News Letter Editor

MARCH 2018

Thunderbird Owners of New York

Web-page

http://clubs.hemmings.com/tony/index.html

Member, Classic Thunderbird Club International Chap. 49

1955 1956 1957

( OFFICERS:PresidentTBD Vice PresidentStan Matusewicz SecretaryJohn Cattonar - TreasurerPete Cochrane CTCI Advisory Council Rep.Bob Ceraso Tech Advisor: 1955sBob Ceraso - Tech Advisor: 1956s Tech Advisor: 1957sComputer AdvisorSal Perrotta Newsletter EditorSal Perrotta )

Monday, March 5th

Bethpage Library, 47 Powell Avenue, Bethpage, NY

Time: 7:00 PM

Newsletter Message

Sal Perrotta

Arlene sent out an interesting E mail about Joe Nolan and Dennis Benfante who were featured in CTCI January -February 2018 Early bird magazine.

Congratulations to Joe Nolan who was awarded the Concours 1 Senior Non Original Gold Award and the Gold Medallion Award for his beautiful 1957 Thunderbird at this summer's CTCI annual convention.

Additionally, Dennis Benfante is given prominence in the Early Bird magazine highlighting his participation in the Patchogue Christmas parade which included a great photo of the "King and Queen" in his 1957 Thunderbird. I have copied the article from CTCI/Early Bird magazine about the Patchogue Parade in the "New From the Club" section of the news letter.

Both Joe and Dennis have done an outstanding job driving positive recognition for our club.

Arlene sent me an e mail about our annual Dust-Off Brunch which is scheduled for Sunday, April 22, 2018 .

The location for the Dust-Off needs to be discussed and agreed to at the March 5th meeting

The 2018 All Ford Show annual all-ford car show at Kings Park, is all set. Keep Sunday, July 8, 2018 open on your calendar and please plan to attend. I included some pictures from the 2017 show which was a great success and helped raise some needed dollars for our Veterans.

This month I have added a few items to the Newsletter. One is a request for your consideration regarding Face Book, Please review this item and discuss this at the March club meeting.

Several of you sent me information which I was happy to include in the March Newsletter. The "News from the Club Section" is off to a great start.

Please keep the information coming, this is a great forum for information sharing.

Pictures of the 2017 All Ford Show in Kings Park

SECRETARIES REPORT

John Cattonar

T.O.N.Y. MEETING NOTES- FEB. 5, 2018

Our club meeting began at 7:15 P.M. gaveled in by our Vice president, Stan Matusewicz. with 28 membersin attendance.We still have no Club President. Come on folks, someone volunteer.After thePledge of Allegiance, our Treasurer, Pete Cochrane reported we now have $2,388.52 in the treasury.

Old Business - We discussed the Club's party at Madison's which was a great success. I know everyone really enjoyed the evening. It looks like we'll be going there again next year also(God willing). We had 47 folks show up, not a bad turn-out for a Sunday in January.

A special gift was presented to our out-going President, Joe Marchione. The club expressed our gratitude to Joe who served as our President for three years, I am sure we can all agree that Joe did a wonderful job.

The club presented Joe with a bottle of excellent wine and a beautiful vintage car wine holder. Additionally, a certificate of Appreciation from our club recognizing Joe's service to our club.

New Business - Al Continelli volunteered to pick up the 10 pizzas we will have for our next meeting (March 5th). Dennis Benfante will get the beverages and Bob Ceraso will bring the ice. This isalways the best meeting of the year!

Coming up in April we will have our yearly "Spring Dust Off" brunch. You need to sign up beforehand. We are still looking for a new place other than the Bonwit Inn but noone has come up with any new suggestions yet.

Dennis Benfante talked about the Thunderbird Appreciation Day May 20th . I am sure there will be some additional discussion for club teaming that will include Elliott Weiner, President of the Big Bird Club regarding the club plans for the day.

