Treasure Valley Mustang and Ford Club

Member Car of the Month - August 1998

IT HAPPENED IN SUN VALLEY

But that is the end of the story. It began in the spring of 1955. As I was driving my 46 Merc convertible home from school in the small community of Fairfield, Idaho, population 300, I saw the 'coolest' little car I'd ever seen in all my 17 years. I immediately 'flipped a cookie' and stopped at the service station where the car was parked.

My uncle, John Gaskill, was talking to the man who had driven the turquoise 1955 Thunderbird into our small town. The driver was a salesman for a Ford agency from a town about 35 miles from Fairfield. He was trying to talk Uncle John into trading his 55 Ford Fairlane for the 'sporty T-Bird'. He asked Uncle John if he would like to drive the T-Bird. Uncle John was rather hesitant about the proposition but with my urging and pleading to ride along, he finally consented.

We got into the 55 Thunderbird. I'll never forget the smell; the machine-turned dash and the sound of the engine as Uncle John started the car. We drove north out of town. Uncle John accelerated the car to about 50 miles per hour and then stomped on it. Wow!! I had never felt power like that before! The sound, torque and rapid movement of the speedometer past 100 mile per hour was like nothing l had ever experienced. It was awe inspiring! Uncle John didn't buy the car, but I made up my mind right then and there that when I grew up a T-Bird would be the only car for me.

As happens in life, things didn't exactly work out as I had planned. I found that three thousand dollars was a lot harder to get than I had imagined. The T-Bird began to fade on my list of priorities. Uncle Sam and the Air Force came into my life. While I was in the Air Force I had the opportunity to buy some tickets on a 1957 Bronze Thunderbird that was being raffled off. I bought $25 worth of chances. The drawing was to take place at the Squadron dance. The Ink Spots were performing and a good time was promised for all.

As the drawing time approached, I was very nervous. The pretty girl drew the ticket out of the box and began to read numbers. My anticipation was nearly unbearable. The numbers she read were all mine --- except the last one. I missed winning the Bronze 57 by one number. Needless to say, I didn't have a good time!

Time went on, however. I didn't die of disappointment as I was sure I would. Other good things came into my life, such as college, a very understanding wife, a son and two daughters. I had some very interesting cars after the 46 Merc convertible, a 1951 Ford Crestliner with three Stromberg 97's, a 1963 Ford 390 hardtop, a 1967 Merc Cougar 390GT and a 1969 Lincoln Mark III, but I always thought about the T-Bird, it just wouldn't go away.

About the time of the 67 Cougar, my brother bought a 1964 supercharged Avanti. I was very interested in the Paxton blower on the Avanti and really intrigued when I read somewhere that two hundred eleven 57 T-Birds were produced with McCulloch superchargers. I thought a lot about buying one until I found out what supercharged T-Birds were selling for.

As the years went by, I became the principal of the elementary school in Bellevue, Idaho, a small community about 15 miles south of Sun Valley. One evening in 1980 we were driving to Sun Valley for an administrators' dinner. I noticed a very battered 57 Thunderbird sitting along the roadside. The next day I phoned several people trying to find who the car belonged to. After much inquiry and about two weeks of time, I found the owner. A young lady had driven the car to its final parking spot. She had come to Sun Valley from Salt Lake City to find the good life. The car had thrown a rod, she thought.

After some negotiation, I bought the car. My wife thought I was out of my mind and stated as much. The car wouldn't run, it smelled of mildew and oil, had lots of body putty and dents and had been to Tijuana for a big, ugly tuck and roll job on the dash. My wife drove our pick-up truck to tow the T-Bird home with me seated proudly behind the wheel. She also had to help push it into the garage. I almost lost my happy home, anyway, it used to be a happy home.

I began to dismantle the car. Everything was broken or worn out. The nomenclature plate was painted over with five coats of paint. I carefully removed each layer with lacquer thinner. Then the serial number finally was legible, I wrote it down. I also noticed that the engine had a three groove crank pulley and tapped holes in the generator bracket. Why, I didn't know.

The next Sunday morning while waiting for everyone to get ready for church, I began to read my T-Bird book. I found C, D and E serial numbers listed, but mine started with F. As I read, I began to think that I had purchased a 'hot' car and that someone had changed the data plate. I thought, "How am I going to explain this to my wife?" Then I noticed the asterisk beside the E series. I looked down at the bottom of the page and there was "F-Supercharged, 300 HP". Suddenly I understood the reason for the three groove crank pulley and the tapped holes in the generator bracket. They were for the supercharger!

As I stated we were getting ready to go to church and I was dressed in my suit. I didn't stop to change. I grabbed a flash light and ran to the garage. I climbed into the greasy engine compartment and sure enough, there it was --- F7F --- on the data plate and also stamped on the frame. I couldn't believe it! Talk about your wildest dreams coming true, this was it.

I came back into the house and informed my family of my great discovery and tried to convince them that I was a very knowledgeable individual and that the Thunderbird was another of my "wise" purchases. They all knew better.

In researching the car, I found that it was manufactured on September 13, 1957, and was sold in Canyon City, Colorado. The original price was $3,829.42. It was equipped with all the standard features plus power steering, radio, heater, both tops and fenderskirts. The color was black with a buckskin interior. My son and I completely dismantled the car and with some help from my wife and the girls, restored it. It was a real challenge finding the McCulloch supercharger and related parts.

So as the old movie title says, "It Happened in Sun Valley". Where the Thunderbird had been between Canyon City, Colorado and Sun Valley, Idaho will always remain a mystery. As in the good old movies, this story has a happy ending. After two years of hard work, I finally got to hear my 'pride and joy' run. What a sound! It was almost as big a thrill as the first ride with Uncle John in the turquoise 55 --- almost, but not quite. Nostalgia is a funny thing.

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