Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all Show Posts made by this member. Note that you can only see Show Posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Messages - MY83T

2
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Brand new member - looking for advice on an upcoming purchase.
Welcome to the forum.  I had a 87 XR-7 for about 2 years, and i will tell you to run your hands under the inside trunk area below the back window.  All fox Birds and Cats are known for collecting gunk in the rear windshield channels and you can get rust in the trunk area.  Pull the spare tire out too and feel the trunk matte for wetness or a mildew smell.  Keep us posted on your purchase.
5
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / 83 top windshield trim
Quote from: 70ponyboy;460767
Coolio !!!! Any help will be great fully welcomed

Its for sale as a set....  few small dings, not pitted and should shine up nicely.  I have $250 USD into the set, i won't split them as i will be stuck with the sides.  No clue what USPS shipping with Insurance to the UK would be, but I'm happy to ship for actual cost.  Let me know.....



7
Lounge / Who is based in or near Atlanta area, not a car related question.
Quote from: shorangerbird;459214
-David,
 no one jumped in so....i live about just over an hour from there, and worked in Marietta for 4 years, and  a little over one in Dallas. I will be glad to see if i can help.....

Thanks so much for the offer of advice, was just trying to get a vibe for the overall cost of living, lifestyle etc....
8
Lounge / Who is based in or near Atlanta area, not a car related question.
Quote from: JeremyB;459239
Just joking.

If you're from Long Island, the traffic and urban sprawl probably wont' bother you.

Thanks Jeremy, i have a few friends in the area already and i know the urban sprawl is about par with Long Island.  I was trying to get a feel for the economic situation, job opportunity, lifestyle, etc.......
11
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Very oddly optioned 83 Heritage (mine)
Quote from: TurboCoupe50;459092
Notice the order type is "FLEET", which is customers(companies, munilities etc) that purchase at least five vehicles per year... That would account for the odd options, especially the digital dash delete as it would have given some credit... Maybe enough to pay for block heater? BUT note the heater isn't on the Marti report, maybe added at sale?(customers tend to "forget" these things) Since the dealership apparently still owned it original order must have been refused/cancelled...

Vehicles are rarely "rushed" off the line, just about takes a home office(Dearborn) directive...


The block heater was added by the dealer for the original owner, so mystery solved there.  I am going to theorize that per the old mans telling of the story, 30+ Birds were hastily pulled from the line to be ready for the May 28/29 racing weekend and sent to the dealer for sales and demo for the Ford Promotional weekend.  The sell to dealer date does not necessarily confirm the actual date the dealership took possession of the car.  The fleet order could have been Ford marketing sending a group of cars to be shown for the promo and to be sold from dealer stock right after the event as my car was.  He claimed (and i believe) that Ford execs were all over Charlotte for that race weekend and the cars were driven all over locally by Ford VIPS and their wives to create "visibility" for the Thunderbird launch.  I emailed a photographer with extensive archives of that era of racing and he is checking if he has any behind the scenes pics of the promo cars.  It would be awesome if he had pics of the cars at the event.


X
12
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Very oddly optioned 83 Heritage (mine)
so here are the timeline parts i can easily verify:

Car was Built 4/22/83
Car was sold to the selling dealership 4/26/83

Car was acquired "used" with 45 miles per original paperwork on 6/28/83

I spoke with the original owner last night, the car was seen at the Mello Yello 300 on May 29 which changes the narrative of the story and now his story makes sense.  I found a video of the actual race, featuring a 1983 Bird as the pace car.......not mine, lol.

I do not think this was a retail customer order.  I have a feeling the dealership was a high volume seller and was badly in need of a demo car, which is why it was hastily rushed off the line.  Its the barest boned optioned Heritage/Elan i have ever personally seen.
13
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Very oddly optioned 83 Heritage (mine)
Quote from: TurboCoupe50;459046
I hate to be bustin' your chops but car was built April 22 and race was in Oct, I can't possibly believe it was scheduled to be at that event six months prior(Hell wasn't even a Sunday cup race, just the Sportsman class)...  I'd say chances a saleable vehicle was to be held that long would be all but zero... Likely a request went out to dealers a couple weeks before race, so because it was yet unsold it got the nod... Basically if someone had purchased it, it'd never been at the race(unless maybe they were a race fan in attendance), would have been at their house...


EDIT

I know why it was at the race, it was a left over '83, by Oct the '84 were in the showrooms...

I can here it now "com'on down and get the deal of a lifetime on a new '83 Thunderbird"...

All fair points..... there are two different things at play in my confusion.
. The fact1 that a very simply (probably the most stripped version of a Heritage i have ever seen) was seemingly rushed off the line a full 2 weeks earlier than scheduled for.  (Perhaps due to the lack of installed options production was expedited?)

2. There are some very strange things with this build also.  The fully red steering wheel is black on every 83/84 Heritage/elan with red interior i have ever seen.  Also, there is a full provision for a 2nd power seat with relays installed under the passenger seat above the carpet.  The engine block heater was the one head scratcher for this one too.

As a completely separate point the original owner did purchase the car right after the race, and with 45 dospoogeented  original miles, the new car slip was crossed out to indicate "Used" when purchased.  Just a interesting back story with a cool history and owner. I need to verify what race he was talking about also in the timeline.
15
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Very oddly optioned 83 Heritage (mine)
Quote from: rodsterh;450505
Have you ordered the Marti report?  If so, it will be interesting to see the order type.


Here it is finally Rod.....



Notice the build date info, it backs up the story of this car being rushed off the line for the Racing event i mentioned earlier in this thread.  I have never seen a Marti with a car finished 2 weeks ahead of schedule.



X