The CC Cohort has been a bit neglected lately; my apologies. Please do check it out; it’s chock-full of wonderful finds from around the globe. Where to start? This image posted by Jeremy Anderson grabbed me, as there’s something rather plaintive about this Thunderbird with a “Free Car” sign. Anyone interested? It certainly looks quite rust-free, and given its location, that’s assured.
It’s located somewhere in or near New Idria, which is an unincorporated town in rural and very remote San Benito County, CA, and named after the New Idria Mercury Mine, which closed in 1972 is now a ghost town. Not surprisingly, it’s also an EPA Superfund site. So is this Thunderbird tainted with mercury? Too bad it’s not a Cougar; that would have been more serendipitous. Or better yet, a Zimmer Quicksilver.
Hmm trip to California, Free Thunderbird, tons of spare Fox Turbo coupe and SN95 Mustang GT parts at home. Time to fire up Google Earth!
Well I would be tempted to break a window, figure out how to hotwire it, throw the sign in the back, and drive around a while if it still runs.
This Bird has the relatively rare vent windows, Don’t break a window!
Also illuminated entry, power antenna and factory alloys….this is a loaded ‘bird! (Surprised it doesn’t have cornering lamps, though!)
Or you could knock on the door of the house and just ask for the keys to the free car… 🙂
True, though who lives in a ghost town that is also a Superfund Site?
I like those early aero birds. If the interior isn’t wretched, that’d make a great base for an engine transplant. Warmed-up 5.0, or if it’s a turbo coupe, maybe keep the 2.3 but give it a bigger turbo and stronger internals. Or maybe a DOHC 4.6 could be made to fit? Maybe, but maybe not, those were wide motors.
There is of course the distinct possibility that whatever is lurking in there still runs. Find a way to re-title it and off you go!
If I were to guess this has the 3.8 V6, free because the head gaskets popped, or the AOD is toast. I don’t think this is a Turbo Coupe, I’m fairly certain they all had black trim around the windows.
The 4.6 will definitely fit, same exact engine compartment as the 2004 Mustangs. You’d need to convert it to hydroboost though since a conventional vacuum booster won’t clear the heads
Not a Turbo, but the wheels came off of either an ’85-’86 TC or 5.0-powered Mustang LX. The non-turbo Aerobirds weren’t available with 15s, with the exception of the rare ’87-’88 T-Bird Sport.
The center caps have the Ford oval on them meaning at least they came off of a Mustang, when those wheels were fitted to a Thunderbird from the factory the center caps had the Thunderbird on them.
The grass under the car and in the immediate area around the car is not taller than the grass in the surrounding area. The tires look like they still have air in them. I think it might still be in running condition, maybe not good running condition though.
Just like with lunches and cats, there is no such thing as a free car.
Or free birdseed….Ok, I know that would have been funny if this was a Plymouth.
This cat just got bored of being outside ( and I wonder if he knew it’s going to be winter in Michigan too ) and he just meowed and meowed again with cute expression in front of the house, and then he was picked up like a cherry.
So much better than the Gran Torino (ugh) downstream. Really liked the Aero Birds.
Been out there before, did the EIR/EIS work for the Panoche solar farm (still pending final permitting decisions). Very remote area.
Hg was once used as a cure for syphilis & only until recently as a vaccine preservative. It’s still used in dental amalgams.
Free? Free Fox Thunderbird?
No Title.. No deal.
Is this the ranch where The Manson family lived? No wonder the car is free. Lots of people inquire, but none are ever heard from again.
The Manson Family split their time between the Barker Ranch in Death Valley and the Spahn Movie Ranch in Chatsworth. So you only have to worry about potential mercury poisoning if you inquire about this car.
I could use a free car right now. Last summer’s project was the 85 Grand Marquis which is now for sale.
I like these Thunderbirds and wouldn’t hesitate grabbing one if the price was low enough to ($1,000). Otherwise the Merc needs to go first before I latch on to another vehicle.
If it was closer to home (east of the state of Mississippi) I’d jump on it. But a trip to CA is out of the question right now.
Too bad his Nikon Coolpix S8200 didn’t have GPS www dot readexifdata dot com
Looks like this one in my area, but this is either a 5.0, or a turbo, never asked the owner.
You really can’t tell much by the wheels. Those wheels used to be and still are pretty cheap as the Mustang guys would replace them with aftermarket ones and because there were so many people who did that they went cheap. The newer Mustang wheels are also quite cheap because so many people put aftermarket wheels on them. Case in point I just picked up a set of the 05-14 Bullitt 17″ wheels for $100 including the center caps. 3 of the 4 are perfect while one has an 1″ long bit of curb rash on it.
For my 83 Tbird I ran the 87-88 Turbo Coupe 16″ wheels and much later my brother put a set on his 87 too, though both of ours had the 5.0.
Wouldn’t be too bad if it had the 302 V8 option. Lots of hop up potential on these cars. If it’s the 3.8 it can stay right where it is!
Pretty much.
The wheels had me hopeful it was a 5.0L until someone pointed out the issue with the center caps.
3.8L = No thanks.
Well the wheels aren’t stock so it certainly could have a 5.0 however if you were going to hot rod it which engine it came with from the factory is irrelevant. If you want to stick with an AT the 5.0 and 3.8 transmissions are the same. To extract performance out of the CFI 5.0 or the MPFI 5.0 found in the T-birds you have to swap a lot of the engine parts and do something with the computer to make it all work. So might as well just swap in a Mustang 5.0 and it’s computer/wiring harness. It would actually be quicker than modifying the Tbird 5.0.
I’m not too far and haven’t been out there for a few years. I may check it out. Though most other signs in the area are less inviting than “Free Car”, like “No Trespassing” and “Area Closed”. when I used to ride out there in the’80’s the caretaker wore a very visible sidearm.
The remote areas of Southern California are fascinating. You think you know remoteness out here in the midwest, but there are much more desolate places out there.
Is there any smart, easy and fast way to test for mercury contamination?
I actually stayed in New Idria in the early 80s, doing consulting for a guy trying to extract gold from the Mercury tailings, as I recall, there were some 80,000 tons of the stuff just sitting there, one ounce of Gold per ton of tailings! Didn’t work out, but he actually built most of the town. It sure was dark when the generator went off at night. We’d sit out and just look at the sky, you could see satellites going over, no light for miles and miles.
These cars with the 302 V8 were among the best of the used cars of their era. They really ran good. Even the rental car companies rented these things out by the droves. I would not mind having one in mint condition.