Julie and Marshall Burgess enjoy their car hobby.
Marshall and Julie Burgess share a passion for restoring vintage vehicles, highlighted by a 1955 Thunderbird and a family history of hands-on automotive projects.
By Rich Wicks | Panora Times, April 2026
For the Burgess family of Panora, you could say classic cars run in the family. Marshall Burgess and his daughter, Julie, recently took time to explain their hobby of restoring cars that make their engines purr.
One of the cars is Julie’s 1955 Ford Thunderbird.
“Well, I guess it started with my harebrained idea that I wanted to get a classic car. My sister had a 1965 Mustang that she restored when she was in high school. I had some classic cars when I was younger but just didn’t have the money to do anything with them. So this story started in May 2024. I was just looking online to see what was out there. This ad popped up, and a gentleman near Des Moines had a 1955 and a 1956 sitting in a shed.”
The 1965 Mustang is an eye-catching car.
“We made an appointment to go see him, and miraculously it was pretty rust-free. We decided to take it, got it home, and the motor was stuck,” Julie said. “So we started putting lubricants into the valves and finally got it unlocked. Then the fun began. It’s been a learning curve, definitely. It had a lot of mechanical problems. I joined a couple of Thunderbird clubs online just to learn a little bit more about the car’s peculiarities.”
The unique features of any classic car model are both a blessing and a curse. Those qualities are what make a model special, but they also create challenges for anyone looking to restore such a vehicle. Marshall explained that 1955 was the first year Thunderbirds were made, adding that first-year models often have quirks manufacturers address in later versions.
“It’s not got the best paint job on it, but that’s one of the things she’ll do down the line,” Marshall said. “It has a lift-off convertible top. It’s got a V-8 engine. It starts and runs well now. We had quite a bit of trouble starting it the first time. Finally, we towed it down the street with a chain to get it started. We’ve had it running ever since.”
Julie explained that the 1955 Thunderbird was built with 6-volt wiring, but she may consider changing that.
“I’m definitely thinking about rewiring the car and bringing it up to 12 volts. I’m not a purist,” Julie said. “I’m not going to change the look of the car but just make it safer and easier to work on.”
Julie shared the purpose behind Ford introducing the Thunderbird model.
The Burgess’ 1955 Ford Thunderbird
“It was built to compete with Chevrolet’s Corvette,” Julie said. “It’s a two-seater. This particular car came off the line June 10, 1955, at the Dearborn plant, so it’s a midyear build.”
Marshall said the car was originally black but has been repainted red.
“Most people who restore cars and want to resell them paint them red. They call it ‘resale red,’ ” he said.
Julie said she plans to drive the car more as she becomes comfortable shifting it.
“I’m learning to drive it. It’s a three-speed manual transmission,” she said. “I’ve gotten past the point where I stall it all the time, so I’ve taken it out to cruise around town and to a couple of car shows.”
Marshall also spoke about the 1965 Mustang that belongs to his other daughter, Heather.
“My daughter, Heather, wanted to get an old Mustang, so at that time I looked through The Des Moines Register, and a guy had one for sale near Huxley. He wanted $400 for it,” Marshall said. “It was sitting in a field. It had a good hood, top and trunk lid, but the rest was all rusted out.”
“I decided to buy it for her, and I brought it home,” Marshall said. “We put it in a garage, and the Hummel boys were in high school and started working on it. I ordered parts, and Heather was a sophomore or junior at the time. She and the Hummel boys were in auto mechanics class.”
Marshall said the project took a lot of work, but they stayed with it.
“It has a three-speed on the floor, just like the Thunderbird. The first time she drove it was at her graduation,” Marshall said.
In recent years, Heather considered selling the Mustang, but Marshall encouraged her to keep it and found a place to store it locally.
“I said I’d store it, and we’ll drive it every now and then. I’m glad I talked her into keeping it. It’s a cute little car,” Marshall said. “It’s got a really good paint job now, and she’s put a whole new interior in it.”
The Burgess family enjoys showing the cars together.
“We had them at the Panorama Days car show together,” Marshall said. “That’s kind of unique, to have them sitting together at a car show.”