No, this was not hanging on the Niedermeyer’s mantel. And it’s not their house with a matching brace of red LTDs, so carefully posed for this photograph. But somebody wanted to make sure their pride and joys looked at their best: Notice how everything other than the house and cars have been painted in.
A CC reader sent me this shot, saying:
While going through some dusty junk at a local antique store I found this gem of a picture.Given a certain writer’s bile-inducing hatred of the ’73 LTD and another certain writer’s warm memories of the ’69 LTD I thought this would be worthy of a post.
My apologies for the crappy photography, I only had my phone to take a picture and I was in hurry to avoid looking weird. I really liked this oddball but I’m not sure I $20 liked it. Well… I may have bought it if I had more than $5 in my pocket.
Oh, and yes, the grass and pine trees are painted over. No, I’m not sure why.
Me neither, except maybe they didn’t like the looks of their real lawn. Or sky. I wish I’d stumbled unto it; I’d have made Stephanie so happy bringing home this new addition to our walls. Or maybe even the coveted spot over mantle.
On a slightly lesser scale of grandeur:
The Reimer Ranch Home in 1968.
My WWII/Korean war generation Parents were SO proud of their suburban tract home and the new-ish Ford Station wagon in the driveway!
It took me years to understand why they felt this way and to appreciate their pride in their accomplishments.
I’ll take the 74 LTD with the opera windows. That’s my kinda car, although I don’t like Red cars. Those opera windows were actually a factory option, I have a Ford Fact Sheet on it.
Now you mention it.
I was much surprised the first time I saw a picture of a LTD with the opera windows.
The way they were built in never looks like it was done professionally.
Somehow – who ever was in charge of it – never managed to do it as well as they did with the Thunderbirds, Mark’s, Gran Torinos and Montegos..
Well, if you didn’t want opera windows, there were Landau Bars!
It might be that the original owner achieved the status of a two car household. It really was something that people used to dream of, now as common as dirt. A winter photo date might explain the retouching.
Wow. I can only imagine the reaction I would get to “Hey honey, look what I brought home. Where can we hang it?” 🙂
That observant CC reader should have bought it. I’m sure that the editorial department here would have reimbursed him (her? – Nah.) It would make a marvelous traveling trophy for some prize or other.
When I first moved into my late 1950s neighborhood in the 1990s, there was an elderly couple who had a bright red 73 LTD 2 door. Not that rich red that most big Fords of the 1966-80 era, but that nasty hot orangy red that was a 1973-only thing on the big cars. I wanted to hate the car, but it was so pristine that I couldn’t. They eventually moved, or else were outlived by it. In either case, I haven’t seen it in maybe 15 years.
The frame might be worth the asking price.
I would be that observant reader and unfortunately I only had $5 in my pocket at the time. I’m really starting to think about going back and buying it, surely no one else in their right mind would buy it.
Couldn’t resist “cleaning it up” a bit….
Some of us might wonder why the original artist didn’t stick with the existing house and landscape and paint over the cars. At least make them a couple of Lincolns. 🙂
Maybe he/she used a very early version of Photoshop and the driveway actually contained a Pinto and a B210…Not everyone is as highfalutin’ as the Cavanaughs… 🙂
I wouldn’t mind a Pinto and a B210.
I’ve now spent more time looking at this piece of “art” than I’ve spent on almost any individual piece hanging in the Louvre…I’m not really sure what that says about my sensibilities.
I do, however, know that I really like the Photorealism genre, especially artists such as Robert Bechtle, an example of which is below. He did a lot with cars, traffic, street, and people posing with their cars. Yes, that’s a painting, not a photo. I just realized that he lived in my neighborhood when I lived in San Francisco.
I know this isn’t nearly the same being a photo with paint over some background areas as opposed to a painting of a photo itself but still.
With artist…
Wow. I’ve never seen/heard of his work, but it’s almost eerie. Were I not at work I might have to start googling away. Please do bring on a feature.
Just last night I was invited along *cough* (dragged) to an exhibit at a nearby event space to view the work of some featured local artists. The sales pitch (which worked predictably well on me) was, “It’s free and they sample great wines”. The art on offer was just about as inspiring as the featured “painting”. But the wine was indeed worth the hour and a half.
Oh my. That’s amazing–never would have guessed it wasn’t a photo!
Apparently, this is one of his better known works, the Alameda Gran Torino
Bechtle is the real thing; love his stuff. Which reminds me, we’ve never done a feature on him here. Long overdue.
He is great, I first saw his stuff at the SFMOMA years ago. Looking at his paintings he sure seems to have the CC bug, they are chock full of many of the cars we write about here, and always the everyday models, not the fancy or particularly rare ones.
Count me as another fan, Jim – I need to research his work now!
Now that’s talent!
Fantastic!! This looks like something that should be donated to the museum of bad art in Boston:
http://www.museumofbadart.org/
If you’ve never looked through their website, I was laughing so hard I was crying after 5 minutes..
It’s amazing the stuff I learn here at CC. Of course I had to follow that link. And of course I found just the gift for a friend who’s moving into a new place soon. Classic stuff, that. I’m hooked.
The problem with the Museum of Bad Art is that a lot of their collection isn’t much different from what often passes for GOOD art!
!! DougD, I just “liked” this museum on Facebook. I can’t wait to check this out in depth. Thank you for linking / posting that.
Well, I’ve got to do this.
I’ve talked about my parent’s 66 Mercury Montclair that I loved so much.
From a photograph taken at Fejervary Park, Davenport IA. Early 70s.
That grey thing beyond the city is supposed to be the Mississippi River.
I have also done a painting of a 54 red and white Nash Ambassador posed on the bayfront in Benicia CA.
