Happy Birthday Dad

Today, were he alive, my Dad would have turned 81.
Among all the happy memories I have of him is the first car I remember him driving.
Early on in his driving career, my Dad, like his Dad, favored Fords. Every car purchase my Grandfather made was a Ford from 1953 until he died in 1978...but that's a story for another time.
I remember Dad telling me of a brand new 1954 Ford he had only 2 weeks before a near head on collision on Rt. 9 in Charlton, MA. totaled it. He told me that immediately after the accident the first thing he remembers doing after checking to see if he was okay (which he was), was turning off the radio.
Now the first car I remember him driving and riding with him in, was a 1955 Ford Victoria.
My Dad's early Ford purchases were made at MacSherry Ford in Shrewsbury, MA.
At first he considered replacing his totaled '54 Ford with a new Ford model called the Thunderbird. Jim MacSherry the owner of the dealership and a good friend, told my Dad that he wasn't sure about the Thunderbird with it being a new model and he also didn't think it would hold it's value. Little did he know...
The car my Dad did end up buying was black with a white top and a red and white interior. As for options...I can see from pictures I have of this car, that it had automatic transmission (Fordomatic) and can see that it also had a radio and sported white sidewall tires.
My Dad and Mom honeymooned in this car and it stayed in our family until November of 1959, at which time my parents decided that a larger car was needed for their growing family. It was traded in at Nanuet (N.Y.) Dodge and replaced by a 1960 Dodge Dart Pioneer wagon.