I remember a commercial years ago that fea- tured two guys driving along a roadway; win- dows down, arms resting on the doors enjoy- ing the fresh country air and sunshine. The commercial indicated that they were driving for several hours before they pulled into a service station. When they got out the car and met at the back you saw that the driver was sunburned on the left side of his face and left arm while the passenger was sunburned on his right side. After staring at each others strange tan lines, they swapped seats and drove off. As a teen, I often sported what was referred to in the Midwest as a “farmer’s tan”. Perhaps you were somewhat more sophisticated than I in which case you may have called it a “golfer’s tan” or ’tennis tan”. No matter, the look is all the same; a tan line that ends where the sleeves and collar of the shirt end. I guess I could just go shirtless while washing the car to even out the tan and ensure that it goes all round but there are two reasons that won’t work. First is that a car should never ever be washed in direct sun- light. And second is that no one should be subjected to seeing me wash a car without a shirt on! Owners of convertible Thunder- bird don’t have to worry about this. If they want to, they could tan all over without difficulty. No, this burden falls squarely on us hardtop and landau own- ers. It is just something we will have to live with. That, and having to have some- one drive our cars at times, so, you know, we can ride as a pas- senger and get some sun light on our right side. Enjoy the rest of your summer! Tom Driver’s Tan News from the Northwest Vintage Thunderbird Club September 2019 Volume 36, Issue 9 Thunderbird Flyer The Myth of “Numbers Match- ing” 2 Why Are Japanese Renting Cars But Not Driving Them 3 Oil Pressure Gauges and how they work 4 NWVTC Summer Picnic was a great success 6 Courtesy of Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota via johnnywander.com During the winter months we will be holding clas- ses for members to obtain a judging certificate from VTCI. This is a great way to get to know your Thunder- bird better or to find out more information on other model years. Watch for dates and times in future newsletters. Photos courtesy of VTCI
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News from the Northwest Vintage Thunderbird Clubnwtbirds.org/nwtbirds/images/PDFs/2019-09September.pdflead race announcer for FOX TV’s NASCAR television coverage and also a highly
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Transcript
I remember a commercial years ago that fea-
tured two guys driving along a roadway; win-
dows down, arms resting on the doors enjoy-
ing the fresh country air and sunshine. The
commercial indicated that they were driving for
several hours before they pulled into a service
station. When they got out the car and met at the
back you saw that the driver was sunburned on
the left side of his face and left arm while the
passenger was sunburned on his right side. After
staring at each others strange tan lines, they
swapped seats and drove off.
As a teen, I often sported what was referred to in
the Midwest as a “farmer’s tan”. Perhaps you
were somewhat more sophisticated than I in
which case you may have called it a “golfer’s tan”
or ’tennis tan”. No matter, the look is all the
same; a tan line that ends where the sleeves and
collar of the shirt end.
I guess I could just go shirtless while washing the
car to even out the tan and ensure that it goes all
round but there are two reasons that won’t work.
First is that a car should never
ever be washed in direct sun-
light. And second is that no one
should be subjected to seeing
me wash a car without a shirt
on!
Owners of convertible Thunder-
bird don’t have to worry about
this. If they want to, they could
tan all over without difficulty.
No, this burden falls squarely
on us hardtop and landau own-
ers. It is just something we will
have to live with.
That, and having to have some-
one drive our cars at times, so,
you know, we can ride as a pas-
senger and get some sun light
on our right side.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Tom
Driver’s Tan
News from the Northwest Vintage Thunderbird Club
September 2019
Volume 36, Issue 9
Thunderbird Flyer
The Myth of “Numbers Match-
ing”
2
Why Are Japanese Renting Cars
But Not Driving Them
3
Oil Pressure Gauges
and how they work
4
NWVTC Summer Picnic
was a great success
6
Courtesy of Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota via johnnywander.com
During the winter months we will be holding clas-ses for members to obtain a judging certificate from VTCI.
This is a great way to get to know your Thunder-bird better or to find out more information on other model years.
Watch for dates and times in future newsletters.
Photos courtesy of VTCI
A : Ralph, thanks much for your very interesting letter. First and foremost, I was totally unaware of the issue you have brought forward con-cerning “numbers matching” Fords. So first
and foremost, thank you for your letter informing my readers of this and also for the link to the Vintage Thun-derbird Club that goes even deeper into the issue.
Although I certainly feel your pain, everything I’ve dug up since your letter pretty much comes down to the truthfulness of the owner. Now with this said, many collector car owners don’t know about this Ford reality either, as there is a segment of the hobby where so called “enthusiasts” buy and sell for profit more so than for the love of owning a classic or muscle car. I’ll admit most are true-blue car lovers, but I hear you loud and clear as to overuse of the words “numbers matching,” etc. when it comes to Ford vehicles, the televised auc-tions and car collector magazines. I thank you very much for your impressive input on this situation in our hobby.
