Is it a Bird, is it a Plane …

t-bird front

By Jim Hagarty
I am not sure what year this Thunderbird is, but it is a beauty. Probably a ’57 or ’58, judging by the licence plate that harkens back to Buddy Holly’s hit song Peggy Sue. The early T-Birds were the best ones. As did other car manufacturers at the time, Ford couldn’t resist the urge to take its gem and make it bigger and more sedan-like and uglier with every passing year. The public finally lost interest and the car disappeared. But when they brought it back for a few years a while back, Ford did a remarkable job of ignoring all those hideous versions it made and came close to reproducing the original. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive the brutal recession of almost 10 years ago now. I took these photos at a car show in my hometown this week.

t-bird back

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.