Saturday, November 19, 2022

Motel & Car

I recently scanned a bunch of random "roadside" slides, which I find to be tons of fun. Somehow they evoke vacations, the open road, the Spirit of Adventure (even if on a modest scale), and nostalgia for old cars and old motels.

Oops! Rain?! What the heck. Somebody didn't get the memo, rain is verboten on vacations. I wish I knew where this motel was located, but there are no clues to go by - the sign is at an extreme angle. I like how those chairs allow about three inches for your feet to rest on. Our photographer and his wife lived in New York (see the license plate), but they could be anywhere. Notice the big river in the distance... probably the Amazon?


I did a little research ("little" being the operative word) and learned that the car is a 1965 Dodge Dart. It's pretty cute! The 1965 model was part of the "third generation" of Darts, classified as a "senior compact" car (with a 111-inch wheelbase). It was available in 2-door and 4-door versions. Some new options for 1965 included upgraded suspension components and larger 14 in (356 mm) wheels and tires. Factory-installed air conditioning became available after the start of the 1965 model year, as well as disc brakes, which required the 14 in (356 mm) wheels to clear the calipers. Front seat belts became standard.


Ah, the sun is out, so much nicer! You might remember the woman from some scans from last March, from Universal Studios. In fact we see that hat in those photos too, so maybe they took a leisurely drive all the way from NY to California. I hope you like this couple, because you'll be seeing them again!


13 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
It REALLY feels like a Saturday now... The Major has finally done his homework and ID'd that car-! I've got my feet up; I've borrowed that cigarette holder from 'hubby', and I'm enjoying a day of leisure.

I believe the Dodge Dart is in a delightful shade of 'Dark Green'. I'm gonna go for a wild guess and say the "Amazon River" is actually part of Niagara Falls

Thanks, Major.

JB said...

1) Major, I think the sign says "Bates Motel- Showers in every room".
That is indeed the Amazon in the background. If you stare at it long enough, you can see pink dolphins leaping friskily. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating from those funny-looking mushrooms I found in the field behind our house.
By the way, how are the guests supposed to get by those chairs on the 'front porch' to get to their rooms?

2) The front of the car looks a bit like those amphibious cars seen in film clips, where the car is tooling down the highway and then heads directly into a lake, becoming a boat.

3) Hubby is smoking a pipe. I believe it's a "Ward Cleaver" model 7a, a two-tone, in Latakia Brown and Cancer Tumor Black (1965 or 1966). (Sorry Nanook... I kid.)
I like the fun, and sporty, Dodge nameplate on the front of the car. There's a 'dashboard mascot' (I just made that word up) visible through the windshield. It looks like a white mouse (maybe).

Nanook, how can you think that the river is part of Niagara Falls? Clearly, there are no pink dolphins that far north!

Thanks for the 'anything goes' Saturday pics, Major.

Anonymous said...

The Dodge Dart reminds me a lot of the Ford Falcon which was also used for the Ranchero (with a truck bed). The Ranchero was born in Australia, where a lady requested a vehicle she could use on her farm during the week, and then drive to church in. Therefore, I am absolutely sure these were taken in Australia and that is obviously the Thames, which runs from England all the way there.
Now where is my medication?...

Stu29573 said...

Be sure to put your name, I said..
I didn't.

JG said...

Major, you’re right, motels and the open road are a fine combo. You are right again, no rain on vacation please, unless you have a comfortable hotel lobby and lots of friends to visit with.

Maybe that’s a lake, not a river? Clearly though, climbing up to get into your room would be a challenge. I wonder why it was built like that? The chairs have to be an afterthought. Maybe the location was subject to floods?

Good info about the car too. Love that stuff.

JG

Melissa said...

I've never seen hills like that along the Niagara River; I was thinking it looked kind of like one of the Finger Lakes. Sid and Nancy there look like a fun couple, and I'm deeply jealous. I've always wanted to drive across the country, and it gets less likely every day.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I figured you needed a break today! “Dark Green”? The car looks blue to me, though I know that photos can fool you. Niagara Falls is not a bad idea, though we’ll never know for sure.

JB, the thing I like about the Bates Motel is all the wonderful taxidermy. It’s a real art form! I’d love to see one of those pink Amazonian dolphins, I hope they aren’t wiped out in my lifetime. You should always eat any random mushrooms that you find (editor’s note: DON’T DO THAT!). Amphibious cars are a fun idea, but really, how often do I have the need to drive into a body of water? And if there’s any sort of current, are you going to be swept downstream toward Niagara Falls? The hubby looks pretty nerdy smoking that pipe, but I love it because it is so “of its time”. I had an uncle who smoked a pipe, I always liked the way it smelled. Why don’t they use the same tobacco in cigarettes?