Possibly two more candidates for the Museum Of Bad Art.
How old were you, when you made them?
15-16. The result of my taking Drooling and Panting class in High school.
Not bad. Good you saved them.
Hey, I like your Nash very much – looks sleeker than the real thing. Sorry to be pedantic (our love of this detail is why we’re here, right?) but it appears to be a 56, not a 54 (headlights in the grille and you’ve accurately captured the taillights of a 56). Nice work!
Lol. I thought of that last night, yes. It’s a 56. My bad.
The car belonged to an old guy who was fishing, I think. Had the continental kit.
1976 IIRC. Already an old car for the time.
Thanks for the compliment, but there’s a reason there are so many starving artists out there.
All these years later, I’m no better, though I did do a painting of the Bay bridge in Newport OR for my Grandmother. She loved it. And it will be a thrift store score after I pass.
Like finding a signed “paint by number” at Goodwill !!!
Here’s the Nash
It’s so lifelike, I can feel the breeze off the Bay and am getting a little chilled, might have to break out my Jimmy Carter cardigan 🙂
No, seriously, it takes a brave man to display his paintings to (any) audience. You paint better than I do, that’s for sure. I just tell people mine are abstract.
LOL. I’m not good at it, but the enjoyment from doing it was priceless.
I thought there might be some value added after I cut off my ear, though.
You maybe onto something…. the Grandma Moses of automotive art.
That’s a good out.
My little brother just gave me a book on drawing cars for Christmas. Perspective is not my friend !
the Grandma Moses of automotive art
That was my first thought too. I love both of your paintings, and I’m glad we outed you! 🙂
Thanks, Paul
You guys are so harsh on the LTD! – I first discovered this site reminiscing about my very first car (one like it is pictured below). My car was just like the gold one in the brochure picture in the post 3 pictures down… https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/curbside-classic-1973-ford-ltd-bring-on-the-bloat/
This was the very FIRST article I read here. If everyone wasn’t so darned nice to each other here, I would’ve been turned off to this site, but as I read on, I realized it was all true. While we all LOVE and fondly remember our first car, as I read on, I realized it was all true! It really was an awful car, but I loved it just the same. Fortunately, I awoke from my own personal Brougham Epoch and bought a much better handling car. ;o)
The second post I ever read here was this one… https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1971-ford-ltd-convertible-the-name-on-the-title-starts-with-the-letter-n/ ….
…and I could not stop laughing. I’ve been hooked on CC ever since… BTW, THANKS PAUL for updating the Archive Pages (where found this)… but considering your disdain for the ’71 LTD, I find it interesting that the featured picture under “American Brands: Ford” is that very car form the above humorous link.
A minor nit, being an aficionado of the ’65 thru ’78 LTD; The cars in the painting are a correctly identified 1970 LTD, but the “Bloated” one on the left is a 1974. I can tell be looking at the grill. The artist should be commended on his attention to detail. LOL ;o)
These were so not my kind of car in the day, but now, I really like this. Your LTD was immaculate. How long ago was this, and what happened to this car? Love that gold! Looks like it’s straight out of a “Quinn Martin Production”.
The one pictured is not my car, but somewhere in the attic I’ve got some good pictures of it and when I find them, I’ll share them, or do a point/counterpoint to the above “Bring on the Bloat” post as a COAL. The only difference seems to be the wheel covers; Mine had the basic ones that said “FORD” in three places around the center at 120 degree angles.
I graduated high school in 1978, and started working at Black & Decker in Towson, MD immediately afterwards. My Dad bought this car new in 1973, and it was our family car. I learned to drive in it, and drove it regularly throughout high school and kept it clean. My Dad gave it to me as a graduation present, and off to work I went. It was my daily driver until September of 1979 when I bought a Fairmont Futura. My sister got the car, and let’s just say she did not show it the same love as me and it met its demise. :o(
Oh, and +1 on the Quinn-Martin Productions! I liked The FBI with Ephram Zymbalist Jr. Plenty of Fords and Mercs in THAT show. ;o)
I have to laugh at Jim Klein’s remark about photoshopping over a pinto and a B210. In 1981 I was the proud owner of a ’72 pinto wagon and my soon to be wife at the time had a ’78 B210. I was also the owner of a ’73 LTD Brougham that I bought from my dad for my first car. I managed to total it after about six months but that big boat sure was fun to drive for me.
I liked the fact you could fit all your friends in it. Sure, they made fun of me for having such a big car, but when it was time to go somewhere, no one complained. There was plenty of room for everybody!
Like you, I got my car from my Dad as my first car when I started working right after high school at my first engineering job. I needed reliable transportation, and it never let me down. I kept it clean and shiny like all of my cars since. Sure, it was a land yacht… but it was MY land yacht, and I was proud of it! Mine wasn’t an LTD Brougham, but it was still a nice car. 2-Door Hardtop. Man I still wished they made those.
One of my uncles had a ’78 with the opera-window B pillars. He loved the thing ’til the day he died (11 years ago.)
I’m sorry, I respectfully do not get the love for these full-size Fords. Maybe a ’66, ’67 or ’68…but especially in the 70’s, I remember them as poor driving and quick rusting. Perhaps their finest quality to me was that they actually made the ’71-’76 GMs reasonable by comparison.
The later one isn’t much to my taste, but I do have warm feelings for the hidden-lamp ’70 (and its exposed-lamp brethren of that generation, if less so). If you ignore the grandiose scale, it’s a rather nice styling job.
hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. That’s art with a lower-case ‘a’.
if I’m not mistaken, are the wheelcovers not reversed on these cars?
I think you are right. I missed this completely.
WTF?
Is that an aftermarket chrome piece above the central grille of the 74 or just shadow ?