The big news from Dennis was an update on his teaming with Elliott Weiner for the All Ford Show. As you all know, Dennis and Elliott have been front and center in their leadership of this great event.

This year the All Ford show will be sponsored by our own club member Steve Siben. Thank you Steve for your generosity. It is important to note that Steve and his firm sponsor a number of community based events on Long Island.

Thank you Steve and the Siben and Siben Law firm for your commitment to this great event and your service to our community.

John Cattonar delivered a presentation about his experiences in receiving an older car and what it takes in terms of time and commitment to get it ready for shipment.

The meeting ended at 8:40 with Lou Realmuto winning the 50/50. $46.00

John Cattonar

T.O.N.Y. Secretary

________________________________________________________________________________________

The time has come for you to renew your membership withour club.

To be fair to our club members please note this is our final request for remittance. The club leadership will assume you have made the decision not to renew. It is our hope that you will renew as we value your participation in this club.

It is worth stating that last year your participation helped fund a number of important and fun events. Many of you participated in and enjoyed the actives the club sponsored.

While our annual dues is modest it is needed to fund the activities we enjoy. This year, the club hopes to accomplish even more, however, this simply cannot be done without your participation and active engagement.

The club leadership hopes you will join us for another successful year by renewing your membership today.

If you have sent your dues to Pete we thank you, if you have not please remit as soon as possible

Please make check, payable to T.O.N.Y.

Mr. Peter Cochrane

41 Arthur Avenue

Blue Point, NY 11715

2018 Dues

Individual membership - $20.00Family membership - $25.00

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We received a note from our good friend Elliot Weiner who was approached by Rich Seidl.

It seems that Rich has an assortment of Thunderbird parts for a 1957. If you are looking for parts you may want to reach out to Rich at (516) 315-5248.

====================================================================

2006 HONDA RIGDELINE TRUCK FOR SALE:

Four door Crew Cab,138k miles. The Truck was serviced by Huntington Honda. Service Records available. Four new tires, fully optioned and many extras, roof rack, running boards, mud/splash shields, towing package, bed- mat & tri-fold bed cover.

Never uses oil, no leaks, great gas mileage. A small dent in right rear door. Purchased a new truck selling well below market value. Asking $6,500.00 Current Book Value $8,000. - $12,000. .

Contact Bob Ceraso 631-757-9476 OR CELL 631-877-9476

Condolences

CHARLESJ.BRUCIA

April 27, 1948 - February 6, 2018 Charlie passed away peacefully in his sleep on the evening of Feb. 6 after a brief illness. He was a devoted husband, brother-in-law, son-in-law, and uncle. He is survived by his loving wife of 21 years, Laura J. Brucia, his sister Marie Kaminek (Raymond), brother-in-law Joseph (Susan), 3 nieces and a nephew.

Charlie was a native of Long Island, N.Y. He resided in NYC, Cold Spring Harbor and Palm Desert, CA. He was a preeminent financial manager and extraordinary CPA. He worked with innovative entrepreneurs, major television studios and many notable luminaries of the television and music industries for over 45 years. He also served as Treasurer and dedicated Board Member of the Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation for over 30 years. Charles was a consummate professional both domestically and internationally. He left behind a legacy of honesty, integrity and friendship. He was an avid collector of vintage automobiles, as well as being a licensed pilot.

On behalf of TONY a card was sent to his family expressing our condolences to his wife Laura and allof Charlie's family members. It is important to note that Charlie was a great supporter of our club. Living in California made it difficult for him to engage in our club activities however, he was very generous with his support of TONY. He annually gave additional funds to TONY to insure that our club had the needed funding to help pay for our club events.

Something to Think About

Communication with our membership currently occurs at our monthly meetings, our newsletter and our club web site. Additionally, Arlene does a fantastic job of sending out quite a few emails each month to help keep us all informed of news and events of interest.

I am sure that one or all of these venues reaches most of you however, only the monthly meetings provides us with an opportunity to engage directly with other members and discuss topics of common interest.

