Gone Viral: Ford-inspired Photo is a Love Letter to the Motor City
Michigan couple taps into their Ford roots to create indelible image of hope and romance.
It started with a kiss. Couple Stephen McGee and Cory Coffey live across the street from the Detroit-based Michigan Central Station. The area is undergoing a revitalization with Ford recently announcing plans to turn the long dormant station into a bustling technology hub. Inspired by the changes in their Corktown neighborhood, they hopped in their 1970 Ford F-250 to take in the scene. They just wanted to express their love of a city, of a truck, of a bright future ahead, and, of course, of each other.
Romain Blanquart, a photographer for The Detroit Free Press happened to be there, and snapped this photograph of the couple. The photograph has garnered a lot of interest and, of course, it has gone viral. And what makes the story even more irresistible is that it was unplanned; just a spontaneous stroke of luck, or maybe a little serendipity.
Ford had been projecting different quotes on the side of the station ahead of a press conference detailing the progress of the station. And on this night, Blanquart had been taking photos of the train station. The quotes, in Latin, translated to “We hope for better things” and “It will rise from the ashes.” And what Blanquart captured was a simple but powerful image: A kiss, a truck, a train station, and love letter to the city that Ford built.
“We live in the last remaining house that faces the station,” McGee told The Detroit Free Press. “It was built in 1881. We bought it in 2013. This was a bustling neighborhood. In 2009, the house was sold with another house next to it…They were two burned-down houses next to each other and we had the opportunity to put love into them and bring them into their next existence.”
The couple not only keeps their dedication to Ford and Detroit alive, but also, their love of Ford trucks. Their green 1970 Ford F-250 in the photo, appropriately named “Avocado,” once belonged to Coffey’s grandfather, who drove it off the lot in California.
The couple hopes to see the city of Detroit continue with its road to recovery, a city built by the automotive industry, and a city that Ford remains committed to.
“Even though we own this house, we thankfully understand that we’re part of the larger journey,” says McGee. “It’s just amazing, with this recent announcement of Ford. This just could not have been planned.”
Join the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums now!
