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Insurance executive George Watts sunk an additional $3,900 into what would be the first of two complete restorations of the first production Ford Thunderbird, and over the years became a champion of the model, forming close ties with Ford and even becoming the subject of a book that chronicles his ownership of the car.
The Painos have carried Watts’ torch the past few years, taking the car to shows and events including the prestigious Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach. But now “it’s time for us to move on,” says Leslie, 43.
With a teenage daughter and son at home, family obligations do not leave as much time for showcasing the car, said husband Rob, 44, who works in photography and marketing.
Still, the decision to sell the pristine car wasn’t easy. “This is bittersweet. It’s a part of me,” said Leslie, who fondly recalls going for rides straddled between her mom and dad. More recently, her 16-year-old daughter even had the chance to get behind its wheel – making the car truly multi-generational.
While the Painos won’t say how much they think the car will fetch at Barrett-Jackson, it’s expected to draw a lot of attention at the multi-day, celebrity-soaked event, where cars regularly sell in the hundreds of thousands and up.
Sometimes, way up. It was just two years ago that the Barrett-Jackson sold a 1966 Shelby Super Snake Cobra for $5.5 million. Last year, even as the economy was beginning to struggle, the auction sold an estimated $88 million in cars.
Expectations for this particular piece of Americana are already high.
“The car is world-renowned, literally,” said Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. “When we issued our initial press release it was literally all over the world for interest.”
“It’s a very significant car and a significant car in automotive history because of the popularity of the car when it was introduced,” he said. “This car represents an era that was arguably one of the high points or the high point in automotive design.”
Davis also wouldn’t speculate on what the final bid might be for the Thunderbird, but it’s “right up there” with other cars in its rarified category.
But more than dollars, the true price of this car is measured in something else: “The value of this car is its provenance,” Davis said.
“If you were to pick one car to represent the collector-car hobby … the ’55-’56 T-Bird is not only a blue-chip collectible, but it’s immediately recognizable. It embodies the entire collector-car hobby. It’s as significant and potentially impactful as some of the greatest cars we’ve sold.”
The car – whose mileage is unknown – was regularly driven by Watts, but has been kept in top condition through the years. Still, to get the vehicle ready for sale on Saturday, it has undergone a detailing regimen that lasted more than 20 hours.
“By no means was the car tattered,” said Derek Bemiss, owner of Trabuco Canyon-based Detail Werks. Still, he and a colleague labored over every square inch of the Thunderbird to make it shine like the day it came out of the factory on Sept. 9, 1954.
“The way these cars were built back in the day was riddled with chrome – but that means they also have nooks and crannies that have to be cleaned,” Bemiss said.
The car rolled into Arizona this weekend in a climate-controlled truck emblazoned with the Painos’ “Team Thunderbird” motif.
“It will be more comfortable than us,” Rob said with a laugh. In other words, a first-class sendoff for a truly first-class car.
