Davidson VROD, 1994 Honda CBR600f2
Previous Vehicles Owned: 1998 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra Convertible, 1995 Ford Mustang GT Convertible, 1989 240SX Fastback

The story, as it's been relayed to me, puts my maternal grandfather in a Ford dealership in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. It's January, 1957 and he had decided to quit smoking -- perhaps this was a reward. All I know is that he loved that car.

In the following decades, he drove it from his home in East Los Angeles to his photo studio in Little Tokyo, a few miles away. In the early 1970's, he came to live with us in Monterey Park, which was only a couple of miles further east. I remember the car vividly. It seemed so big at the time. It smelled different from our Ford station wagon or Toyota Corona. The taillights looked like the flames shooting out of a rocket.

He draped the car with an old surplus parachute every night, even though it was in a covered garage. When it would rain, sometimes he would drop me off at school in it. I felt like a rock star getting out of the 'Bird. And I still do today. He died in 1979. He never got to see what an impact that he and the Thunderbird had on the fourth grader that he left behind.

Fast-forward to 1984. My obsession with cars was intensifying with every year, and I never stopped thinking about the Thunderbird. My uncle inherited the Thunderbird, but in my eyes, it wasn't being cared for the way I knew I could. Then one day, I got wind that he was thinking about selling it to a collector in Japan for six figures. I was crushed. I had my mother call and plead my case and perhaps this had an effect.

October 2006. I was in North Salem, New York on vacation and a call came in from my Mother. In a panicked voice, she said my uncle was about to sell the T-bird to someone outside the family. I said I'd match any offer. I spoke to him over the phone and we agreed on a price, in the meantime, he would have to get the papers in order so we could make the transfer official and legal. My cousin, without my knowledge, convinced his father to give me the car, rather than sell it to me -- damned good fellow, that cousin of mine. I was shocked, elated and completely choked up.

I sent off the rolling heirloom to Prestige Thunderbird in Santa Fe Springs, CA. They performed a restoration on the interior in the 1980's and they only work on '55 - '57 'Birds. Finally, in late December, 2006, I drove my grandfather's Colonial White 1957 Thunderbird for the first time. It was magic. It still is, every single time it roars to life. It doesn't matter what kind of day I've had, I feel instantly better behind the wheel of the Thunderbird.

The car isn't perfect. It's got some dings and chips, but if I reach the age of 53, I'm sure I'll have a few scars, too. It has a tendency to overheat in traffic, so I'm hoping an electric fan will solve that problem. It drips oil from the rear main seal, but all early 'birds do. The suspension bushings are shot, it needs a new choke tube and it's running really rich (probably related to the choke tube). If I ever have a surplus of about $15,000 (ha!), I'll take it in for paint and body. But I'd hate to be without the car for that long.

There aren't a lot of my grandfather's possessions that I have -- a few of his photographs, a pair of cufflinks -- but the Thunderbird more than makes up for that. I didn't get to know him well enough as a child, even though he lived with us for the last eight years of his life, but driving around makes me feel just a little closer to him -- sharing the same joy of driving such a great automobile that he did.

Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor @ 85,000 miles