There were only 15,631 Ford Thunderbirds made back in 1956. 56 years later, one of those classic American cars is parked in a garage right here in Palm Harbor.
For those of you who may not know about this highly collectible car, the 56 T-Bird was immortalized in the 1973 George Lucas coming-of-age movie American Graffiti. The movie is based on a group of high school graduates in the 1960s who spend one last night cruising "the strip" before they have to leave for college. One of the characters sees a beautiful blonde played by Suzanne Somers who is driving a white 56 T-Bird. The blonde mouths "I love you" to the teen before driving off. He then embarks on a mission to find her.
Fast forward to a beautiful spring day in March of 2012 when this author was driving to the Palm Harbor Library and saw a white 56 T-Bird zip by.
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"Is that a 56 T-Bird?" I thought to myself.
"What a great article that would be, there's gotta be an interesting story behind it," I thought, as I turned my head to watch the car drive past me on Nebraska Ave.
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"Should I follow it?" I asked myself.
"No, that would be weird."
I then pulled into the Palm Harbor Library parking lot, turned my car around, and headed off to find the little white T-Bird.
"This is crazy," I thought to myself as I sped up and scanned Nebraska Ave, looking for the car. My eyes locked on the little white T-Bird as it waited in the left turn lane with its left blinker flashing.
"Sweet," I thought to myself, following the car as it weaved its way along Palm Harbor roads, past many many subdivisions.
The T-Bird pulled up to a home with a neatly manicured lawn. The garage door opened as the 56 T-Bird drove in and parked. Out stepped the driver, who looked at me standing in his driveway.
"I knew you were following me," he said.
It turns out the driver of the little white 56 T-Bird is Palm Harbor Fire Rescue Commissioner Joe Petrillo, whom I had previously met. I guess it really is a small world.
Mr. Petrillo told me that he bought the car brand new in 1956 when he got out of the army. He originally wanted a Maserati or Ferrari, but the price tags were a bit too high for his comfort level and he started looking at the 56 Ford T-Bird.
"It was the poor man's Lincoln Continental," he said, recalling how he walked into the showroom and saw the T-Bird parked next to the Lincoln. He thinks he paid about $2,400 for the car.
He drove the T-Bird regularly when he and his wife, Benita lived up north. They liked to go for rides in New York's Catskill Mountains.
"It's seen plenty of ice and cold weather," he said.
The T-Bird has around 200,000 miles on its odometer. Mr. Petrillo told me he drives it often because his wife won't let him drive her car, a Hyundai Sonata.
Then, as if on cue, Mr. Petrillo's wife Benita happened to drive up. She pulled her Sonata into the driveway, got out, and joined in the conversation.
It turns out that Mr. Petrillo actually has his 56 T-Bird up for sale with a price tag of $20,000.
Why would Mr. Petrillo want to sell this classic car?
He wants to buy a Mazda Miata.
"He refuses to grow up," said Benita, smiling at her husband.
You can see the original TV commercial for the 1956 Ford Thunderbird in the video section of this article.
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