composite by Daniel M.
One of the very few frustrations left in my life is not knowing how to use Photoshop. Ideas pop in my head for various “What If” scenarios (especially in my dreams), but I can’t act on them. I bought a copy of PS a couple of years ago, but never found the time to get past the early hurdles; there’s just too many competing interests for my time. Fortunately, there have been a few CC PS angels along the way, the most recent being Daniel M., who did the Corvair Monza hardtop for me, as well as his own Shelby Dynasty Wagon.
As I was finishing up my ’61 LeSabre CC the night before it was to run, I suddenly saw the LeSabre flying high in the clouds, an obvious realization of the title of the post, “Harley Earl’s Bubbletop Has Its Last Flight”. It was too late for Daniel to do it then, and I made a feeble effort myself, which I gave up on way too late at night. But Daniel has now realized it, and I’ve added it to the post, where it belongs. But I wanted to share it with you, and give Daniel a shout-out for being my PS angel. Like so much of CC, I get by with a little help from my friends.
Off we go into the wild blue yonder...
That is awesome–and I rarely use that word! It should be on the 2015 CC Calendar.
Chevrolet thought they offered Jet Smooth. Wrong. THIS is Jet Smooth!
With Dynaflowwwwwwwww, of course.
This reminded me instantly of the 1966 Thunderbird ad with the ethereal looking cloud formations surrounding the car and the image of the airline pilot reaching for the controls. Great stuff.
Ford used that reference to flight in regard to the 64-66 Thunderbirds in quite a lot of advertising. In this especially long two-minute plus commercial they take it to the extreme around 2:10!
Your dad’s car, right? Fabulous commercial, that sonorous voiceover, haven’t heard that in eons. But since when would you have been able to drive your hubby up to the plane and have your classy convertible parked by the runway waving goodbye to the departing 707? A bit of automotive advertising license, needless to say! Off topic to this Buick post, but the ’64-’66 T-Birds I always thought were Ford’s best and finest (well, maybe next to the ’57). If I remember correctly, one of my father’s golfing buddies down here at our country club condo back in the ’70s was a guy who did part time TV commercial work, and I believe he appeared as the pilot in one or some of these T-Bird ads. Fun stuff, thanks for sharing.
That’s a rather rare Convair 990, not a 707.
Gee, you must really know your aircraft. I’m looking at a copy of William Sweetman’s A History of Passenger Aircraft and can (barely – really the written descriptions make it possible) see the differences – a thinner wing, a narrower body, and the “Kuchenmann carrott” fairings attached to the wing trailing edge but I can’t easily spot them in this very brief shot in the clip. What makes the plane in the clip stand out as a 990 so easily for you?
It appears that American stopped using the 990 in service after 1967.
The main was the larger engine intakes, compared to the 880’s smaller ones. Also, I seemed to remember that the 990 had a close association with American Airlines. Looking it up, the 990 was actually specifically developed to a AA specification: be able to fly JFK-LAX nonstop, against the prevailing headwinds. Sadly, the 990 never did meet that spec, despite all the efforts made by Convair. AA started ditching their 990s by 1967.
Only 37 were ever built, and 65 880s, a royal flop, despite being faster than the 707 and DC-8. Operators didn’t care about that. The Convairs had only five-across seating and their gE engines were thirstier. A colossal commercial flop, and the biggest corporate loss ever up to that time. But they were beautiful, the sexiest jetliner, along with the Concorde.
You have a sharp eye. It wasn’t easy in this short clip to identify the aircraft that well, I just assumed it to be the 707, and I was sure it wasn’t the DC-8. On closer examination, though, it appears that the nose is a bit more aerodynamic than that of the 707, and you can’t spot the characteristic vertical stabilizer antenna that protruded forward from the top of the tail. I’m impressed at your aircraft knowledge, and yes, it is a sexy looking plane!
Yes, we had a beige on beige 65 Thunderbird. I always thought the 65 was the best – first year for disc brakes and sequential turn signals, really clean-looking wheel covers, the Thunderbird emblem on the front rather than the 64’s lettering. A great car with such a glamorous interior – the wrap-around lounge rear seat, the “flight-style” controls, lights in the rear coves, below dash, and in the doors (red and white, so cool). With an almost newly minted driver’s license, I thought driving it was just as good as flying at the time. I love the language used in these commercials – unique in all the world, the private world of Thunderbird, etc. Who could get away with this today – we’re way too cynical to just let loose and enjoy the fantasy as we did in those years.
I do remember the days when my friend and I used to arrive at LAX in the mid-70’s, park his XK150 at the nearest terminal garage, and sprint onto a PSA 727 to San Francisco or San Diego with very little time elapsed between parking and taking off. Today we have TSA rather than PSA (those flights were dirt cheap and you got a cup of coffee in a real china cup) – a whole different world.
My dad looked seriously at the ’66 as a successor to our ’63 Mercury, but it just wasn’t user friendly enough as a family hauler for two tall teenagers. I fell in love with that car, though, and thought the ’67s were a step backward. For all the details you mention, it was, indeed, “Unique in All the World.” I loved that tag line, along with Lincoln Continental’s “America’s Most Distinguished Motorcar.” You must have been in seventh heaven driving that T-Bird as a newbie licensee, as I was when my dad picked up their gently used ’65 Continental then as the Mercury replacement.
Yeah, I remember well that sprint from the parking lot A at LAX into the PSA terminal. I flew a lot to all the Bay Area locations on PSA in my first job for an economics research company, ca. 1972-76. If I remember correctly, a one-way ticket to SFO cost about $16, and you could race directly to the gate and grab a seat, maybe a half hour all told from parking to takeoff. Different world.
Thanks very much Paul, and others. It was my pleasure to help out, and pay you back in a very small way, for creating such a thoroughly enjoyable site. I appreciate the outstanding work of yourself, Perry and all the contributors. You each deserve solid compliments for creating, and maintaining, such high standards. I do regret the rushed quality of many of the photo edits I supply you, it would be nice to spend more time on them. However, they generally do succeed, in conveying their intended visual message.
I think the long time (and ongoing) CC Photoshop guru is Laurence Jones. He is a master of photo manipulation, and resides in his own class. He’s very talented at creating a strong atmosphere in his photography. I’ve admired his work for a long time, and he is a true Photoshop professional. Thank you again for this mention!
No mention of the Fisher body ads, with only the body (with perfect family inside) sailing through the clouds. Red (flames?) coming out of the taillights & even through the keyhole for the trunk lid.
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Totally forgot about those. Wonderful. Optional oxygen tanks in the trunk…
Nice work Daniel. Don’t talk yourself down, your work has turned the theoretical into the concrete and I always look forward to your interpretations of what might have been.
Thank you Don. I equally think you’ve been a great addition to the CC Garage. I enjoy the knowledge and candor in your comments. And the exceptional research and content of your articles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfrhFepnM-0
You’ve reminded me of Alan Jackson “Buicks to the Moon”
*VERY* nice ! .
Thank you for this terrific photo .
-Nate
This image would be awesome to have on a t-shirt nice work Daniel.