1983 Ford Thunderbird "Heritage" - located northern suburbs of Chicago
This car has been in my family since 1985
The pictures are from several years ago when I swapped from steel wheels to the original TRX wheels.
The car was driven daily or weekly as recently as about 8 years ago. It has always been kept in a garage, but I stopped driving it about 5 years ago.
It was running well when I stopped driving it, but it has not moved in a while and it's very dusty and the tires are flat. It was not prepared for storage, I just stopped driving it.
This was a completely loaded car in 1983. I have the original window sticker, and with all of the options it sold for $16,087.00 (that's about $51,000 in today's dollars). It has the 5.0 V8, electronic dash, leather seats, keypad keyless entry, power driver and passenger seats, talking voice alerts, automatic headlights, cruise control, etc... It truly has a very rare set of options. I have never seen another Thunderbird of this era loaded as fully as this one.
I need to make space in my garage, and it's time to let it go. It has never been restored, and is generally all original. Miles are over 100k. Someone who cares about this model of car could make this into a nice restoration, or with some mechanical TLC could make it into a driver.
I'm not going to attempt to start it. The battery is dead. It will need to be towed away. I will include the TRX wheels and a set of steel wheels with Thunderbird hubcaps. All of the tires are old and should be replaced.
I have no idea what this car is worth... I am open to offers. I would love to see it go to a good home where someone who loves these cars can clean it up and get it on the road.
Are you just dead set on a 15" wheel? There are more disadvantages to a 15" wheel than advantages just due to tire selection alone.
I guess I'm not dead set on 15"... call me undecided. The TRX wheels are a metric size, slightly larger than 15", so I thought that a 15" would be closer to the stock size (I really like the way the TRX wheels look). I have really only found one 15" wheel and one 14" wheel that is acceptable, although I don't really "love" either one of them.
What are the disadvantages to the 15" wheel? What other wheels would work and look good on my t-bird?
I have a 1983 Thunderbird Heritage, originally with the TRX wheel package. I am shopping for a new set of wheels. The choices seem to be EXTREMELY limited, especially in 15" sizes. I did come across this one at Tire Rack....
On that page, it says "Will not work on models with TRX package due to hub interference." I see the same note when I search for Mustangs of the same year on that wheel.
Is the hub different on the TRX cars? I'm just wondering if this note might have been intended for Mustangs, and not Thunderbirds?
Alternatively, what wheels do you think would work in a 15" size without doing a 5 lug conversion?
Your car looks like it just drove off the showroom floor! Very nice! Have you restored it, or is that all original? If that's an original interior, nice job keeping it that clean!
Here's mine. I just put the wheels back on Sunday, and the driver side pic was taken before I had the correct lugs and center caps. As you can see, mine is a bit rougher than yours. I have a quote of $4500 to paint it, and I'm considering that.... The paint guy says he'd want to take all of the moulding off and not replace it right now. I'm not sure how I feel about that. This car has been in my family since 1986.
Your car looks like a twin to mine, except yours has no rust!... I came here looking for info on the TRX tires, as I have just put mine back on the car after 20 years in storage. The TRX wheels on my '83 Heritage were taken off in favor of 14 inch steel wheels back in the 90's. I have always hated the hubcaps, and finally decided to put the TRX wheels back on. I love the way the car looks with the TRX package, but I recall the constant struggle with those wheels leaking!
What does the inside of your car look like? The outside looks great!
