M6FH315314 - Thunderbird Registry Number 38376
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38376
M6FH315314
1956
40A - Y -
Dennis Dole reports this story was written in the 12/11 edition of Hoosier Birds Newsletter: " In October '62 my bride of one month, Judy, and I were going shopping one evening in Rockford, Illinois when we passed a used car lot where a black '56 T-Bird was being towed onto the lot. They had just bought it at an auction. We stopped to look at it, and I found what I had been looking for, a no-frills T-Bird. It had a 292 engine, standard shift, heater, whitewalls, hard top only, and no other options. In later years I obtained the original invoice, and found I got exactly what I wanted. The serial number, M6FH315314 indicated it was a late production car, and indeed it was released from the assembly line at 12:57 pm, June 18, 1956. It was delivered to Prior Motor Sales in Chicago, optioned with oil filter (how do you run a Y-Block without one?), heater, and whitewalls. Sticker price with the options and delivery charges was $2,572.92. We signed for it on the spot and pledged $1,495 of our yet-to-be earned money and drove it home. We returned to the Selma area in '63 and I built a dual four barrel 312 engine for it to go drag racing, while still driving it daily on the street. It had a rare '56 dual four setup, slightly different than the '57 setup more commonly seen. The most obvious difference is the oval air filter, unlike the familiar round one of '57. The original light duty transmission didn't last long, so I got a heavy duty 3 speed with overdrive, and a new Hurst floor shifter. It remained a dual purpose car for the next seven years. Then I decided I wanted to race a supercharged '57 Ford, so I pulled the 312 for the new racer, and parked the '56, sans engine, in a back room of an old Interurban station building. In '74 I decided we needed to drive it again, so it received another 312, a non-stock metallic blue paint job, and a pretty all black interior fashioned by a local trim shop. I purchased a used soft top frame from CASCO, and the same trim shop installed a new cover. Another 5 years of daily driving went by, and I had bought a '57 project Bird. After I restored it, the '56 was looking a little shabby, so in '78 I embarked on a frame-on restoration. The years of year 'round driving had taken its toll, and rust had invaded it. During the restoration a parts car was purchased, and donated fender skirts, power steering, and T & C radio. To accommodate that same bride, in '94 an automatic transmission was installed. The car was originally Sunset Coral (PINK!), was black when we got it, then received another coat of black, then blue. We considered painting it the original color, so I got an old car door, painted it Sunset Coral, and leaned it against the fence outside our back door. After looking at that door all winter, we decided to paint the car YELLOW. It still had the dual carburetors, and after Judy set them on fire, scorching and blistering the new yellow paint on the hood, she gave me an ultimatum. Either the dual carburetors come off, or she will never drive the car again. So with a single four barrel carburetor it became a sometimes daily driver. Then after a while it became a nice day driver. Last year Judy confided that after a knee and a hip replacement, she could no longer comfortably drive a T-Bird with its somewhat cramped interior and the pedal locations. Entry and egress was also a problem for her. Now I had a new opportunity. Out came the engine, weeping head gaskets were replaced, the dual fours were re-installed, and the automatic transmission was replaced by the old 3 speed overdrive and Hurst shifter. I had forgotten how much fun driving it had been in that configuration. Not long after that Judy told me she dreamed she was driving the T-Bird. OH NO."
John and Judy Feistritzer
4/28/2012
292 V-8
Intact
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