Proceeds Will Help Restore A Rare Lockheed 12A

The Spirit of Flight museum in Colorado recently received the gift of a fully restored 1957 Ford Thunderbird. The museum now plans to give it away to a lucky winner.

“We are incredibly grateful that a 1957 Thunderbird was gifted to the museum,” said Gordon Page, President of the Spirit of Flight Center.  “The donor saw our Lockheed 12A aircraft project and wanted to do something to help get it back into the air. We had no idea they would give us a collector car to raffle off to help the process.”

The Starmist Blue Thunderbird has only 35,000 miles and was fully restored in 2006. It has a 312 cubic inch V-8 engine and automatic transmission, and it is loaded with features including hard and soft tops.

“We plan to hand over the keys to the car at our 10th Annual Spirit of Flight Day event on July 14, 2018,” said Gordon Page. “I can’t wait to see the look on the winners face,” added Page.

People can enter to win the car by making a donation to the non-profit Spirit of Flight Foundation. All proceeds help restore the 1936 Lockheed 12A Electra Jr. that the museum acquired earlier this year.

“My wife has wanted a ’57 Thunderbird since we started dating, so you can bet I will be making a donation,” said museum supporter, Mike Castro. Castro added, “It’s even the right color.”

Founded in 1998, the non-profit Spirit of Flight Center facility features over 1000 aviation artifacts at its Erie (CO) Municipal Airport facility.  Aircraft including a rare German Messerschmitt Bf-109, L-19 Bird Dog, and a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter jet are among the collection.

The Spirit of Flight Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and uses tax deductible donations to support its mission to save aviation history.

(Images provided with Spirit of Flight Museum news release)

FMI: www.spiritofflight.com