Tweet
Re: What made me decide I wanted a Thunderbird...
Those who have been on this board for awhile know my story but some of the new members might not. My Grampa Walt was a real character! Was an iron ore worker, an Alaska laborer, a farmer in Minnesota, a booze smuggler during prohibition (used to make whiskey runs with my mother in the car from Canada to Staples MN until Gramps was caught and went away to "camp" at Fort Leavenworth) among many other careers/escapades. He was always somewhat of a "daredevil" and flew a Piper Cub on a makeshift air field on his farm and always was "wheelin' and dealin" cars. Anyway, when the first Thunderbird came out in 1955, he drove out to Detroit and somehow purchased a red one and drove it back to Staples. There, he drove my Gramma around in it through town and finally the two of them drove it to California where he sold it. My mother always talked about it and showed me a B/W picture of Walt in his 1955 Thunderbird (my sister later found the photograph for me).
Well, I always wanted to be like Grampa in his Thunderbird but my father, although a lifelong Ford man, could never afford one with four kids on his salary (was pretty impractical too!). I knew that someday I'd have my own little Thunderbird like Grampa Walt.
Fast forward to 2002 and I saw Thunderbird Blue driving through my town (Frankfort, IL). That was it!! I knew I had to have one !! The next week on my way home from work, there in front of the local Ford dealer about three blocks from our home, was a row of 2002 T-Birds (this was October 2002 so they were more available by then). There was a Whisper White, Evening Black, Inspiration Yellow, Thunderbird Blue and of course, a TORCH RED!! The next day it was mine and the rest is history!!
In October of 2005, Sue and I took Illini Bird back to Staples MN and visited Grampa & Gramma's house. It was in terrible disrepair and it broke my heart to see it that way (we were told later the building was torn down) but I was determined to get a picture emmulating the one Grampa Walt had taken 50 years earlier. Attached are the original B/W photo; a colorized version somebody on TBN was kind enough to make for me a few years ago and my 2005 recreation of Walt's photo.
Those who have been on this board for awhile know my story but some of the new members might not. My Grampa Walt was a real character! Was an iron ore worker, an Alaska laborer, a farmer in Minnesota, a booze smuggler during prohibition (used to make whiskey runs with my mother in the car from Canada to Staples MN until Gramps was caught and went away to "camp" at Fort Leavenworth) among many other careers/escapades. He was always somewhat of a "daredevil" and flew a Piper Cub on a makeshift air field on his farm and always was "wheelin' and dealin" cars. Anyway, when the first Thunderbird came out in 1955, he drove out to Detroit and somehow purchased a red one and drove it back to Staples. There, he drove my Gramma around in it through town and finally the two of them drove it to California where he sold it. My mother always talked about it and showed me a B/W picture of Walt in his 1955 Thunderbird (my sister later found the photograph for me).
Well, I always wanted to be like Grampa in his Thunderbird but my father, although a lifelong Ford man, could never afford one with four kids on his salary (was pretty impractical too!). I knew that someday I'd have my own little Thunderbird like Grampa Walt.
Fast forward to 2002 and I saw Thunderbird Blue driving through my town (Frankfort, IL). That was it!! I knew I had to have one !! The next week on my way home from work, there in front of the local Ford dealer about three blocks from our home, was a row of 2002 T-Birds (this was October 2002 so they were more available by then). There was a Whisper White, Evening Black, Inspiration Yellow, Thunderbird Blue and of course, a TORCH RED!! The next day it was mine and the rest is history!!
In October of 2005, Sue and I took Illini Bird back to Staples MN and visited Grampa & Gramma's house. It was in terrible disrepair and it broke my heart to see it that way (we were told later the building was torn down) but I was determined to get a picture emmulating the one Grampa Walt had taken 50 years earlier. Attached are the original B/W photo; a colorized version somebody on TBN was kind enough to make for me a few years ago and my 2005 recreation of Walt's photo.
Comment