I would like to suggest to the club for your consideration a Face Book page for TONY. I can set it up and it will not take much effort to maintain. What I like about face book is it is very easy to use and it would be a interactive forum for discussion, sharing information, photos and sending messages to each other.

Please include this as a discussion item at the next meeting and let me know if you want to move forward.

Sal

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News from the Club

From: Sal Perrotta

I received word that I am very pleased to share with the club.

I have been selected to receive the Vietnam Anniversary Commemorative Medal for my years of service in South East Asia during the Vietnam War.

I am very proud to take the field with 19 other Veterans from Long Island to receive this award.

The award will be presented at a ceremony on Thursday July 12, 2018 at the Field of Dreams in Massapequa.

==============================================================================

From: Joe Marchione

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz helped fund The Last Race,

about a dying raceway on Long Island

Riverhead Raceway

Michael Dweck, a photographer making his feature film debut with a new documentary The Last Race, chronicling the fortunes of the Riverhead Raceway in Long Island, anticipated filming the movie would take four weeks. Instead it took five years.

It took a month just to put a camera inside a drivers face, Dweck told Market Watch at the Sundance Film Festival, where the The Last Race had its world premiere. I had to build up trust. We put a lot of money and time in it.

With the long shooting schedule and post-production occurring in Scandinavia, the doc ended up costing $500,000. A white knight emerged in the form of Starbucksfounder and executive chairman Howard Schultz, who contributed $100,000 to the movies budget and, along with his wife Sheri Schultz, is a co-executive producer.

Howard is a collector of my fine art photographic work, and so when I was running out of money because I was putting all of it into the film he gave me one-fifth of the films budget, Dweck said. It was a super nice gesture he gave it to me without asking any questions.

The Last Race visually depicts life at the Riverhead Raceway track during the final years of its ownership by the octogenarian couple Barbara and Jim Cromarty. One of the oldest stock car racetracks in the country, having been built in 1949, Riverhead Raceway is the only NASCAR stock car track in the New York metropolitan area.

In addition to footage of stock car races, with cameras situated inside the cars and microphones in the tailpipes and the drivers helmets, Dwecks documentary shows the Cromartys resisting offers of up to $10 million from developers bidding to transform the race track into a retail park.

When the racetracks were built they were typically in rural areas, where there was no development, but the land has become so valuable, it doesnt pay to have a racetrack anymore, said Dweck.

Barbara and Jim are wealthy, theyve been doing this long enough and didnt need the money. But every day I was filming them there would be a knock on the door from a developer saying they wanted to buy the track. They would say, Get out!

The Cromartys, both suffering from ill health, ultimately sold the racetrack to trucking company owner Eddie Partridge in 2015 for a reported $4 million. They had owned Riverhead since 1985 and had been running it since 1977.

They made a decision to hold off to the very last minute and ended up selling the track for relatively next to nothing to keep it open with the agreement that the new buyer would keep it open, but that wasnt in writing, Dweck said.

Although The Last Race isnt a polemical work, Dweck, a former advertising executive who became the first living photographer to have an exhibition at Sothebysauction house in 2003, laments the decline of amateur auto-racing tracks in the U.S.

Its 100% Americana and theres very little left of it, he said. Americana to me is your identity being tied to a place. With these types of racetracks, the drivers identify with this place, the owners identify with this place, the fans identify with this place.

New Yorks Long Island was a haven for auto-racing tracks in the 20th century, but Riverhead Raceway is the last venue standing. One scene in the movie depicts real estate developer Marty Berger outlining the inevitability of Riverhead making way for a shopping mall, as he is playing golf.

Dweck said: While playing golf, surrounded by trees, hes presuming that what the 2,000 people that have been coming to the place since 1949 in some cases third generation families really want is to buy more crap like chicken wings and Christmas tree ornaments. Thats what developers do!

In addition to economic pressures, Dweck ascribed the decline in amateur auto-racing to computer games. The younger generation is consumed with technology, he said. Do they want to work all night on a car in a garage with their father and get their hands greasy or do they want to play video games? They play video games and get fat.

