The Italien

THE 1963 THUNDERBIRD ITALIEN

Chapter 11 - MAGAZINE COVER GIRL

Copyright © Thomas Maruska 2008
All Rights Reserved

The ITALIEN was quite a hit back in '63 and '64
appearing in 14 automobile magazines of the day and on the cover of at least 4 of them.
Most of the articles predicted the fastback Thunderbird would be built.

I've received many emails from admirers today who think the car should still be built as it's sleek
styling would fit in nicely here in the 21st century!
Here's some recent email:

"With todays modern electronics, suspension and power train, this would
make a great American sport sedan. Nothing's wrong with the design at
all. Would love to see new auto like this come out of detroit once
again...."

"You know? If they would have put this puppy into productionI might have
bought one! I'm not a Ford fan but, this is my kind of designing!"

"You have the holy grail
of t-birds on your hands....Once in a while they try too hard on these one
off's....but boy, they nailed the Italien down big time...."


"Utterly, stunningly beautiful car!"

 "For me, the car looks more than just a collectible. So, I guess, collectors would love it much more than I do"


"OMG! This is without a doubt the MOST AWESOME Thunderbird in the world, bar none.


"it´s the greatest Ford I´ve ever seen..."

The first known magazine to publish the existence of the ITALIEN was
CAR LIFE MAGAZINE in January 1963

The first known publication to feature the ITALIEN on the cover was
NATIONAL DRAGSTER!

No, the ITALIEN certainly isn't in that class but since they were sponsering the
Winternationals in Los Angeles in February 1963 and the LA Autorama
was being displayed at the same event with the
Ford Custom Car Caravan as a feature attraction,
The brand new ITALIEN just happened to be one of Fords Feature attractions.
This was the introductory event for the ITALIEN and National Dragster did their part to announce it's presence.

SPEED AND CUSTOM MAGAZINE featured the ITALIEN
on the cover of their June 1963 issue and also had a 6 page feature article
inside in which they showed pictures of the car being constructed at
Dearborn Steel Tubings shop explaining in detail all of the features of the ITALIEN.

The ITALIEN appeared on the cover of one more magazine back then
and that was the summer 1963 issue of
POPULAR CUSTOMS

The ITALIEN went on to be pictured in HOT ROD MAGAZINES
April 1963, May 1963 and July 1963 issues.
in addition to
MOTOR TRENDS August 1963, November 1964 and January 1965 issues,
MOTORCADES fall 1963 issue,
HOT RODS 1964 Custom Car Yearbook ,
FORD TIMES March 1963 issue and
MODEL CAR SCIENCES August 1963 issue.

The ITALIEN was pictured in a prominent 1964 NEW YORK WORLDS FAIR
publication entitled
CAVALCADE OF CUSTOM CARS

Later publications include MUSTANG AND FORDS January 2001 issue,

The cover of THUNDERBIRD SCOOPS issue for January/February 2007

as well as continuation of "This rare bird removed from endangered list" restoration story in
May/June 2007, July/August 2007, September/October 2007
and November/December 2007 issues

LEGENDARY FORD MAGAZINE
featured "The Resurrection of the Thunderbird Italien" restoration story in their
March/April2007
May/June 2007
July/August 2007
September/October 2007
Culminating with the ITALIEN appearing on the cover of the
November/December 2007 issue

The ITALIEN is also mentioned in the obituary of Don Chambers in the
October 5, 2006 issue of OLD CARS WEEKLY
and in a story about Vince Gardner in the October 2007 issue of
COLLECTIBLE AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE.

Watch for a followup story and photos of the ITALIEN an upcoming issue of
COLLECTIBLE AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE
as they were here on November 8th 2007 and did a photo shoot of the ITALIEN
for that issue.

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