1962 Ford Thunderbird

You were looking at a very rare and most likely the rarest Thunderbirds ever built! This is a authentic. documented. true to the core 1962 Thunderbird M-Code Coupe. If purchased this particular car will come with every single conceivable document to prove its authenticity. It will come with its original build sheet. dealer invoice. original owners manual. original window sticker. and anything else that you can possibly imagine.

This car is only one of two coupes ever built with the 3:10 axle rear end. It is the only M-Code coupe ever to be delivered to New York. It is one of only three coupes ever built with no factor A/C. It is only one of four with the Corinthian white exterior and red vinyl interior in 1962. This car is the second to the last coupes built on July 30 th. 1962 with production ending the very next day. This car was built so late in the 1962 production run

that it retains the original dash and door panels from the factory that are designed for the 1963 model. Pretty amazing. Last but not least this car retains its original dealer installed Dixco 8000 RPM tach which is the only one known to ever exist.

Only a few of you know how rare these Thunderbirds are with this factory option of three carburetors. Between January 1962 and January 1963 they made approximately 200 or so of these Thunderbirds in four different body styles. Those body styles are the hardtop coupe. the roadster. the convertible. and the Landaus Coupe. Even though the roadster might be the most desirable of these M-Code Thunderbirds the coupe such as this one for sale is the rarest of all four body styles. Of the 200 or so total M-Codes ever built there is only 41 documented coupes according to the Thunderbird registry.

The history of the M-Code cars are very fascinating. According to the Henry Ford Museum responding to Mr. William A. Wonder dating back to February 9. 1983 Ford corporate only had figures available for the sport roadster versions of the M-Code. The other three body styles and their production numbers have been obtained and documented to the best of anyone's ability through various collections of V. T. C. A. newsletters. The vintage Thunderbird Club of America. Hemmings Motor News. and The Thunderbird Registry. Back in 1962 there was never a road test published on these M-Code cars when they were new and very rarely is there any reference even made as to the availability of the special option. Most of the dealerships never even knew that this option was available from the factory. Therefore the salesman of these dealerships had no knowledge to even offer this option to a potential customer looking for a Thunderbird.

Another contributing factor mention by the Henry Ford Museum was that many of the M-Code

owners may have been disappointed in the problems that often associated with multi-carburetor set ups that lead to Ford Motor Company replacing the original intake manifold along with the three carburetors that accompanied the intake with a single four barrel carburetor version under the factory warranty. This particular car was one of those cars. Compiled by William A. Wonder himself this particular car was purchased by a gentleman for his wife's 50 th birthday back on August 20. 1962. Her name was Shirley Leibovitz. It was maintained by the same dealer

Carlton Ford Inc. In Brooklyn New York for the first 41. 52 miles until the dealer went out of business. That dealer did remove the original three carburetors under the factory warranty. The original owner took possession of the original intake and the three carburetors and kept them in her garage until she sold her house. Unfortunately she left the set up in the garage and thought nothing more of it. Of course at the time nobody realized how rare these vehicles were and it is an amazing story that the original owner being a woman in the 1960's thought to retain the old parts. As the story goes she sold the house leaving those parts in her garage. Fortunately the new owners of the home did not dispose of those valuable parts and the second owner of this car Noella B. Ashworth tracked down these parts and had a professional reassemble the motor back to its original state. Wow!

As far as I know being the third owner that this vehicle had a motor rebuild on April 25. 2012 with only 42. 87 original miles shown on the odometer. The transmission was rebuilt on May 11. 2012 when the car was showing only 43. 11 miles. I do have receipts confirming the motor rebuild but for some strange reason I have miss placed the invoice for the transmission rebuild. But this car runs and shifts like a Swiss clock.

More items that have been completed would be new paint. new carpet. New headliner. re-dyed seats. new floor mats. all new exterior emblems. new chrome trim on interior. polishing exterior trim. refurbished dash bezel. rebuilt power break booster and master cylinder. and a good cleaning of the original undercarriage. The one thing that has not been addressed is the dash and the arm rests which do have a crack or two. The dash pad is covered by a dash cover but the armrest are exposed.

Every known mechanical issue has been addressed. This is a full turnkey vehicle with everything imaginable in working order. It runs. drives. idles. steers. and tracks beautifully. The last one sold for almost $60. 00 at Auctions America so the asking price for this particular example is a steal. Please come and inspect the vehicle for yourself or send an inspector. I highly encourage it. You will not be disappointed!

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