Anonymous, being an animation nerd, I used to watch old Ford Falcon commercials, that’s where Charlie Brown and the others Peanuts gang first showed up on TV. Fascinating! The Ranchero sounds pretty cool, kind of like an El Dorado? If only there was a way for me to see what they looked like. But alas….

Stu29573, I do the same thing.

JG, ha ha, yes, rain does have a way of putting the kibosh on plans. But as you said, if you are lucky, there are pleasant options! You could be right about the body of water being a lake; I don’t know, my spidey senses just said “river”. The tall porch does make me think that the river (if that’s what it is) would sometimes overflow its banks.

Melissa, having never been to Niagara, I will take your word for it! I was thinking that the landscape looked pretty flat, but you described it as “hills”. Hmmm! Yes, I want to drive cross-country circa 1960-ish, with plenty of cash and Kodak slide film! My best friend and I used to talk about doing road trips (not cross-country, but still…), and we only got as far as San Francisco to visit some friends.

Nanook said...

Major-
I couldn't decide if the color was a green or a blue. Either way [at least in 1965] Chrysler Motors wasn't using 'clever names' for the colors - as 'Dark Green' is the official name for that green; and if it happens to be blue, well then it's either a 'Dark Blue' or a 'Dark Turquoise' - it's hard to tell from the color swatch.

I also should've mentioned that 'Ermine White' 1964 Chevrolet - either a Bel Air or a Biscayne model - that's about to drive right on into the Amazon or Monongahela River...

@ JB-
And yes, that IS a pipe. I failed to take notice of the 'bowl'.

Bu said...

I want an amphibious car, actually an amphibious tractor please. One that I can mow the lawn, and then drive into the pool to also tidy that up. If it could look like a Dodge Dart, all the better. My first over-drinking adventure was spent in a Dart…up and down hills…uppppp…and downnnnn…upppp…and downnnn…you can probably predict the end of that movie. I also expelled directly in the threshold of a Jack-in-the-box restaurant before unloading the rest of the keg of beer I drank in the Dart. Fun times. The Bates motel is cool, and I wonder about dangling your legs off that porch…it doesn’t look particularly sturdy, but those were the days! I agree that Sid and Nancy look cool, and I dig that hat. I want one in blue so I can look like a giant bluebell flower. I don’t seem to have luck with bluebells…they grow one season and do not return. Maybe it’s me? I had contact with a non-American who pronounced Niagara nee-uh-gar-uh. It could not be corrected. I have taught speech correction and did not understand the blatant unwillingness…the brain, not the intent. I speak a lot of Spanish for work, and it’s hard for me to speak in a Caribbean accent whilst in Florida. I guess that is like saying Niagara. Time to go back to my phonetic studies…always more to learn. One of my college professors told us on the first day of class: YOU ARE HERE ON EARTH FOR TWO THINGS ONLY: LOVE AND KNOWLEDGE! True words…he was about to die, so he wanted to impart some final thoughts to his last class. Words To live by.

Melissa said...

Bu, I hate to think of the trouble your poor friend would have had with something like Skeneateles.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, let’s call the car’s color “greenish-blue”! It’s interesting that Chrysler did away with the poetic names for hues, I wonder why? I certainly enjoy the examples of names that you have given us. “Ermine white”, there you go!

Bu, hmmm, an amphibious tractor, for aquaculture! I’d drive it into somebody ELSE’S pool. Late at night when nobody is looking. Funny, we probably all remember our first “over-drinking” escapades. Mine was in Europe, so I wasn’t driving at least. After a few such experiences I found it to be so unpleasant that I barely drink anymore. I can go months without alcohol and I don’t miss it one bit. The woman’s hat is pretty hip, but her husband is NOT. Sorry, fella! Just grow roses, those things are hardy, and easy to grow. Wow, look at you, fluent in Spanish! I’m jealous, I wish I spoke another language. But alas, in the U.S., they don’t teach us until our brains are half-fossilized. Or mine was, anyway.

Melissa, if you have Skeneateles, you probably need a good ointment.

Chuck said...

Amphibious tractors are cool, but they have a totally different function than you guys are envisioning. I still want one.

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.