(first posted 5/1/2017) It isn’t just the cars from the past that looked different; their inhabitants did too. And although we still have plenty of cars from the past to gawk at and and enjoy, we don’t have the people. But thanks to photographer Mike Mandel, here’s a look at some of them. Gawk your heart out.
Mike got his start at age 19 standing our on a street corner shooting the people in their cars, in LA in what has to be right around 1970. He used a wide angle lens on his camera, which meant he was very close to his subjects, something he could get away with then but not so likely now. The results are very divergent.
Great pics! Smoking in the car with the kids – it was a different time back then for sure! OMG granny in that first pic! What can I say?
Funny but thinking back of that time, when I was about the age of that kid, these hazards never come to mind. I sat in the back perching between the bench seats, no one used seat belts, and mum was forever smoking in the car.
Cars had drum brakes without ABS obviously, let alone lane departure control or collision detection.
Small wonder not more of us went to the morgue. Or to the court house at least for any of the crimes mentioned.
I’m in the middle of re-watching the entire Mad Men series and was immediately reminded of Peggy’s mother. Same hair and scowl. “He’s gonna use you for practice!” HA! (she’s probably correct.)
Back when cigarette use was common and seatbelt use was not. I can wax nostalgic about it because it takes me back to a different time when a lot of people dear to me were still among the living. The irony of it is that tobacco use led to many of their deaths.
Sad to think the paranoid and maybe violent reactions this photographer would experience today. Of course now, everybody is on candid camera, like it or not.
Vent windows and pillarless hardtops, cigarettes and unbelted kids – you’d say carefree, good times but the Vietnam war was raging, inflation and the national debt were increasing, and traffic was beginning to choke deteriorating cities that folks fled for the suburbs. Great pics.
An interesting update on Mandel from his bio on a site at Harvard where he is a Visiting Lecturer:
http://ves.fas.harvard.edu/people/mike-mandel
Where can I buy this coffee table book??
Great post, thanks! Looks like there actually is a book called “Valley Vista: Art in the San Fernando Valley, CA, 1970-1990 by Damon Willick” 😉
Excellent – thank you! I love this kind of photography.
I really like the International cabover truck photo. Crop it a bit on the left for a totally symmetrical composition that draws attention to the human being in it.
I think that’s a step-van. Sliding door behind him.
That third picture from the end is exactly how everyone I ever knew with a 69-70 Olds 88 would have looked out the window at that photographer. 🙂
That lady in the Olds is heading to the bank to deposit money she’s embezzled from her employer.
And how about that guy driving beside the scowling lady; a cop or one of the Village People on his way to a gig?
Maybe he’s scowling because he’s pissed being stuck driving a ’58 Ford 🙂 ???
Look at that, whole families in two doors. If only these people had our superior 21st century intellect to know the proper choice in car for them is a practical crossover, we’d be so much more advanced as a society today!
LOL! I guess I must be some kind of ignorant rube. We raised all 3 kids with two door cars with bucket seats ! They even turned out to be normal adults!
My completely unresearched position is that interior volume has stayed relatively similar through the years and there has been a constant push for more fuel efficient cars then a pull back to larger, more spacious cars. Overall the average interior volume has stayed the same.
I’d be curious to place the legroom of one of these coupes vs. a CRV or others. Same for clearance and storage volume.
Times change. Child seats are a real PITA in cars that are low-slung and/or don’t have rear doors. You also get better visibility (height-wise) and AWD systems are superior in inclement weather. So yeah, that’s pretty practical.
Of course many or perhaps most CUVs are bought for their image alone, but I can say the same thing about those old 2-doors.
Height visibility is a chicken and the egg benefit, you didn’t need to be high up to see ahead of you until the roads got littered by minivans, SUVs and crossovers with standard factory window tint preventing even see through vision. Rear visibility usually sucks, two rows of 3 headrests each sprouting up from the seats blocking the often too small hatch window is the sole reason backup cameras rapidly went from gimmick to necessity.
Child seats, sure. If 100% of the car buying public had children to shuttle around. I’m glad I grew up when I did, I JUST dodged the draconian car seat laws foisted on parents today, I’d gladly accept the trade off of not having a smartphone at age 3 kids have now.
It’s not chicken and egg…it’s always better to have a higher perspective in traffic. It was better 30 years ago and it’s better today, though not as helpful as it was then. And it’s also nice to see over snowbanks and shrubbery and such. Plus taller cars are easier to get in and out of.
Draconian laws? Perhaps. Many of those kids in the photos up above would be seriously injured or killed in even a relatively low speed collision, so as a parent I’ll use the car seats regardless of regulations. I’m pretty certain most parents would.
Don’t get me started on head restraints. GM for example doesn’t put proper 5 passenger seating in pretty much any of their 5 passenger vehicles and none of their trucks which a dealbreaker for me. It can be done without impeding visibility at all times, heck even Chrysler figured that out. We keep the unused restraints in our T&C down.
I’m not sure where cell phones entered this conversation. We do use tablets and a DVD system on long trips and frankly they have been a godsend, making travel a lot easier and enjoyable for everyone.
Kids aren’t faberge eggs, I’m sure we all took tumbles at young ages that would have severely injured us if we did it as adults. Baby to teen child seats, I’m sorry, are draconian. No amount of peer parent shaming would change my mind on this if it weren’t made law by do gooder parent lobbies.
I bring up phones(or tablets) because I didn’t have them, they didn’t exist when car seat laws weren’t overbearing in the 90s. Kids today practically need them to escape the reality that they’re being coddled in these things to the point where they’re deciding what college to go to. I’m grateful I escaped that, even if that meant I didn’t have a $400 device.
As to the rest, to each their own. At 5’8″ I can ingress/egress out of anything, and I like riding lower. Only inconvenience is looking at the monolithic black glass of the ever growing population of tall vehicles in front.
