Have you ever been compelled to make up for the wanton dereliction of others? That’s just what the seller of today’s T-bird did, claiming it’s the car that Ford should have built. All you’ll need to decide is if its price makes it a coulda-shoulda-woulda too.

Are you all Le Mans’d out after the weekend just past? If so, you might not remember that last Friday we contemplated the pricing acumen on a that looked fresher than the Prince of Bel-Air. You might also not remember that it came away with a narrow 53% Crack Pipe loss. No, you might not remember, but Pepperidge Farm remembers, and they talk to the NSA.

When you go white shoes and matching belt, that’s called the Full Cleveland. Today’s Nice Price or…

If we’re dredging up old memories, let’s think back to when Ford made T-birds. Remember that? Yeah, those last ones, which harkened back to the two-seater Birds of yore, didn’t really seem to be hitting on all cylinders. Go back a little farther though, and think about the SC- the supercharged V6 Bird that was Ford’s performance personal coupe of the ‘90s. That one elicits, in the words of the morbidly obese and potentially diabetic Koolaid Man, an oh yeah!

As good as that might have been, the seller of this didn’t say “oh yeah,” he said “oh yeah?” and built himself what he thought was a proper Bird, one that took a lot of its DNA from a crazy snake that thought it was a horse. That of course was the Cobra Mustang from whose parts bin this Thunderbird got a lot of its wonderful toys.

Let’s start with the engine, which is a hand-built - apparently by John and Larry - 4.6-litre DOHC 4V aluminum V8. While not a Coyote, that’s still an engine that was good for over 300 horsepower in its day. Today, it’s a clean crate install in this Bird, and that includes the mill’s wiring harness, and exhausts you could stick your arm up.

Behind the romper stomper V8 sits a Tremec T45 and that sends the ponies back to a 3.73 LSD rearend by way of an aluminum driveshaft. Keeping all that in check are four-wheel disc brakes from a 2002 Mustang Cobra, with Baer-brand drilled rotors. Those are handily wrapped in five-spoke SVT Cobra alloy wheels. The suspension has seen significant refreshment, and according to the ad the whole thing comes with extensive documentation of the work done.

The interior of the car shows little wear and tear for its 238,000 kilometers, and features aftermarket gauges to keep track of what’s what. The body too looks to be in fine shape and a little more butch than stock owing to the high-center hood. Cobra badges on each front fender add to the car’s overall air of quiet badassitry.

There are certain tenets by which many of us live - never pull your uncle’s finger; stay the hell away from clowns outside of the circus; and, perhaps most sage of all, never by someone else’s project.

This project was claimed to have been completed in 2006, so perhaps in its case we could table that last one. My uncle, Sharty the Clown, has ensured that I will never-ever flout either of the former.

The cost of abandoning that particular doctrine is $19,000 Canadian, which as we all know is a lot prettier than the $15,422 in U.S. money that would be its current conversion. Maybe the comparable 13,696 in Euros would be as aesthetically pleasing? Or the 1,903,392 in Yen?

What’s your take on this Thunderous Bird for that kind of Canadian scratch? Does the work that has gone into it really make it the T-bird Ford should have built, and one for which somebody should pay nineteen grand? Or, for that much, is this seller just trying to flip the Bird?

You decide!

, or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to Kinja-less Alan for the hookup!

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