“Principality of Monaco” 1963 Thunderbird
Special Edition Landau
#1505 of 2000
On February 7th 1963 Ford introduced a special Limited Edition Thunderbird Landau called the “Principality of Monaco”. Only 2000 of these cars were produced, each individually numbered 1 through 2000. The cars came in Corinthian White and had a vinyl top in a maroon color called Rose Beige. This color combination, personally selected by Princess Grace, was never offered on any other Thunderbird model. The interior was white/cream leather with a white steering wheel and simulated rosewood trim.. On the dashboard of each car was a special nameplate with the car’s special serial number.
During 1962, the American movie going public had a fascination with Princess Grace of Monaco, formally the Academy Award winning movie star Grace Kelly. Ford had learned that Princess Grace was considering re-establishing her acting career, and preliminary feelers were extended to determine the royal couples willingness to participate in what would be a promotional opportunity for Ford..
On September 19th 1962, Ford representatives had a meeting at the Royal Court of Monaco and consulted with Princess Grace on a color scheme for the car.
Benson Ford presented car #1 to Prince Rainier and Princess Grace at a grand ceremony that was held at Grimaldi family palace on January 2nd 1963. Near the end of the trip to Monaco Ford representatives mailed 900,000 sales letters to prospective customers in the U. S.
The car, dubbed the “Princess Grace” model by Ford salesmen officially hit the showroom on February 22nd 1963. To further the promotion of the cars, #2 thru #19 were sent to Ford district offices and used as displays at auto shows around the U. S.
Upon the death of Princess Grace, car #1 was officially retired and placed in storage in Monaco’s Royal Museum where it remains to this day. It has never been put on display out of respect for the beloved Princess and actress.
This model is considered three times more rare than the 1963 Thunderbird convertible.
Of the 1,981 cars that were made available to the American public very few are known to still exist.
$11,900
LocationMiddleton, Massachusetts Mileage:65,000 Engine: 390 v8 Body Type: 2dr coupe Interior: cream Exterior: white View all the ads by this advertiser
Place Date: 11/27/2014
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