Today marks the final day of the factory in which my T'bird was born. Ford's Wixom MI assembly plant will close today after more than 50 years of assembling some of Ford's finest cars including Thunderbirds, Lincoln Continentals, Lincoln Mark IV's and Lincoln Town Cars.
Some facts:
- Groundbreaking in 1955.
- 4.7 million square feet of space
- 15 miles of conveyor
- Peak employment was 1973 with over 5,400 workers
- Peak output was in 1988 with over 280,000 Lincoln Town Cars and Continentals
The Thunderbird was built at Wixom from 1958 (the first Squarebird style, like mine, and the first 4 seat Thunderbird) until 1976.
92,798 Thunderbirds began life at Wixom for the 1960 model year. According to the data plate, my car rolled off the line on July 26th, 1960.
