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1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold We deal with a lot of classic cars, and we love to see them restored to stock condition. Ford Thunderbirds are highly regarded as a classic car, and it's not often you see one with the custom treatment. However, the 1958 through 1960 Thunderbirds (also known as Square Birds) don't get quite as much respect as the more popular 1955 through 1957 models. With this in mind, we love the '59 Thunderbird that Honest Charley built, as they took advantage of the unique body lines of the Square Bird and gave it a traditional "Watson style" look. Keep reading to see how they did it! 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold When Corky and Greg bought the Thunderbird on Backroad Gold, it had already received some attention, in the form of an amateur restoration. It was given a fresh paint job, but some of the bodywork underneath did not look to be pristine. So, in order to give this Thunderbird a cool new look, Honest Charley called in some reinforcements--namely, Gary Stroud with Liquid Vision Airbrush Studio. Gary has a great eye for '60s customs, and threw the kitchen sink at this Thunderbird, with scallops, stripes, lace overlay, candy fade and even some custom airbrush work. The end result is a custom look that is true to the custom cars of the 1960's. 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold So, why do we call it a Watson style custom? That term comes from a very famous custom painter, Larry Watson, who started a paint shop in 1957. His legendary scalloped, striped and candy paint jobs were on the cover of every custom car magazine in existence, and it created a lot of look-alike paint jobs in the custom world. Although Watson cranked out thousands of custom paint jobs, his work is easily recognizable, and very inspirational for folks wanting to build period correct customs these days. 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold To complement the wild paint job, the guys at Honest Charley lowered the suspension several inches to make this Thunderbird a lot sleeker. Then, they stuffed a set of Coker Classic H78-15 whitewall tires and Thunderbird wire wheels into the wheel wells. This car would've normally rolled off the showroom floor with a set of 800-14 tires, so the fatter tires offer a cool custom look. The combination looks awesome, and finishes off the custom look perfectly. Inside, the Thunderbird is mostly stock, as these '50s and '60s Thunderbird interiors were pretty wild from day one. Under the hood is the stock 352ci FE engine--it didn't get much attention during the build, but runs great! 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold 1959 Thunderbird Custom on Backroad Gold [products]