Jon Crispin's Notebook

Ford Thunderbird LX “Roadster”

Posted in Automobiles, ephemera, Friends, Jon Crispin, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized by joncrispin on 18/04/2018

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I have posted here and here about my interest in how American car companies choose to name special models of their cars.  It seems like this was really popular back in the 80s and 90s.

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This T-Bird belongs to our friends Suzan and Max, and they love this car!  They are grad students from the Netherlands and did what many Europeans do when buying a vehicle in the States; get some serious “Detroit Iron”.  I couldn’t find a specific reference to this Roadster model.  I’ll have to ask Max if this is the 6 or 8 cylinder, and what year it is.

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I really love the Thunderbird logo.  It looks very Southwestern.

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It appears in several places around the car.  None more beautiful than the one in the grille on the front bumper.

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I wouldn’t think those are real turquoise stones.

I tried to explain to Suzan that the term “roadster” doesn’t exactly fit this style of vehicle. This particular model is from the 10th generation of T-birds which were produced starting in 1989.

 

New York City/Roosevelt Island Historical Society/Olive

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I had a quick 24 hours in New York City on Thursday/Friday.

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After a great lunch with Zoë Crossland (click on the pdf download media button) in Harlem I went downtown to the 9/11 Memorial.  It is really quite moving.

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The reason for going to New York was to hear Robert Kirkbride‘s presentation on asylums to the Roosevelt Island Historical Society.  I’ll be back there talking about the suitcases on the 10th of May.  Please come if you are in the area.

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It is always nice to take the Tramway over to the Island.

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Cheap as chips and great views as you cross the East River.  Plus Roosevelt Island is a really cool part of the City.

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Judy Berdy is the director of the RIHS and is amazing.  We crossed the street for drinks after Robert’s talk and she just happened to have a set of plans for the Goldwater Memorial Hospital building designed by Isadore Rosnfield.

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I stayed with friends Pieper and Merrill on the Lower East Side.  This is a view of Grand Street from the window of my room.

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I often get requests for more photos of the Olive, so here is a recent one.

Hope to see some of you in New York on the 10th.