It's no secret that I love old cars, in spite of my complete ignorance of the myriad of makes and models. I did more than the usual amount of research on these (don't expect me to make a habit of this), but if I have made any mistakes, please chime in!
Check out this great picture of a woman showing off her fabulous 1957 Pontiac Star Chief while parked on the white sands of Miami Beach (the photo is dated 1962). '57 was the last year that the Star Chief was produced, and it was considered the company's prestige model. What a beauty!
I love this photo, even though I have essentially no information about it. I suspect that it was taken in the mid-1940's - and I believe that the automobile in question is a Willys Wagon. Those debuted in 1946, and were the first all steel station wagons, though as you can see, they were painted to simulate the popular "woodie" look.
In spite of the blurriness of this one, I decided to include it anyway. It is undated, but was labeled, "The Olds", and I'll bet several of you out there in Gorillaland know more about it. I sure wish I knew what city this is! Let's go get lunch at the Courtesy Sandwich Shop; I'll have tofu on gluten-free bread with soy mayo.
Major-
ReplyDeleteYou're turning into a regular "car spotter"-! (It's also possible the Willy's could be a 1947 or 1948).
As to the Oldsmobile, that would be a 1955. And (I think) it's the Super 88 model. Ahhh - so much "gleaming, graceful arcs of glass".
Thanks for these swell images.
Old cars are something I know little about, but I love them too. The third car looks exactly like one my older sister used to drive back in the 1960s. She took us everywhere in it.
ReplyDeleteThe first lady's cats-eye sunglasses are a perfect compliment to the lines of the Star Chief.
ReplyDeleteAnd the fellow in front of the Willys Wagon has a real Walt Disney vibe going on.
Wow,I'd give my left something or other for any one those cars but the Willys wagon really has a soft spot in my heart. My best friends parents had one when I was kid with Mustang running gear, quite popular in the 60's an 70's to replace the wheezing flat head four with a V8. It was the early 70's so of course they had the obligatory "regular" station wagon also (to paraphrase "Repo Man","There's on in every driveway, you'll see", at least my Fountain Valley neighborhood) so it was always a treat if Mr or Mrs Wilton took us somewhere in the "hot rod". Later in life I had another friend with another V8 conversion wagon that I actually got to drive quite often. This one had a 327 Corvette engine and a four speed, dang that was fun, and scary, not much else in modifications, and well, let's just say a Willys wagon doesn't handle like a Corvette.
ReplyDeleteNanook, I am trying to learn a little, once in a while! The pain, the pain….
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, I love the sort of "mint green" for that Oldsmobile - so evocative of that era.
Melissa, I was thinking more John Barrymore, but I see the Walt resemblance as well.
Dave, you get 25 extra points for referencing "Repo Man", one of my all-time favorite movies! I can't even imagine one of those Willys wagons with a Corvette engine… seems like total overkill, but must have been pretty amazing.
"There's room to move up as a fry cook dude", I'm due to watch that movie again, love it. I KNOW I have it on at least one obsolete format (VHS) but for some reason I think I might have it on laser disc also. Nothing like watching an old VHS on an HD flat screen .
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the wagons, a bit of an overkill, the one from my childhood had a stock 289 and an automatic so was fairly tame. I also remembered after my post that it ended up being my buddy Dan's first car. The one I actually got to drive was nuts, not just a 'Vette motor but a "built" 327, so much cam it would barely idle and a massive Holley 4 barrel carb made it so it could pass anything on the road but a gas station. Smoke the tires off of it in first, and you could bark 'em all the way up to fourth if you had the nerve and didn't lift. I didn't have the nerve, even then in my twenties I had some sense about me. Today, turning 50 in October, I don't think I'd pull that thing out of a driveway. Let's see, ancient vehicle, seriously over powered, squirrely as hell and without so much as lap belts so you just slide around in the stock front seat..... Thank you for allowing me to recall my misspent youth Major, makes me look at my good ol' 15 year old Suburban in a new light.
Dave, I have Repo Man on DVD, it is time to dust it off and watch it. It's available on Blu-Ray as part of the Criterion Collection... I may need it.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, all of your auto knowledge is impressive, but is like Latin to me. I am dumb in the ways of Holley carbs and such. I'm glad you enjoyed these pictures!
We love old cars. Years ago I had a classic Audi 500 and my husband had a Volvo 240. We got new cars when the kids were born but we still love to go to the local shows and parades that show off the oldies but goodies.
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