In the souvenir program for the show, the car is presented as 'The Burgundy Bird'.Īs Watson's Thunderbird toured major car shows, the Thunderbird was constantly awarded the highest honors for its outstanding paint and bodywork. Three weeks after the Thunderbird was delivered to Barris Kustoms it was on a turntable at the first Renegades Rod & Custom Motorama in 1958. Shown at the 1958 Renegades Rod & Custom Motorama Jeffries was good too, but I think Watson was better at the long lines.' He was very good at pinstriping long straight lines. Right over on top of that other pinstriping, and you could never see what the original color was. He striped that thing in a golden tan, and then a couple of days later, he didn't like that, so he went over the whole thing with a lavender color. ' He could pinstripe a straight line, and it was unbelievable,' he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2021. Īccording to Teddy Zgrzemski, who worked as a painter's helper at Barris Kustoms, Watson was probably one of the best pinstripers he ever saw back in the old days. Watson told later owner Bob Finley that the wheels looked brighter and whiter. The wheel wells were painted with a special white and crinkly paint so that dirt did not stick firmly to the surface. The Thunderbird was the first car featuring a silver pearl and candy burgundy paint job, but before he painted panels on his own car, he had already paneled Zeno Stephens' 1955 Mercury. As a result of this paint scheme, many believe that Larry invented the Panel Paint Job when he painted the Thunderbird. The purple paint was mixed up by Joe Sheline. Larry thought the car was too bright, and he decided to mask the edges with one and one-quarter-inch masking tape and shot a special mix of candy apple burgundy in the open areas.

The base job was followed by six coats of pearl lacquer. ĭual Appleton spotlights were installed by Barris before the car returned to Watson's House of Style where Larry applied a silver base coat on the car. The grille mesh was brass-plated by Custom Chrome of Paramount, California. The taillights were modified with chrome-reflective center bullets. Nearly all outside ornamentation was removed before the edges and corners were softened, giving the car a sleek, streamlined look.

The door handles were shaved, filled, and replaced by push buttons. At Barris Kustoms, Bill Hines and Bill DeCarr nosed and decked the car. Īfter dual pipes had been installed, Larry brought the Thunderbird directly to Barris Kustoms for a mild kustom job. While crossing railroad tracts they were torn off and remained off. Larry's Thunderbird had full-length cutouts (headers). Bob believes the car was lowered by the Bellflower blacksmith. The skid plates sparked when the car went into a driveway at a 45 degree. Half-inch skid plates were welded to the bottom of the shafts. Larry then had drive shafts chromed and cut to length. As the Thunderbird was lowered, the pipe ends would drag on the asphalt, much to Larry's dismay. According to the next owner, Bob Finley, the mufflers were installed with standard chrome tailpipes. He was in a hurry to get it out on the street, and it went straight from the dealership to Lindy's Muffler shop for a set of dual pipes. Larry started to personalize the car right after he bought it.

After looking at a brand new Thunderbird at Downey Ford, Watson told the seller to give him a call as soon as the first car with a tuck'n'roll interior arrived. The new Thunderbird was exotic, carrying the hottest trends in customized cars such as dual headlights, small fins, and an optional tuck'n'roll interior. What he really wanted was a 1958 Cadillac Brougham, but that was far too expensive, so he decided to go for the newly redesigned Thunderbird instead. Larry wanted to start a new trend in painting, and he wanted to use a brand new car as his canvas. Larry bought the Thunderbird brand new in 1958 after selling his customized 1950 Chevrolet, known as the Grapevine. 11 Sold at the Icons of Speed & Style Auction.6 Shown at the 1958 Renegades Rod & Custom Motorama.5 First Golden, Then Lavender Pinstriping.

1958 ford t bird