The Fordomatic transmission and rear axle were overhauled, too, returning to “like new” condition.Īdditionally, the floor of the trunk had rusted away. The 312-cubic-inch engine was overhauled so it could once more generate 225 horsepower. Then it was only a question of how long restoration would take.

“I’m going to make a new car out of this,” he decided. “It looked OK,” Burnette says, “but it was a sad case.” Despite the shortcomings, he bought the car with 96,000 miles on the odometer and drove the strikingly handsome black Thunderbird for about a year while evaluating what to do with it.Īfter removing the body from the frame and disassembling everything down to the last nut and bolt, Burnette changed his mind. Many years later Burnette saw an ad offering a black 1956 Thunderbird for sale. Burnette accommodated his customer and then drove the red Thunderbird as his personal car for several years.

The Ford owner wanted to trade his T-Bird in on a 1955 Cadillac. Not long after these new models were first on the street, a motorist in a Fiesta Red 1956 Thunderbird drove up to the used car lot owned by Bill Burnette. Each one weighed 3,038 pounds and carried a base price of $3,151.

Only 15,631 Thunderbirds were built in 1956. The dual exhaust pipes were redirected from exiting through the trunk and out the valance above the rear bumper to exiting through slots at the corners of the rear bumper, avoiding the trunk altogether. To make space in the trunk, the 6.70×15-inch spare tire was hung off the rear of the car. Those woes were addressed with the 1956 Thunderbird featuring a hard top with a round porthole on each side.

New thunderbird