It was a time capsule, for instance their aluminum speakers are from the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. I dont know anything like it, at least not in the New York area.

From: Dennis Benfante

From: Arlene Swenson, Lou Realmuto & Bob Ceraso

Great feature in Newsday which highlights Frank Signorelli's GTO

Check out the Great Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8_O--sgdtw

From: Steve Siben

Garden City Hosts Annual Easter Vintage Car Parade

Get out your Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it and head on down to the Easter Vintage Car Parade in Garden City.

63rd ANNUALEASTER VINTAGE CAR PARADE

APRIL 1, 2018

All authentic old motorcars,1918 - 1993, including antique, classic and special interest.

Location:

Cars will start assembling at 10:00 am, Parking Field 9E, east side of Franklin Avenue between Ninth and Eleventh Street. Enter only at Ninth Street.

Parade starts promptly at 1:00 pm by exiting Field 9E at Tenth Street.

The cars will travel south on Franklin Avenue to Seventh Street. West to Hilton Avenue, where the parade will terminate.

All registered Cars will receive a commemorative dash plaque at the assembly check-in point,while supplies last.

Registration Require, Check out their web site for the forms:

http://gardencitychamberny.chambermaster.com/events/details/2018-easter-vintage-car-parade-1410

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From: Peter Cochrane

A Report from Peter about the Indoor Automotive Swap Meet, Car Corral and Flea Market held on Saturday, February 3, 2018

Held at the Southold Town Recreation Center, in Peconic, NY by the Peconic Bay Region Antique Automobile Club of America:

Great sunny day to ride out to the North Fork to go to the Southold Town Recreation Center on the same street as the Greenport Brewery. By the way that was one of the places we visited on our pumpkin run tours a few years ago.

Good weather brought out several club members: Bob Ceraso, Frank Signoriello and Kerry VanName.

There were many long time car people friends from the Blue Point, Patchogue, Bohemia, and Riverhead areas.

At least 2 or 3 had flea market tables.

Guess we all needed to get out of the house mid-winter no matter what.

I was told that the flea market is usually held on a Sunday and later in February.

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From: Dennis Benfante

Dennis provided some great information about two car events which I am sure will be of interest to you all. "Thunderbird Appreciation Day" is May 20th and Collector Car Appreciation Day is July 13th.

As the clubs did last year there will be a get together planned for the Thunderbird Appreciation Day (May 20th) The Clubs needs to have a discussion about food choices. The location will be the same as last year LITC in Kings Park. Last year the clubs opted to buy hero's, this year pizza may be a choice for consideration. Let's discuss at an upcoming Club meeting.

From: Elliott Weiner & Dennis Benfante

Elliott wants to know if anyone in our club would be interested join club outing to "A Night at a Ducks Game". It would be some time in August details to follow. If possible could you send out a group e-mail and ask for a response to Dennis at tbirdden@optonline.net

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From: Peter Cochrane

The Vet Dog benefit charity car cruise run and luncheon sponsored by the Empire Galaxie car club (Bill Carberry) on Sunday 4/15/18 rain or shine.

Many of our club members have participated by sponsoring this annual spring event.

Some members travel the whole cruise distance starting at route 110 and Conklin St.

Others like myself meet at exit 64 LIE (Rte 112) and join the cruise group as they pass by exit 64 (we meet at the office parking lot behind the 7/11 and Starbucks).

There will be several Photo opportunities and a catered luncheon in Southold.

Pre-registrations must be received by 3/27/18 (Last year's luncheon was a sellout).

I will make and bring more flyer copies for our next meeting.