I dug up some information from Barrett-Jackson TV, and have found that as you mention in your letter, they in-deed do employ certain classic car professionals to make sure the cars they put into their auctions are in-deed authentic as to what the owner says the car is. These “verification pros” personally inspect each car to make sure that the seller does not make exaggerated claims. To get further input, I contacted Mike Joy, he the lead race announcer for FOX TV’s NASCAR television coverage and also a highly respected host and lead analyst of the Barrett-Jackson televised auctions. Joy was quick to admit your letter raises several interesting points and he told me that Barrett-Jackson indeed em-ploys certain individuals who inspect Fords, Pontiacs, MOPARS, Corvettes, Camaros, and so on for authentic-ity. Additionally, both Barrett-Jackson and Mecum al-ways go with the information supplied on the owner-card and only make a change if one of the professional verifi-ers finds a conflict between what they find on the car and what the owner supplied on the information card. I then asked Joy what “numbers matching” means to him:
“To me, ‘numbers-matching’ is shorthand for ‘this car still has its original engine.’ The best way to prove such a claim is with factory or dealer paperwork tying this engine to this car or chassis. There are alternate ways, such as a verifiable unbroken chain of ownership, with statements from each owner that the engine was never replaced. A similar problem exists with claims of ‘actual miles.’ Here again, paperwork is the key to establishing provenance,” Joy explained.
In ending, thanks Ralph Mahtar and Mike Joy for your expert enlightenment on what is a very interesting sub-ject.
-- Greg Zyla writes weekly for More Content Now and other Gatehouse Media publications.
To read the unedited article, click on this link.
The Myth of “Numbers Matching”
Q : Hello Greg and I just read your column on clones, replicas, recreations, tributes, and fakes. I don’t disa-gree with any of your points regarding what consti-tutes a fake car.
I’d like to add something, however, as in my opinion there is a much larger and more hobby damaging issue regarding the use of phrases like “numbers matching,” “factory installed,” “born with,” or “original” when describing Fords. The truth is that, ex-cept for the Mustang Boss 302′s, there is no such thing as a matching numbers Ford.
To explain, Ford did not stamp a number on any part that re-lates to the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of the car. They only had a date code cast into the part. So, the only thing that can be determined as true is if the engine has a casting date that is after the build date of the car, then for certain the engine could not be original to the car. If the date code is before the build date of the car, then it MIGHT be original.
But since there is no Ford documentation that exists to prove an engine, transmission, etc. is original to the car, any such claim is a false, misleading and fraudulent claim made by unscrupulous sellers to inflate the perceived value of the car they are trying to sell.
From repeated years of TV programs, both auction and restora-tion type shows, magazine articles, private listings on many websites like eBay, Hemmings and so forth, car folks have tak-en this myth as fact. I think that’s the definition of propaganda -- a statement that is repeated so often that it is accepted as fact without benefit of proof. See this link from the Vintage Thunder-bird Club of America for more on the Ford numbers matching issue.
This “matching numbers” dilemma damages the hobby because a beginning collector who has heard the hype for years on TV auction and collector car broadcasts as well as in print will be-lieve these falsehoods because of the assumption of the credi-bility of the source.
I am a seasoned collector, but my pursuits have been Chevro-lets. I bought a 1965 Thunderbird convertible at the Mecum auction in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 2015. The car was not listed as a numbers matching car so I didn’t do any research on the subject before the purchase. It wasn’t until I got the car home and tried to find a number on the engine to see if the car I bought was numbers matching or not. When I could find no number I did the research only to discover there is no such thing as a matching numbers Ford. I, too, had believed the repeated reference to number status that I had heard and read so many times. A car can be advertised as “date code correct” or “period correct,” but not “numbers matching” or any of the other phrases conveying the same message. While I don’t dispute the idea that a car with its original drivetrain is probably worth more to a collector than a car with replacement parts, the idea that the various auction companies continue to accept consignments with these questionable quotes and possible lies (from the own-er of the cars) is disturbing.
Have a great day and thanks for helping get the word out about these matching numbers untruths.
-- Ralph Mahtar, Richmond, Virginia
“...I hear you
loud and clear as
to overuse of the
words “numbers
matching,” etc.
when it comes to
Ford
vehicles…”
Page 2 Thunderbird Flyer
This article was edited from an automotive Q/A column from 2018. It discusses a problem that I have heard repeated many
times concerning the phrase “numbers matching”. There are also references a VTCI article on the same subject. Editor