This 1963 Thunderbird "Italien" wasn't Italian at all. It was a product of Ford's Thunderbird design studio and built by their outsourcing company, DTS. It was shown at the various Autoramas as well as many international publications. Although it was ultimately ordered to be scrapped, it somehow managed to be rescued and sold to DTS for $5000. It was then sold to cowboy actor Dale Robertson for $10,000 and was ultimately resold a few more times before it fell into disrepair. A Bullet Bird restoration specialist saw a for sale ad in the Hemmings Motor News and bought the car in 2006 and painstakingly restored the car to original factory specs over a year and a half.
I honestly don't remember. I stowed away the original box and there's nothing on the display case But the car's name and LE number. I'm sure someone here will know. Sorry.
After poking around, I see that the Metallic Blue one is to be issued sometime this month. Don't miss this one folks! The red one is almost impossible to find.
After poking around, I see that the Metallic Blue one is to be issued sometime this month. Don't miss this one folks! The red one is almost impossible to find.
What an interesting story. I feel better now that I know this wagon was created from a written off T-Bird I must say. The color choice and especially the 2-tone effect really suits it IMHO. I like it because it seems well done and it would generate much interest and discussion wherever it is shown.
I was fortunate to know the last owner of the Italien before it was purchased by the restorer. It was the late Don Chambers, founder of Mustang Country in Paramount, CA. He fell ill and was selling off his personal car collection. One day I was visiting his store and he invited me to see his collection. The first car that caught my eye was the Italien. He told me he had tried to buy it for years. The story he told me was that a friend of his bought it from his gardener. The car sat in his friend's backyard in Southern California for years and he was finally able to convince him to sell it. He had planned to get the Italien restored but complained that restorers wanted too much money to do the job, around $100K. So it sat in his warehouse. The Italien was painted metallic silver blue when I saw it, and it appears to have been painted white before that. Fortunately, all of the missing trim pieces were inside the car or in the trunk. Here are some pictures I took at his warehouse in 2005, a few months before it was sold.
There was a 3 part series of its restoration in a magazine, not sure which one, but here is a page from it.
The Italien was sold at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in 2008 I believe, shortly after it's restoration. I couldn't find my pics from B-J 2008, but I didn't see the car in my 2009 and 2010 pics, so I assume it was sold in 2008.
It is so interesting to read how some of these unique cars languish for many years in storage or out in some back yard then are discovered and saved. This one was definitely worthy of saving!
