Pat, my perceptive wife, suggested in February, '05, we both might enjoy a '57 Thunderbird to cruise our retirement years. I agreed and began the search for a nice one we could afford. March, '06, we made a winning bid on Ebay for this older restoration with decent Flame Red paint. The stock suspension and bias ply tires made the handling somewhat erratic. Heavy duty front & rear stabilizer bars, front power disk brakes and radial tires were added right away to improve handling and protect the innocent. Acceleration was... lets say leisurely. We drove it this way as the next phase evolved.

I wondered how the small 'Bird might have performed had Ford made the next generation FE engines optional. The 312ci Y-Block was labeled the Thunderbird Special. I imagined a Birdzilla FE eXtra Special Package. The FE with judicious use of aluminum parts would be about 50lbs lighter than the Y-Block yielding a 50/50 front to rear weight distribution.

September, '09 I proposed the project to Pat. She questioned the need since the car ran pretty well. She conditionally agreed stipulating, "no engine parts or tires sticking out of the bodywork, and it needs to be as quiet as original...I want air conditioning and it needs wire wheels."

February, 2010, I removed the Y-block/Ford-O-Matic and bolted in the updated drive train. The swap included a 428 bored & stroked to 462ci (Blue Thunder aluminum heads, 11.5:1 comp, Crower solid flat tappet cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, BG Speed Demon 850cfm carb), Performance Automatic Street Smart FE AOD Package, shortened F100 drive shaft, and 9" "N" case Detroit Locker with 3.10:1 gears.

Bingo! A one of none '57 Thunderbird XS. Performance at the level the sporty looks imply. No quarter mile results but it drives like a much lighter car.

AC and wire wheels are next on the agenda...