Brakes are drum rears and discs up front. It all rolls on a set of American Chrome torque-thrusts, shod with 215/70R14's. It's a dual exhaust, 2brl - pretty much stock motor - but it's a cruiser, he says! The standard Ford 9 inch rear is stock but with 3:10 gears. Mark was able to purchase a 352 cu in motor (Craigslist) and attached a Ford C-6 trans. Mark has always been a hands on guy, fabricating most all of his own material. Now Mark has done the whole deal - raced drag cars, ovals, even some ice racing, so he was no stranger to all this go fast, make it work stuff. Money changed hands and soon it was sitting in his well-equipped but modest garage next to his home in Edgewater, Fla.
All tasks at which Mark has succeeded very well in the past, so he was undaunted.
This most recent project started off as a 1959 Thunderbird alright, but with no engine/transmission and in need of a nice paint-job as well. He was a MOPAR guy all the way, he says, Dick Landy of course being one of his early favorites! He LOVES all cars though, as witnessed by his latest creation here, a T-Bird. He worked his way up the ladder starting with washing cars, chasing parts and learning to use the various machines around the shop. Owners of 55-57 T-Birds (two-seaters) were less than thrilled about the new direction Ford took (adding a rear seat), but sales about doubled in 1958 and double again for 1959!Īt a very early age, Mark had worked in a Dodge dealership that his dad's best friend owned.
Not only that - it started a new category with an automotive line-up referred to as the personal luxury car segment. The new second generation Thunderbird captured Motor Trend's Car of the Year award in its debut season (1958), making history as the first individual model line to do so. Mark spotted this hulk of a 1959 Thunderbird in the parts/swap meet section of the Daytona Turkey Rod run recently and said that while he's built many cars in his lifetime, he still needs to keep after it in retirement so "he doesn't jump off the roof " he couldn't resist taking on another project.
A peach of a gal - who wouldn't adore a gal who said "Just get me a house with that shop you want and I'm a happy camper!" His wife Rosemarie was very agreeable to get out of town to seek greener and warmer pastures too. "Too many years of cold and snow," he says with a laugh. Mark May resides in Edgewater, Fla., having moved from a speed shop and auto parts business that he worked at and owned for many years in Wisconsin.
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