I saw Mystery Car 109 in the parking lot of Lake Chiropractic in Willowick, Ohio a few weeks ago. While the owner was away, I took the picture but failed to find out what year the car was. However, I found out that this is none other than a third generation Ford Thunderbird (1961-63). I can hear my dad telling his oft repeated story of how Ford ruined the Thunderbird by making it into a bloated four seater. I can see his point. The original Corvette was not very popular compared to the original T-Bird. But things changed and Ford made the decision to make the T-Bird bigger in hopes of pulling in more customers. Just think what it could have been.
According to Wikipedia, the 1961 model came with a 390 cubic inch V8 which produced 300 hp. A later M-Code edition of that engine came with three Holley two-barrel carbs and put out 340 hp. I wouldn’t want the job of keeping those in sync! But I’m sure it was a fun car to drive nonetheless.