I want to buy a 1957 Ford Thunderbird but the mileage is 58,000.Is that good for an old car?

I want to buy a 1957 Ford Thunderbird but the mileage is 58,000.Is that good for an old car? - 1

The mileage has to be considered "suspect" at best.

Unless it has been more or less unused I would say the milometer has been round the clock three times and the true milage is 358,000.

On a car that old, mileage is almost irrelevant. The actual condition of the car counts far more than the miles. It is entirely possible the car was restored at some point, and the odometer replaces. It's also likely that it's had major engine, transmission, and/or suspension work over the last sixty years, and even if it hasn't been restored, the mileage would be irrelevant. Get a mechanic to look it over, make sure it's in good shape. Find one familiar enough with first gen T-Birds to know what is original and what isn't. An alternator installed 20 years ago may be in fine condition, but it may not be the "correct" part in terms of what the car came with originally. It doesn't really affect drivability, but it does impact the value of the car.

If the car has been entered in any concours competitions, the judging sheets can be worth their weight in gold. That type of show awards points based on how close to factory original the car is. Anything more than 90% means the car is in good shape and fitted with all original parts. A 100% score probably means the car is better than the day it rolled off the assembly line, with perfect panel gaps, flawlessly flat paint, and chrome so perfect it would make Henry Ford himself cry.

The value of a 1957 Thunderbird is in it's collector's appeal, so low or high mileage is secondary to condition, originality, and appearance.

That is exceptionally low mileage for a 58 year old car. Works out to 1,000 miles a year.

It's a 58 year old car. That's 1,000 miles per year and it is exceptionally low. That's great, as long as the odometer hasn't turned over.

It is very low if it is original. Older cars had odometers that rolled over after 100,000 miles so it could have 158,000 or 258,000 miles on it.

It's low if the odometer is 5 digit and it isn't158k miles in reality. But keep in mind cars in those days required more maintenance and people took their cars to the junkyard earlier than we do today.