Some additional comments. The 1957 Thunderbird is the most sought after and most popular of the '55,'56' 57 Little Birds with 21380 being produced. The "little Birds" have a very high survival rate but it is only guess work at how many are left, I have heard about half are still around. Any solid '57 is worth 10 to 15 Thousand , with restored ones bring upwards from 25 to 80 thousand or even better. They were prone to
rust and the car in the picture has a lot of
rust on the front bumper, that would make me think there may be a lot of body
rust. Even so you can buy panels to fix most common body
rust spots. The thing that makes a '57 rare is the engine/transmission combo. You can check by looking at the data plate located on the passenger side of the firewall in the engine conpartment. The first letter C,D,E & F designates the engine and goes as follows. The "C" is a 292 Cubic Inch Displacement engine with a 2 barrel
carb. (somewhat rare but not popular) The "D" is a 312 CID witha
4 barrel carb ( the most common) The "E" is a 312 CID with two
4 barrel carbs. ( a little rare). The "F" is the most rarest of all and is the 312 CID with a Supercharger. All Little Birds came with V8 Engines. Most of the '57s came with automatic transmissions but a 3 speed and a 3 speed with overdirve were also available. My '57 is a "D" bird with a 3 speed overdrive transmission of which it is reported to have been only 625 produced of that combination.
I hope this is helpful.
Pat
