
doug7740
- Reaction score
- 1,233
- Thunderbird Year
- 1955
I've been a member of the Classic Thunderbird Club of Northern Ohio since 2014. Recently I found an article in the November/December 1997 issue of the Early Bird magazine which shows how our club decided to thank the Ford Motor Company for the many years of enjoyment by having a Thunderbird Memorial.
doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
Ford stopped production of the Thunderbird in Ohio on September 1997. At a local Cleveland funeral parlor a Thunderbird Junior, in a coffin, was carried in an antique hearse and led a parade of 150 Thunderbirds. There was so much fun taking photos, but they were not sure if the funeral parlor or the people passing by will soon recover from the sight of a coffin with a Thunderbird Junior in it. The photo session caused so much traffic to slow down that the police actually stood by to guide the gawkers past.


doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
Ford stopped production of the Thunderbird in Ohio on September 1997. At a local Cleveland funeral parlor a Thunderbird Junior, in a coffin, was carried in an antique hearse and led a parade of 150 Thunderbirds. There was so much fun taking photos, but they were not sure if the funeral parlor or the people passing by will soon recover from the sight of a coffin with a Thunderbird Junior in it. The photo session caused so much traffic to slow down that the police actually stood by to guide the gawkers past.
The inscription on the tombstone reads:
“Here lies Ford Thunderbird
Born 1954
Died September 5, 1997
MAY YOU RISE AGAIN!”
“Here lies Ford Thunderbird
Born 1954
Died September 5, 1997
MAY YOU RISE AGAIN!”



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