This is the 1963 Ford Thunderbird “Italien Show Car,” it’s the only one of its kind, it was designed by Ford Styling and built by Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST) specifically to be part of the Custom Car Caravan.
Before I start getting emails, it should be noted that the spelling of “Italien” is correct for this car. It was drawn very much in the Italian style of the time, during a period when Ford was looking to buy Ferrari, Henry Ford II was courting a glamorous Italian lady, and was admiring the gentlemanly panache of Gianni Agnelli.
Fast Facts – The Ford Thunderbird Italien Show Car
- The Ford Thunderbird Italien was developed in the early 1960s to be a member of the the Custom Car Caravan. It was also showcased at major Ford dealers across the country, featured in many period automotive magazines, and it was displayed at the great Autoramas of the time.
- The car started life as a brand-new 1962 Thunderbird convertible that was shipped from the production line directly to the Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST) facility. There it was significantly remodeled to drawings created at Ford Styling.
- The Thunderbird Italien was never meant to be a concept car or a sign of things to come for Ford, instead it was a factory custom designed to show what Ford was capable of, and to appeal to the burgeoning American world of “Kustom” cars.
- The vehicle received a new fastback roofline made from fiberglass, new 1963 Thunderbird front fenders and doors, 80 custom trim pieces, a Ferrari-inspired egg-crate grille, and much more, all finished off in a deep Candy Apple Red.
- The car is now being offered for sale in restored condition for the first time in many years by RM Sotheby’s. The price guide starts at $400,000 USD and it’s due to roll across the auction block in Florida.
The Incredible Italien
In 1963 Ford was deep in negotiations with Ferrari to buy the company. As the story goes, the deal almost went through but Enzo Ferrari balked at the idea of losing control of the Ferrari racing division (always his one true love), and he sank the deal – instead selling a stake in the company to his fellow Italians over at Fiat.
The car clearly retains the original lines of the Thunderbird its based on, but the addition of a new fastback roof, newer fenders and doors, an uprated interior, and 80 new trim pieces give it a flair all its own.
During the early 1960s there was a time when Ford, and Henry Ford II in particular, had become enamored with the style of the Italians. Henry Ford II had been courting both Italian socialite Maria Cristina Vettore and Enzo Ferrari, but for very different reasons.
Ultimately the deal with Vettore went through and the two were married in 1965, while the deal with Ferrari famously collapsed, resulting in the launch of the GT40 program to teach the Italians a lesson at Le Mans.
The 1963 Ford Thunderbird Italien Show Car
It was in the midst of all this that the Ford Thunderbird Italien was created in Dearborn, Michigan. Though the car looks like it may be one of the specials built by an Italian carrozzeria on an American production car chassis, it was 100% designed and made by hand in the United States as a showcase of what was possible.
The car was based on a brand-new 1962 Thunderbird convertible that was shipped from the production line directly to the Dearborn Steel Tubing (DST) facility where it would be built.
The name Dearborn Steel Tubing made a lot of sense when the company was founded in 1955 to manufacture exhaust systems – though it perhaps made less sense later when the company expanded out into fabricating entire custom cars, usually for Ford.
The interior of the car is pure Jet Age styling, and it benefits from a restoration in the early 2000s back to original condition.
The design of the Italien was penned at Ford Styling, it’s clearly meant as an evolution of the then-current Thunderbird design, almost as a look at what the car might have looked like if it had come from Turin rather than Dearborn.
The car was stripped back and the front fenders and doors were removed, then replaced with newer units from a 1963 Thunderbird. A new fastback roof was created from fiberglass and added to the car along with 80 custom trim pieces, a Ferrari-inspired egg-crate grille, and a reworked interior with extensive leather upholstery, faired-in rear seat headrests, and chrome-plated moldings.
The Italien was a popular part of the Custom Car Caravan and it was later displayed at many major Ford dealers across the country. It was also showcased at some of the Autoramas and in many period magazines.
After its tours drew to a close the plan was for the car to be sent to the crusher, a common fate for concept and show cars at the time. Luckily it was divested back to DST, and then bought from them by TV actor Dale Robertson, star of Tales of Wells Fargo and many other TV Westerns of the time.
The car would later pass through the hands of a few private owners until, it found itself in need of a restoration and sitting in long term storage. Fortunately, the Italien was bought by Tom Maruska in 2005 and he commenced a full restoration back to original condition which was completed in 2008.
Despite the fact that the car was entirely designed and built in Dearborn, Michigan, it has clear Italian styling cues.
The restoration included a full engine/drivetrain rebuild, a careful return to its original deep Candy Apple Red paint, the interior was restored with the original materials and patterns, and the unique metal trim pieces were restored.
The car is now due to roll across the auction block with RM Sotheby’s in Coral Gables, Florida with a price guide of $400,000 – $600,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images: ©2024 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
