Cars
I have some photos of cool vintage cars for you today - thanks to my brother for helping with the IDs, especially the second example!
We'll start with this photo from June, 1975, featuring a woman happily posing with her new Porsche 914 (along with a glass of wine in her hand). I like her style. It seems like I used to see a lot of those Porsches around, they must have been fairly popular. At first I thought that this must be Southern California, but based on the license plate on the El Dorado in the background, I think that it must be Arizona (they had yellow plates with green lettering at the time).
Since the rear bumper guards appear to be rubber (rather than chromed or painted) I think that this must have been a 1975 model. Correct me if I'm wrong!
This photo was undated and unlabeled, but it is very appealing - this family is living the life! Looking at the scenery in the background, it could be any one of 1000 places, so I can't even hazard a guess. The man at the wheel is clearly very proud of his Austin-Healey 3000 (thanks to my brother Tom for helping with the ID). According to Wikipedia, in 1963, 91.5% of the all Austin-Healey 3000 cars were exported to the United States!
Since the vintage slide is slightly obscured in the front, I thought I would include this contemporary photo (scrounged from the web, as usual). What a beauty!
8 comments:
Major-
One of the first things I learned when posing for pictures, was to always have a drink in one hand. But unlike the gal in the striped dress, I always wear a string of pearls-!
Thanks, Major.
I can't think of a thing to say about today's pics except that in the third pic it reminds me of any town along 101 between Salinas and San Luis Obispo.
I also like the cinder block fencing in the first and second pics. so many apartment properties were done in that style in the 60's and 70's.
Thanks, Major.
If you listen very carefully, you can hear The Doobie Brothers playing on the car radio. If I ever have an end of life crisis, I think I will go for an AH 3000. I love the color blue so, so it's a no-brainer. I can see myself now, hair (what's left of it) blowing in the wind, driving to Sun City to play Mahjong. Thanks for the snaps today Major P.
In the 1st picture, the white car in the driveway is actually an
El Camino not an El Dorado...;)
I think you are right about Arizona Major, notice the towel on the dash of the Porche. It must be somewhere very hot. My mom used to do that all the time when she lived in Scottsdale. Also, I will take a stab at the year of the Austin photo. Maybe sometime in the mid 50s The hair styles for women at that time were short, and that crew cut the guy is sporting is very fifties or early 60s. In addition, there are no seatbelts or car seat for the little guy. It's a wonder any of us made it out of that era. Let's hear from GDBers on my Sherlock Holmes deductions.
Nanook, hopefully that lady didn’t get behind the wheel right after the picture was taken. I wonder, did pearls ever go out of fashion? Maybe in the 70’s they weren’t as popular. I have no idea of course!
K. Martinez, I can think of all kinds of places photo #3 could be, from Sunland to out near the Orange Empire RR Museum. My mom’s house had terra cotta-colored cinder block walls with a “Greek key” pattern on top.
Jonathan, yes, I can hear “China Grove”! That Austin-Healy is pretty sweet, I wonder how they were mechanically? Seems like Jaguars (for instance) were always great looking but spent lots of time in the shop.
Anon. OH MAN! So embarrassing. I would turn in my blogging badge if I had one.
Jonathan, in a way the towel (or shawl or whatever that is) draped across the dash is much like the silvery mylar window shades that people (like me) use today. The Austin-Healy photo might be from the late fifties, but I do think it might be from the early to mid-60’s. My brother and I (and my dad) all had buzz cuts up until about 1965. Of course we were a Navy family too, so maybe that had an influence. My knowledge of women’s hairstyles isn’t so great! As for seatbelts, we had them in the 70’s (our green Buick wagon, for instance), but often didn’t use them. You are right, how did we survive??
My grandmother always posed with her little red convertibles, but she never thought to accessorize with beverages. In her case it probably would have been an entire pot of coffee, which is far less glamorous.
Are those AZ plates on the Porsche and the El Camino?
She's a pretty girl, well worth a photo with a racy car.
Fun pics, thanks Major.
JG
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