<Pedant Mode=On>
But aren't they Monodies rather than Threnodies?
</Pedant>
Both, I think. A monody was originally any verse spoken by a single voice (rather than a chorus) in Greek drama, but has come to mean a piece of poetry specifically mourning the death of an individual. Threnody ("wailing ode") is more generally a hymn or poem of mourning. Most monodies are also threnodies, but not necessarily vice versa.
Far be it from me to play the arch-pedant, but since what is being mourned is the era of the four-seater (though Thribb in all his guises above uses synechdoche to reduce this to an individual car) then threnody is probably more appropriate in this instance
But then again, I'm a mere engineering grad rather than any kind of Eng Lit person, so I might have that very wrong...
