Somewhere west of Al-Kindi Street, in the Baghdad International Zone — better known as the Green Zone — there’s a 1955-56 Thunderbird that has probably experienced more than any other first generation Thunderbird ever made.
Local legend says that this Thunderbird came to Iraq before 1958, imported by a wealthy Iraqi businessman before the 1958 military coup that ousted Iraq’s monarchy and set in motion the events that brought Saddam Hussein to power. When it was new, a man of considerable means in Iraq wanted a “personal car,” as many Americans did, and he must have gone to great lengths to purchase and import his Thunderbird.
Approaching its 60th year, this Thunderbird is far beyond being a “survivor” as the term is overused in the U.S.; it has survived a military coup shortly after its importation, several wars lasting over two decades combined, many nearby bombings, and who knows how many small acts of violence and lawlessness. In 2011 it was still owned by an Iraqi who was refusing American and British offers to buy it and take it away. One day years from now, it may emerge as a restored collector car and get the attention that it deserves as arguably the world’s most interesting first generation Thunderbird.
Related Reading:
The Curbside Classics of Baghdad
Hope it beats the odds and is someday roadworthy again. Seems to be missing it’s engine, but otherwise looks pretty much unmolested.
Great photo, Robert
It was the best that I could do, shooting from a moving vehicle, through a very thick bulletproof glass window, on a rainy day.
You were there? Are you armed forces?
Sorry, Robert, I just clicked through to your original story and read your profile. It must have been surreal over there.
Surreal is a good word to use to describe it. As complicated as it was then, this year’s events have made me and many others think “I told you so” to an extent but also forced a lot of rethinking of what I thought was happening.
Can you speak of your tasks there at all? Been following David Kilcullen’s opinions of the state of things in Iraq and the broader region right now which sort of include an ‘I told you so’ clause.
The world’s most interesting Thunderbird: It doesn’t always shy from a fight, but it will duck its head under the dash and cover!
“I don’t always drink oil, but when I do, it’s Royal Purple.”
Some oil rich car nut will see it, snap it up, restore it and eventually have a very beautiful car, if ISIS doesn`t get to it first.
Actually, I don’t think I would want to be the owner of this poor thing when ISIS comes knocking, it might not be pretty.
Poor old thing .
When I lived in Guatemala in ’76/’77 there were cars like this scattered EVERYWHERE .
No one understood why I was crazy about trying to buy some of them .
I was able to get a 1937 Harely-Davidson EL (61″) KnuckleHead Moto that actually ran and rode , the frame was broken in three places , I rebuilt it from the ground up , then left it behind .
-Nate
That poor thing must be a ’56 as it has that Continental Kit they cluttered up the lines with that year. It is painful to see it sitting like that. I hope it survives.
No, that one would be a ’55. The ’56 had vertical vent doors on the front fenders and this one does not. Continental kit could be added to any ’55. The collapsed non-porthole hardtop also belongs to a ’55.
I know about the “Battlebird” – a highly modified ’57 raced at Daytona Beach – but this one is really a battlebird.
Well, you got me there. I must have looked the thing over too quickly. I knew all of those differences between the years before looking at the picture. Thanks for pointing out my mistake.
It still makes me sad to look at it.
You are right, it does not have the ’56 fender vents, and if you notice, it does have a ’56 rear bumper (exhaust ports coming out of corner of bumpers on ’56 models, while ’55 exhaust comes out the rear of the body). So, a ’56 bumper and the connected continental kit were added, possibly by a dealer, since customer complaints for the ’55 models were not enough trunk room, so Ford put the continental kits on ’56 models to increase trunk room. The other major customer complaint for the ’55 was not enough interior ventilation, that’s why the fender vents were added in ’56. You are right about the Ford emblem on the front, much too large to be a T-Bird emblem. Great picture and story!
On the other hand, wouldn’t this car be the ideal candidate for getting mechanically perfect, but leaving the patina? It would be a shame to restore away its history.
All I can say, is that it’s saddam sad to see an old Thunderbird sitting there like this. It needs someone hussein enough to bring it inside and care for it.
Sorry.
Take my wife please
And look at that Ford badge between the hood and grille. Not correct for a T-Bird. Did it come from a Ford F-100 from about ’59 or ’60?
I like that pajero too!
Glad that you noticed the Mitsubishi! I intentionally did not crop it out of the photo, since it is the polar opposite of Iraq’s lone Thunderbird: one of thousands of 1990s-2000s SUVs that foreign armies and civilian organizations brought to Iraq and left behind, creating a whole new class of vehicles in the country. Many of them had retrofitted armor kits, probably ensuring that they will be coveted by Iraqis for their protective qualities for many years to come.
This strikes a chord with me, having grown up in Israel. We also lost quite a few interesting vehicle through a combination of wars, steel shortages (scrap everything and turn it into Uzi SMGs) and, last but not least, stupid government regulations which – until recently – meant you could not re-register a vehicle if you did not renew certain licences (costly). Somewhere I have a picture of the Israeli counterpart of the Iraqi Thunderbird – it was even the same color – I shall post it later…
The car I mentioned (pic by Itzhak Saád), somewhere on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the company of a Plymouth Fury. It is hard to even imagine what a car like this was in Israel in the 50s. The country was recovering from two wars, rationing only stopped sometime in 1952 and people who could afford new US-made vehicles ordered them with 6 cylinder engines not to be seen to be too ostentatious. I need to check with my sources whether it survived…