Coming up at RM Auctions on Thursday 12th August is the last remaining ‘Battlebird’.

The Battlebirds were experimental, highly-modified, 1957 Thunderbirds, which made extensive use of weight-saving aluminium to replace many steel body panels. They were specially constructed to race the famed ‘flying mile’ speed runs at Daytona Beach in 1957.
2 Battlebirds were constructed for these show races, after which they were sold off by the Ford Motor Company.

This car, No. 98, originally ran a fuel-injected, McCullough supercharged 312 engine, and ran second to a Ferrari. It was restored painstakingly by Gil Baumgartner in the early 2000s. Check out Gil’s restoration here.

No. 99, powered by a 368 Lincoln engine, was later destroyed.

So if you want to lay some rubber down your street, here’s your chance to place a bid.

NEWS JUST IN: The Battlebird sold for US$280,000. (No, my wife didn’t buy it for my birthday.)

Picture from RM Auctions site.

Here on the underside of the world, it’s usually raining for 4th of July celebrations. But this year the weather gods didn’t dampen the party, and a big crowd of our U.S. pals turned up at Kardinya (just south of Perth) for the annual A.W.C. Fair. If the hot dogs, popcorn, donuts, candy, Millers and salsa sauce didn’t stir up the homesickness, the bouncy castle sure would.

Rumours that Elvis arrived in the big ole ‘Tupelo’ Cadillac were eventually dispelled… but it would have explained the ‘sold out’ sign at the Krispy Kreme counter.

Paul and I waited in line for a hotdog, and dressed in patriotic colours for the occasion. We even affixed a U.S. flag to the back aerial, embassy-style. Happy Birthday Uncle Sam.

Snaps of Tbirds, Mustangs, Cadillacs, Jeeps and assorted sights here.

Last Saturday Bill invited a couple of Tbird Tragics (and a Fairlane) over to his garage for an informal howdy and a chinwag. It’s great to see one of his lovingly maintained Square Birds out and about – one of a striking couple! Luckily they escaped the hail wreckage a couple of months ago.

Bill spends some time in Broome – and wouldn’t we all love to be there basking in some sunshine? – but when in Perth he’ll come to the unveiling of a Tbird seat cover, he’s so keen. See the Big Al’s gallery for a couple more pics of his cars on the road.

Check out more pics in the gallery here.

Travel back a little in time to when the beautiful Californian town of Paso Robles hosted the famed West Coast Kustoms car event over the Memorial Day weekend in May. Just before the earthquake a year or two later, and then the show moved South.

We travelled there in 2002 (little did Tracy realise that the entire 6-week round-the-world trip was choreographed to this one weekend).

These video snippets (amateur warning alert!) capture some famed show T-Birds (including the electric green 1963, which now resides in the U.K.; the renowned ‘Time Machine’ which has won more than its own weight in shiny trophies; plus a couple of 50s Birds) and a taste of West Coast car culture.

Plus to recreate the atmosphere, some very high-pitched American accents, extremely loud car noises, and a couple of em-Barrised moments (“is that a 61 or 62?”).

And the $10,000 question: why-oh-why didn’t Paul ask Barris for his autograph? or Von Franco? or Shige?

Perusing Paul’s extensive collection of car books (I mostly look at the pictures), I was struck by the number of cool Tbird customs by legendary George Barris.

For all our square-Bird friends, here’s a beauty: the 58 “Ultra-Bird”. Barris customised this t-bird for his wife Shirley’s birthday, painting it in 30 coats of Candy Red with white pearl outlining, adding 18 side louvres and illuminated hubcabs. It won the Motor Life ‘Car of the Year’ in 1959. Shirley is marvelling at how George managed to convert a miniature car into a full-sized version just by the application of Kolor Crome products!

So blog readers, what do you think of custom cars? Sacrilege… or you can’t get enough of the chopped, channelled, sectioned and lowered?

Check out some background on George here.

Image from Barris Kustoms of the 1950s by George Barris and David Fetherston.