In reverse

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!

MODEL 1957 Thunderbird

ENGINE 312 cubic inch (5.1lt) V8

FAMOUSLY DRIVEN BY Marilyn Monroe & Clarke Gable

Hobart’s Blair Bryant has spent the past five decades cruising around the world in his 1957 Ford Thunderbird.

Story Harry Weller Photo Chris Crerar

Ford’s two-door, two-seat Thunderbird convertible launched in October 1954 in response to Chevrolet’s Corvette and the British and European sports cars flooding the US after WWII. With its low-slung, futuristic looks, luxurious interior and 4.8-litre V8, it proved an instant sales success.

Hobart consultant Blair Bryant’s 1957 model is among the most collectible of all T-Birds, with its race-inspired ‘E-Type’ performance options, including larger capacity 312 cubic inch (5.1-litre) V8, alloy intake manifold and twin Holley four-barrel carburettors.

Growing up in Southern California, Blair was attracted by the T-Bird’s relative rarity, the fact “it looked cool and really performed”, and because it was driven by movie stars including Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. “I purchased the car when I was 16 years old. It was the first car I ever purchased. The car was not in good shape, it had been raced hard, which is a good thing (as) because of that I could afford it.”

Blair recalls that most of his spare time was spent tuning and polishing the ‘Bird’ and on Saturdays he and his mates would drive on LA’s Sunset Boulevard. “During [those] days I had 13 car fires, because if the two carburettors got a little bit out of sync, one would backfire and set the other one on fire,” he says.

In the 80s Blair restored the T-Bird to its original concours condition, before shipping it to Sydney when he and his wife Ingrid relocated there in 2008. Over the next decade the classic coupe followed the globetrotting couple to Wellington, New Zealand, back to Sydney, then to Seattle, and finally in 2020 to Hobart, where the now-naturalised car enthusiast has set down roots.

As for the T-Bird, it’s undergoing another major restoration, this time with a view to competing in Targa Tasmania. “I made a decision after 50 years of going all-original concours, to now change everything and go for maximum performance again,” says Blair, adding that he and the Bird are running in the touring class under race number 257, for anyone who wants to keep an eye out for them.