Ford lover treasures his '73 T-Bird

John Parr works in the hospitality industry in sales and marketing. He lives in North Oakland.

Ever since I was old enough to have a memory I have been in love with cars, specifically Fords. I think I was about five years old when family friends asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I replied "I will be the president of Ford Motor Company." When I was in my teens I needed a car and didn't have much to spend, but whatever I bought had to be a Ford. I found a neglected looking '73 Thunderbird that needed attention. I bought it and fell in love, but ended up selling it a few years later.

Over the next 20-plus years I browsed the classic car magazines and websites, and I ended up finding a '73 "Bird" located in Oakland. I had to at least check it out.

Over a few weeks of back-and-forth e-mails and conversations with the owner, I learned more about this car. The Bird originally belonged to the owner's father, who had recently passed away. A long-time Oakland resident and WWII Veteran, the father purchased the car new from Ed Chovanes Ford in San Leandro and had kept it in pristine condition until he passed away in his nineties. The owner provided me with the maintenance records, window sticker and owner's manual with all of the notes that his father had written on it over the years.

We arranged a date for the transfer of ownership. I had to break the news to my partner that I was bringing an old car home. I arrived, pulled it to the back of the house and got to work. The boyfriend wandered out, looked at it, shook his head, and said something to the effect of "I guess it's pretty cool." Jake (the dog) seems to like it, but my boyfriend does not get excited about cars.

My Bird is the "luxury" version and has leather seats, cruise control, opera windows, power windows and locks, luxury light group, climate control, tilt, quadraphonic Philco stereo, trunk release, sure-track brake system, 460 4V V8 and more. The spare tire is original, and even the air conditioning works. For these cars, just about everything was an "option," but this car has most of them.

Since becoming the owner of this incredible car, I have become progressively more confident in taking it further from home. The first jaunt was a short trip to San Francisco, on which the T-Bird blew a coolant hose. The second trip was to a wedding in Palo Alto, and this time she sailed along like a dream. Recently, the Bird, the boyfriend, the dachshund, the terrier and I all took a day trip to the Russian River. On the way home, I looked down at the speedometer, and we were going 90 mph!

Everywhere I go in this car I get thumbs-up, "nice bird" and even applause. Recently at a stop light a man offered to trade his Masserati for it!

My Bird is an absolute joy. The previous owner had recently named her "Tippi," as he had used the car to transport actress Tippi Hedren (of "The Birds" fame) to an event he had produced in San Francisco. I asked him to send me a photograph, and he was kind enough to oblige. I asked friends to help with a name as "Tippi" was not working for me, but so far I haven't settled on one yet. There are not many T-Birds of this vintage left, and to me she is priceless. I did not become the president of Ford, but owning this car is just about as good!

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