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Years of attending antique car shows did nothing to assuage the itch that Dennis Connole had to own one of those old cars himself. He had always been fond of the 1960 Ford Starliner, a sleek two-door hardtop model with an airy greenhouse.

But a friend attempted to discourage him by saying that particular model was notorious as a rust bucket. Nevertheless, Connole set out on what he expected to be a mission of long duration searching for a 1960 Ford Starliner. So imagine his surprise when, in his own neighborhood in Worcester, Massachusetts, he saw a 1960 Ford Starliner parked in a yard near the street wearing a “For Sale” sign. The floor of the trunk of the rust-prone car was gone, but otherwise all the parts and pieces were there and in remarkably good condition.

“The back windows were known for leaking,” Connole said, which led to the rusted-out floor of the trunk. In less time than it takes to report, the 3,617-pound car changed ownership and Connole drove it home.

“I was lucky,” he said, “because everything except the trunk floor was solid.” That winter he began to take his Ford apart, down to the last nut and bolt. “I spent the winter under the car scraping off the undercoating before I could have it sandblasted,” he said. Connole learned that his Ford, one of 68,461 manufactured, was built in Ford’s Norfolk, Virginia, factory. When new, it had a base price of $2,610. Then the search began for needed restoration parts.

From Washington State came the red vinyl and red cloth for reupholstering the interior. The padded dashboard was found in California, as was the package shelf beneath the huge rear window. The white headliner and black carpeting were replaced, and new stainless-steel spears on the quarter panels near the rear…