Canacian guys, 55 T Bird question

I was told this is a canadian built car, and the rear wheelwells are stock. Is this true? Thanks, Dean

 

That side vent would make it a 1956, if same as a USA car.
Some prototypes had several different wheel openings.
There's a story on the first Bird's development in the "Automobile Quarterly" Vol 9 No 1

 

Here's some more pictures of it. My Dad lives across the street from this place. The lot owner told him it's from Canada. http://www.almeidascl***iccars.com/search.php?id=529fdceee0aeb1e1d5f3d52674325e69

 

Yeah, they're stock alright, just not from that car!



-KK

 

Thanks. I new they weren't stock to the T Bird.

 

By Canadian built, do you mean originally? All 55-57 Birds were built in Dearborn, MI. None with the rear well wells like that. Nice looking car, but looks like an modifed 55 based on the *** end and has 56 front fenders with the vents.

 

i know a guy that has a canadian 55. it dosn't have those wheel wells.

 

What's a "Canacian"

 

Yes, the seller, (dealer) said it was originally built in Canada. I didn't think Ford built them there. Even if it was the Canadian the cars I've seen only have trim changes, not body changes. I don't like the rear wheelwells on it.

 

That thing's got a ton of mods done to it. Digital dash, bucket seats with some really ugly center console added to it, baldie caps and trim rings, messed up rear quarters, '56 front fenders with the vents, taillight lenses added into the rear bumper guards.

Would take a lot of work to put it back to stock, and I'm not so hot for the mods made to it so far.

EDIT T-birds never had those headlight rings either, although there's a bunch of guys who will try to convince you they did. Those are p***enger car only pieces.

65K? This guy must need to sell it to pay his crack dealer.

 

Did the exhaust come out the bumper guards in '55?

 

Yes. Then in '56 it came out of oval shaped holes on either end of the back bumper.

 

The early 'birds are like E-Types or early Vettes- about any customizing done will send them downhill. Most of the charm is in the period or inherent design. The only mod on this one that half-way makes sense is the rear exhaust outlets- they always made a mess. The '56 bumper exits were no better, typical drivers commonly had the pipes re-routed underneath. But even here, a simple chrome bullet or something would have served better.

 

The fender vents actually came out mid-year in 1956, you can find early '56's without them. Same thing with the portholes in the tops, although tops without portholes were always available even thru '57. A '56 Bird was my second car, bought when I was 18. The Mustang had just come out, and severely depressed the early Bird market. I bought one out from under the owner of Baskin-Robbins who had his eyes on it, it only had 18,000 miles on it. This was in the spring of 1965. I paid top dollar at the time for it- $1600.00. There were scads of them around under $1,000.

 

Believe your photo is a customized 56 Bird,if anyone
finds this oneoff factory top I would love to
put it on my 57 T-Bird.
TwoChops

 

Ford of Canada never made T-birds up here. Those wheel wells aren't Bird either. Good story though. I would buy into it. Pat.

 

I don't blame you. Makes it look like a baby Lincoln....... I like it!

 

Canacian is Canadian when you miss spell it. Or the way we do it in Missouri.

 

They were never built in Canada - but some were ***embled in Mexico

 

You and a lot of other TBird owners. Unfortunately, never made it into production.

 

It makes a lot more sense than a round hole in the top, doesn't it? If Ford had never come out with the portholes, and now someone had done it to theirs, think of the reaction we'd be hearing about that. But now, its just part of the Bird mystique. A couple of months ago, at Big Bear Lake in SoCal, they had a car show and a guy had put portholes in a customized rocket bird- the 61-63 style. Actually looked pretty good to me. But most of my taste is in my mouth.