This car is a movie star!!
Rare 1978 Ford Thunderbird Deluxe with only 7708 original miles. This vehicle is in excellent condition and has been in storage for most of its life. We bought it to use in a movie that we recently finished and have entered into the Sundance Film Festival, among others. Here is what I know about the car:
The unique styling of this T-bird gets attention wherever it goes. The flip-up headlights are one of the coolest features of this sweet ride. This car has a creamy white exterior with red vinyl top and red cloth seats and red leather interior. Interior is immaculate. White on Red is a very rare color combination for these vehicles as only about 1 in 20 of these T-birds had this color. I know, as I searched nationwide for about a year looking for this exact color car that we needed for the movie. The car has power steering and brakes, but manual windows, automatic transmission, air conditioning, heater, cruise control, AM/FM stereo, split front seat with armrests, seat belts, original jack and tire iron, 2 sets of keys. a powerful5.8L 351 V8 engine. The exterior features beautiful chrome trim, bumpers and grill.
The only things that I know have been replaced and is not original is the battery and the tires. We put new tires on it when we purchased it so we could drive it around safely while filming the movie. The engine starts up and seems to run perfectly, but on cold days, it does seem to take a few cranks to get it going. The driver side sun visor bar has broken and so it doesn’t return perfectly into its catch point, but it still functions normally.The paint is all original and generally in good condition, but it does have a few dings or rock marks on the front grill area and near the headlights. Also,one of the decorative silver mud flap things came off while we were using the vehicle. The interior is immaculate and is all original cloth on the seats with no tears, rips, or stains of any kind. The dash, doors, and interior vinyl are all perfect and in mint, original condition. To accent the red interior, the red dashboard features wood trim inserts. It includes all 4 original rubber floor mats that are clean and perfect.
This car is a solid beast that will make someone happy. We bought this vehicle in Chicago land (Rockford, IL) from the original owners – a family that had it since 1978, but put it in storage after their father passed away. We bought it in November of 2018 and have had it while we have been producing our film. Clear title in hand. Includes a set of historical 1978 Utah License plates. We have it listed locally in Utah and on other national sites, so we reserve the right to end the auction early if it sells.
SIDE NOTE: We used this old T-bird to shoot a feature length documentary about a horrific murder that happened in Utah in 1988. Many of the events of this murder centered around the car owned by the victim – a 1978Thunderbird. The movie is called Dog Valley, and will be screening in film festivals around the country starting in early 2020, and hopefully will be available on streaming services in late 2020 or 2021.