When Thunderbird Was All Car

I was waiting for my car at a muffler shop in Stratford on Saturday when I spied this magnificent 1966 Thunderbird. The owner Rick, shown here in one of the photos, gave me permission to photograph his prize and he told me the background. He had been searching for such a car and found it in Pennsylvania. It was not in the best of shape when he got it and it has taken him and his daughter years to restore it. The work is not yet done, but they have done most of it themselves including installing a completely rebuilt engine. Rick recently took his car to a Thunderbird show where a journalist was so impressed he has featured the car in an upcoming Thunderbird magazine. I wish I could remember more of the details Rick gave me but he did say that this was the last year the car had this sort of design. Starting with the next model year, it was more rounded and lost many of its distinctive features. JH

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Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.