From Mount Rushmore to the Statue of Liberty, there’s no shortage of popular landmarks in the United States. Though all these statues and monuments are rich in history, one car has gone viral online for becoming a new landmark for an absurd and unexpected reason.
While it would be unlikely to see a frozen car in Australia, snowstorms are a serious weather hazard in various parts of the US including Philadelphia.
The US east coast city has a trove of important monuments – the Liberty Bell, for one – but the city welcomed a new 'landmark' addition in January this year... a 2016 Honda Civic
For Tianna Graham – who goes by the TikTok handle tianag444 – what started out as a normal night led to an unexpected viral moment when she posted a video of her Honda sedan encased in ice.
According to Graham’s viral TikTok video – which has amassed more than 750,000 views – her car was covered in a thick layer after a water pipe burst on top of her parked car overnight, with a snowstorm freezing the car in place.
The 24-year-old teacher wasn't able to move her vehicle, and coupled with splashes of water from passing vehicles – as well as less than 0°C temperatures – the Honda Civic was inevitably turned into a frozen tourist attraction.
The frozen car generated so much online buzz that other Philadelphia residents started visiting Graham’s car and posting videos of their encounter on numerous social media platforms.
In one video, a commenter said, “Imagine your car freezes and people come by to visit [like] it’s an art exhibit”.
A different user added, “That car is not defrosting until 2030," while another stated, "THE Philadelphia monument".
Graham’s viral social media video attracted thousands of comments, most of which were condemning city authorities for allegedly not helping her.
A TikTok user wrote, “Yeah, the city owes you a new car”, while another remarked, “sue someone, sue anyone, hell sue ME”.
"All I know about Philadelphia is cream cheese, [the] eagles, cheesesteak and now this car," a different commenter said, while another TikTok user cheekily said, "Hondacicle is crazy".
While Graham was in good spirits about the situation – commenting on numerous videos and telling multiple local media outlets it’s no big deal – the schoolteacher posted a recent video asking visitors to not climb on her car as she “is trying to figure it out”.
According to her Go Fund Me page – which has raised more than USD$12,325 (AUD$17,266) – created by her girlfriend Meredith, a bad snowstorm and alleged wrongdoings from authorities led to Graham's unfortunate situation.
“During the recent ice storm, police wouldn't allow her to move her car, and it was ultimately totalled by ice and debris. This wasn't negligence or recklessness, just a genuinely unfair situation that left her without reliable transportation overnight," her page said.
But, according to her latest TikTok video posted on February 10, 2026, US-based second-hand car website Carvana gave her a free Honda Civic.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
