We did the Bullet-Bird recently, but I’m a sucker for shots like this. Every picture tells a story.
(this one posted at the Cohort by c5karl)
Cohort Outtake: Personal Sporty-Luxury Cars – Then And Now
– Posted on October 13, 2012
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Curbside Classics Archives
One is classy, one is gauche. You can decide which is which.
They both miss the mark for me. There’s a common theme in both…”overstatement.” Even with MacNamara-Era spartan lines, the Bird of that era was more of a turkey…flight was possible but only for quick bursts, pushing things to the limit.
I don’t know what that other thing is, but what with the spoilers and spats and all, it was obviously designed for a world without curbstones. Surely a world where money is plentiful and to be spent with little thought.
I don’t know that world.
I’m surprised that thing on then left made it up over that curb without scraping.
You can’t be sure you know. 🙂
Wow, they really aren’t so different.
Both cars look out of place in front of that house. The Bird’s whitewalls do not match,also.
This house is on Alki in Seattle. Believe it or not, that’s likely a near-million dollar house and there are many like this one along that strip. They can’t afford to fix it up because they are poor from paying the taxes!
You know, right after I posted that comment, I thought maybe those houses were on some prime real estate. Some 20 years ago, I travelled to Sannibel Island in Florida, and the most dilapidated places were well over a million.
Haven’t been back since, but I’m sure the prices have gone up several times.
You’re right. a person would have to be well off just to sit on the property for future sale.
Is there a bigger house behind it? The building looks like it was originally a two-car detached garage, maybe with a maid’s apartment above it or just a storage attic, and someone converted it to a house of its own with now a one-car garage.
I hope the Bird spends most of its time in the garage, or else there’s something even better inside.
When I said I liked modern car design and the direction it was going in, I didn’t have *this* in mind. I didn’t know a turd could be found that would make a Bullet ‘Bird look good, but there it is. And it is from MB, a make whose cars I greatly admired till today. Till I saw this, that is. A very sad day for me indeed. 🙁 No wonder BMW and even the upstart Audi are eating their lunch (No. 3 in sales here, and only because there is no other major luxury brand present, from a perennial No. 1 since decades). Ugh. I’ll have to dream about a nice GT Hawk again to get this out of my system.
Don’t blame Mercedes for that SL. It’s been bastardized with a “body kit”, poserific dubs, and the springs snipped. Normal street cars don’t have prominently visible negative camber on the rear wheels.
This one may be aftermarket, but if you watch enough Top Gear you’ll see countless ‘Benzes that look just as ugly and tacky as this one. They have a few majestic luxury cars left, like the CL 600, but the vast majority of their current lineup is covered with spoilers, oversized wheels, and flared fenders.
These Birds do not look right without the fender skirts. I love these, and it is a tossup between this 62 and the nearly identical 61 with the four spears on the rear flank. The 63 with the three tic tac toe games on each door never did it for me. Note that the Bird is not appreciably lower than the Benz, either in ground clearance or overall height. These were looooooooowwwwwwww cars in their day.
Ditto re the skirts and the 63.
An easy choice for me. I’d take the bullet Bird.
The T-bird was breathtaking for it’s time. It’s sleek lines were far beyond anything the competition had (aside from the ’61 Lincoln). It was designed at a time when car logos didn’t carry a brand – style did.
IMO – Mercedes isn’t so much about style, it’s more about the three-pointed star. So much about what they do is all about the logo – to the point where it’s getting bigger and more prominent on the front of the car.
In ’62 that bird said “succesful executive”. The Mercedes in 2012? Coke dealer.
The aging Lothario gets his choicest ride out of storage for one last bender, ending up at a rental apartment with a case of Cuervo and some hand-delivered “fine Colombian. Makes tonight a wonderful thing.”
Extra points if you guess the song! 🙂
Steely Dan Hey Nineteen
I’ll take “Then” please.
Give me the Thunderbird… EVERY DAMN TIME. Even if they were both offered to me for free and I had to foot the cost of restoring the ‘Bird.
These things make me want a Sube or Volvo…and I’m from New England, I really don’t want to see another Sube or Volvo!
Personal Luxury Evolution.
Both are “Gauche”, One from the factory and one with glue on “aero” aids.
When I was a kid, we lived in Baltimore from 1963-1967 our neighbor, across the street had a black bullet Bird like the one pictured, though I’m not really sure of the exact year. What made the neighbor unique is that he claimed to have some money in nearly 100 banks across the country. His plan was when the Russians invded, and he was pretty convinced that they were going to, he’d have access to cash no matter where he escaped to.
Here is a T-Bird I spotted in downtown Olympia… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usHrG622UvU&list=UUHBMWqoKoNvMYoBSd61g_Pw&index=15&feature=plcp