1963 Ford Thunderbird "Italien" Concept Car
Shown as part of Ford's Custom Caravan and exhibited at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The Italien was a featured in Ford's 1962-63 "Custom Car Caravan" and appeared in Autoramas throughout the United States such as Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami and more. The Italien was featured in 14+ magazines in 1963 and 1964 such as "Motor Trend", "Hot Rod", "Car Life", "Motorcade", "Speed and Custom" and others.. The Italien also appeared in the 1964 New York Worlds Fair's "Cavalcade of Custom Cars" and was prominently featured in a special World's Fair publication. After appearing in the World's Fair, records from Ford's Jacque Passino's files indicate the Italien was destined for a fate typical of most Ford concept cars -- The crusher. However, in September 1964, the Italien was sold or presented to actor Dale Robertson of TV's "Tales of Wells Fargo", "Wagon Train" and other shows. Around 1986, noted Ford collector Don Chambers purchased the car with the idea of adding it to the auto museum he planned for his retirement. Thunderbird restorer Tom Maruska purchased it in January 2006 and completely restored the Italien to exacting and documented original specifications. . Recently "Legendary Ford" magazine featured a series covering the restoration of the Italien over five issues culminating with the Italien appearing on the cover of the November/December 2007 issue.
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