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1955 Ford Thunderbird | Ford

Legendary cars usually come from a time and place that cant be replicated. If the idea appeared too early or too late, it may not have happened at all. Thats certainly the case with the Ford Thunderbird, The Blue Ovals personal car that re-energized the company, came to embody an entire decade, and launched a segment that would go onto dominate the American landscape within a few decades. To the casual observer, the Thunderbird is an icon: a sports car with a 50-year history thats the rolling embodiment of nostalgia. But like most legends, the true story is a lot more complicated. Hell, it isnt even really a sports car.

With an aging lineup and shrinking sales, Ford was in dire straits after World War II. The introduction of its1949 lineup the first all-new postwar car from The Big Three was a much-needed smash, with a sedan, coupe, and wagon offered. But by the early 50s, a new phenomenon was beginning to take hold with American gearheads: sports cars. Hundreds of GIs had fallen for the likes of MGs, Triumphs, and BMWs while stationed in Europe during and after World War II, and had begun importing and racing them. Ford had long been the performance king in the U.S. thanks to its venerable flathead V8 (Chevy wouldnt have a V8 until 1955), but these small, well-handling roadsters and coupes were a different animal altogether. Among the young design staff, the idea of Ford lacking a sports carcould become a black eye for the company if that segment ever took off. So despite a famously paranoid and autocratic environment at the time, the designers secretly began work on the car without alerting the engineers, accountants, or anyone else who could shut it down.

Ford design studio, mid 1950s | Ford

ButHenry Ford II, the 35-year-old companychairman and grandson of Henry, was falling hard for European sports cars. In 1952, Enzo Ferrari had gifted him a Ferrari 212 Barchetta, and at that years Paris Motor Show, he took designer George Walker to task for not having something similar in the works.After the show, Walker called his team in Detroit, and told them to have a presentation ready when the men returned from Paris.

1955 Ford Thunderbird | Ford

The sports car project was quickly given the green light by Ford, and took on a new sense of urgency in January 1953, when Chevrolet released the Corvette. But Chevys sports car was heavy and underpowered, laden with quality control issues (fiberglass construction was still in its infancy), and saddled with a wheezy inline-six and two-speed automatic transmission. This gave Ford an invaluable chance to learn from Chevys mistakes. As the Corvette struggled, the company learned what customers wanted and most importantly, what they didnt.

Fords car would be steel-bodied. It would be a two-seater, but would be roomier and more refined than the Corvette. It would ride on its own unique chassis, but would share much of its trim work and interior with other Ford products. And most importantly, it would have the companys new Y-Block V8 and available manual transmission, two things Chevy didnt offer. Nearly a year after the Corvette made its debut, the Thunderbird bowedat the Detroit Auto Show to rave reviews.

1955 Ford Thunderbird | Ford

But there was a problem: It wasnt a sports car. The Thunderbird was too plush, too heavy, and too sluggishto compete with thelikes of MG, Triumph, Porsche, or Jaguar. Unlike Chevy, which shot itself in the foot by billing the Corvette as a sports car, Ford marketed the Thunderbird as a personal car instead, appealing not to weekend racers, but to well-to-do buyers who wanted something fun to drive without sacrificing comfort. Purists who expected a world-beater were disappointed. The American public, however, was not.

1955 Ford Thunderbird advertisement | Ford

Ford had only planned to build 10,000 T-Birds for the 1955 model year. Within the first 10 days after its debut in Detroit, it had over 3,500 orders. It would end up selling over 16,000 before the year was out. And that was no small task; at over $4,000 fully-loaded, the Thunderbird could betwice as expensive as a base-model Ford coupe, and as muchas the far more capable Jaguar XK140.

Chevy didnt lie down either. After the Thunderbirds reveal, chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov successfully lobbied company brass to rethink the Corvette top-to-bottom. Needless to say, it worked. For 55, the Corvette was finally available with a V8 and manual transmission. Performance would increase dramatically over the next few years, and the rest is history.

1958 Ford Thunderbird | Ford

But while the Corvette was struggling to become The Corvette, Thunderbird sales were a huge success for Ford. Available with either a 292 or 312 cubic inch V8, the T-Bird could be had with a manual or automatic transmission, power seats, a removable hardtop, and a telescoping steering wheel all luxury amenities that customers loved. Another 15,600 cars sold for 1956. In 1957, the number jumped even higher to 21,300.

