My Favorite Ride: Two vintage Ford Thunderbirds destined for the movies

FREEDOM — Bill Bates has two beautiful vintage Ford Thunderbirds parked side by side in a nondescript garage in the Owen County town of Freedom.

When he heard a local filmmaker was shooting a movie set in Bloomington and needed pre-1963 automobiles for downtown scenes, Bates called me up to find out more and see if they might want to borrow his old Fords.

“Bill Bates from over in Freedom. Don’t know if you remember me … I’ve got a few old Thunderbirds they might be interested in for that movie.”

I met Bates when I was a young reporter back in 1990, working on a story about how financial issues could mean the end of the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department in Owen County.

Bates told me he and the other volunteers had to buy their own gear, pay for their training and do the maintenance on four fire trucks, one of them 32 years old. The 12-person department needed $13,000 for state-mandated safety equipment and other expenses that year, but the township trustee had just $2,500 in the budget.

In the end, after community furor over the possible loss of the fire department, the trustee got a state loan to keep the department afloat.

The resolution came after contentious meetings at the cement-block firehouse in Freedom. Late one night, I updated my editor from a pay phone booth in the parking lot of the town’s now-closed convenience store gas station, which I think Bates owned.

Yes, a phone booth. I can’t remember if a call was a dime or had gone up to 25 cents by then. Almost no one had a cell phone.

Bates and I crossed paths again in 2002, when I was assigned to write a story from the town of Freedom for the first Fourth of July after the 9/11 attacks.

He described how the town had changed since he was a kid in the 1940s and ’50s, from a bustling community with grocery stores, gas stations, auto repair shops, restaurants, a hotel and a bank to a crossroads with a flashing light and just one local business, Bates Mechanical. But patriotism, church-going and taking care of your neighbors stayed strong, he said, even more so after the terrorist attacks.

Bates said he started a list of all the cars he’s owned in his 85 years and stopped counting at 72 vehicles. He’s bought, rebuilt, traded and sold so many.

Enough of the past. Back to those T-birds, although they, too, are from a long time ago. The body styles are the same, but there are distinctions if you look at the taillights, grille, hood decorations and side mirrors.

He’s pretty happy with his current collection, especially these two vintage Ford Thunderbirds: A Casino Cream 1959 and a Robin Egg Blue 1960. The radios, speedometers, heaters and air conditioning all work. He drives them both.

“I went to Chambers in Spencer and when I came out people were taking pictures of the car,” he said, gesturing toward the blue 1960. Bates doesn’t have a favorite. His wife likes driving the newer one. Both cars are lovely, but I was drawn to the pale yellow 1959 the moment I entered the garage.

Attention Jo Throckmorton: You will want these beauties for the movie. Maybe Bates and his wife, Ruby, can drive them. I’ll get you in touch.

Bates bought the 1959 about 10 years ago. It was parked alongside a road near Crane with a for-sale sign in the window. The man who owned it had inherited it from his father, who had kept the car garaged in St. Louis for 12 years.

It ran, but not well. "The interior was pretty rough,” Bates said. He spent four years rebuilding everything on the T-Bird, from engine to exhaust. He had it repainted its original color.

A few years ago, he found out about a man looking to sell his light blue 1960 Thunderbird. After getting a look at the all-original car, “I went ahead and bought it,” Bates said.

I took a slew of photos of these cars the other day. My favorite? A close shot of the 1960’s steering wheel. I stood outside the car, held the camera through the open window and pushed the shutter button. The result: steering wheel art.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at [email protected] or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Southern Indiana man offers 59, 60 Ford Thunderbirds for movie role