Despite its popularity, the 1957 model would prove to be the last two-seater offered by Ford for 25 years. Ford had just gone public, and the bean counters had more of a say in the company than ever before. The Thunderbird sold respectably for what it was (the Corvette, by comparison, sold just over 7,200 units in 57), but the new company men felt that its profit margins were too thin, and that the segment was becoming saturated. Unfortunately, they were proven right: A bigger, chrome laden four-seat model appeared for 1958. The second-generation Square Bird wouldfindnearly 200,000 buyers over the next three years.

The Thunderbird remained in constant production for 42 years, often embodying the zeitgeist of American styling more than any other car on the road. The third-generation Bullet Bird epitomized Space Age glamour; the fifth-generation Glamour Birds became bloated and baroque, but were instrumental in the rise of the Personal Luxury Coupe, which would become the most dominant American automotive segment of the 1970s. The Fox body eighth-generation car was so unpopular within the company that the sleek styling, solid handling characteristics, and strong powertrains of the next two generationsweredeveloped in response to that car. And after a five-year hiatus, the final Thunderbird was the retro-futuristic 2002-2005 two-seater. On top of its direct styling links, it was a comfortable, luxurious, and expensive V8-powered roadster. Despite following the original cars recipe to the letter, it was widely considered to be a flop.

Thats what makes the 1955 to 57 Thunderbird so special: It couldnt have come from any other time or place. A few years later and Fords brasswouldve never been open to an exclusive, expensive, two-seater. Any earlier and it couldve stumbled like the Corvette did. If not for the Vette, Ford wouldnt have been able to hone the car to what Americans wanted from a sporty roadster. And if the T-Bird hadnt been a breakout success, Chevy probably wouldve followed through with its plan to axe thetroublesome sports car in 1956.

1957 Ford Thunderbird | Ford

Later modelsmay have vastly outsold the original roadsters, but none are remembered as fondly. The two-seat T-Birds embody the 1950s as much as a 59 Cadillac or a 57 Chevy does. Itslight, restrained design made it stand out fromvirtually anything else coming out of Detroit including the Corvette andhas become nothing short of legendary. Butthe Thunderbird was also the first successful niche car built by one of The Big Three. It was the first time a singular model that wasnt a big coupe, sedan, station wagon, or truck roseto the top of a companys lineup and tookhold of the publics imagination. You may not have been able to afford a T-Bird, or it may have been too impractical for you, but you wanted one. It represented a lifestyle and an image that virtually everyone could aspire to. Thatssomething you cant engineer into a car, and thats something that automakers have been chasing ever since.

Member

Date

Michael Cipriani

3/8

Steve Siben

3/8

Katherine Groen

3/15

Eileen Condra

3/19

Louis J. Natalie

3/19

Marc Grodinsky

3/22

Sal Perrotta

3/24

Phyllis Perrotta

3/25

Carolyn Peters

3/26

LEGEDARY THUNDERBIRD PARTS & CARS

1955, 1956, 1957, BUT/SELL/TRADE

5 Judith Drive, Greenlawn, NY 11740

Email: Legendbrbob@hotmail.com

Robert Ceraso (631) 757-9476

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15 Marcy Avenue

Huntington Station, NY 11746

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1955-1957 THUNDERBIRD Illustrated Catalogs

Thunderbird Specialists, since 1969

Parts, Restoration, Technical assistance

www.classictbird.com sales@classictbird.com

Order line: 800-374-0914 - tech help: 740-622-9700

Thunderbird Owners of New York Club Officers:

President:Open Position

Vice President:Stan Matusewicz

Treasurer:Pete Cochrane

Secretary:John Cattonar

Newsletter Editors:Sal Perrotta

Al Continelli Lou Realmuto

========================================================

Sal, Al & Lou