The car seats were different when my kids were little and it was easier to put in and take out the little ones. Of course they weren’t as protective either. I learned when my grandsons were little that a two door was a little more of a pain to deal with when using a car seat. However, my Mustangs had one nice advantage. If I put the car seat on the rear passenger side, I could actually reach the kid from the drivers seat while I was strapped in. It was real handy when they dropped something. They were also easy to keep track of via the rearview mirror.
As to headrests, my wife’s Toyota Solara has them on the back seat and, even though we have owned it for several years, they still can fool me into thinking I have a car on my tail. Peripheral vision strikes again.
Or how about 2-door police cruisers? This picture is of a Virginia State Trooper, circa 1963.
I love 2 door cop cars! Looks like a busy day at the office in this picture. I’m curious about the device on the ground. Early portable radio?
My mom bought a 67 Dart 270 2 door hardtop new and years later I asked her why she bought the 2 door she explained she wouldn’t have to worry about me or my brother falling out an open door. Probably was more of a occurrence back then, no child seats or seat belt laws.
Yep, even today with child seats and seat belt laws child locks are certainly handy. I didn’t really see the point until I had kids, but I can now tell you from experience that even in a child seat they can open the door. While it’s not as dangerous today since they are buckled in, it can still cause problems.
I was riding in my uncle’s late 50s dodge pickup, Mom was sitting between us. As usual, I had my arm on the door when it suddenly flung open on a curve. I was hanging on like I was in a Harold Lloyd short until it swung back closed. He didn’t keep it long after that.
Great set of photos….Wow…brings back memories when my dad used to make us kids roll the windows up because we were “letting the smoke out”. I used to ride in the back window of our Oldsmobile 88 on road trips. Times have changed (thankfully). Thanks for the feature.
What!!??? When was keeping smoke in ever a good idea?
The attractive lady in pearls riding in the Lincoln seems to believe in not letting the smoke out. Her cigarette is burning but the windows are all up!
And the AC on those did not bring in outside air. Looked built in, everything controlled by one knob, but it was actually not integrated into the heater/ventilation system.
No way to edit or cancel a comment here.
I was wrong. It’s a later Lincoln (not ’61-’63), which would have had integrated AC that could bring in fresh air. (No vent window, two door)
The fuzzy cloth headliner and carpets of the decades old ’62 I once had required a lot of “steam” cleaning to de-gray and deodorize them. Poured out many buckets of black water. Leather seats fortunately.
The thin B pillar on the window of those cars are absolutely beautiful. The same same B pillars at the window on today cars are the ugliest part of the car. You see the same design ftom Roce Rolls to low end Chinese car.
Last picture of the Series. A FIAT 850 Spider. A middle finger salute for Mandel. How funny. How appropriate.
The CC effect strikes again.
I actually saw a Fiat 850 Spider on Sunday, at a car show. What made it so amazing is that it arrived, and left, under its own power. Quite seriously, it has probably been 30 years since I saw one that could do that. Of course they are so slow that it IS possible that I’ve seen another one was moving and I couldn’t tell, but since most of them were buried in weeds I don’t think so.
When I saw the picture above, I recognized the car, and my first thought was about what poor judgment the girl is demonstrating. Rude gesture aside, she was dumb enough to allow herself to get picked up by a guy dumb enough to buy an 850 Spider.
Your comment makes me think of the great male-female automotive divide.
Many of CC readers are male and upon seeing a Fiat immediately think about the Fiat reputation of Fix It Again Tony. Many women, my wife included, are completely unaware, blissfully unaware, of the Fiat service reputation and on seeing the 850 Spider typically say, “So Cute!”
Interestingly, and I have seen this happen at auto shows where there are several Ferraris and several Fiats, the women will typically ignore the Ferraris, even a 1960’s Lusso, and gravitate to the Fiats, especially the Fiat 500, the earlier Cinquecento versions. Again the common refrain is, “They are so cute”. The Ferraris don’t have a chance in comparison.
So, yes, you and I know that the girl likely has poor judgement, and may not get to where she and the driver are hoping to drive to in the Fiat due to Marelli electricals, but, based on my experience, she happily jumped into the 850 Spider because it was “so cute”.
Even I must admit, knowing their limitations, that small, older Fiats are visually charming–and that most were truly infuriating, unreliable rustbuckets. And when running, like most Italian cars, they are totally seductive, but very frustrating with their unpredictability. Ciao, Arrivederci.
You say that like a Ferarri of similar vintage has the reliability of a modern Honda. No. The difference here seems to be a somewhat obtainable and realistic dream versus outright financial ruin.
Nowadays, most folks wouldn’t be able to drag themselves away from their cellphones to look out the window, much less smile at a bystander/roadside photographer.
The kid with the peace sign is riding in a ’56 Chevy 150 2-door sedan. Day made.
So many two-doors, so many cigarettes, so many open windows. A different time indeed! Great candid photos of a world that has been left behind.
Love these photos. It is easy to remember the cars but to forget the people that bought and drove them. Today people might be suspicious of some one holding an actual camera but would probably not notice some one holding a cell phone!
The lady in 2nd picture looks like she could be a real life “Edith Bunker”.
The lady in the first picture is sporting the “Martha Mitchell” look.
I love how she’s sitting up front with two others. I’m guessing she wasn’t keen on crawling inn the back and the man and woman were sweet on each other and wanted to sit together.
The blonde woman in 4th picture looks a lot like Candice Bergen.
But also, pics show that there was a big difference in fashions/styles between age groups.
Handsome looking fella in the seventh photo…wonder how old he is now?
Considering how quickly the 1957 Chrysler New Yorker was identified in the other post today, I’m sure it wouldn’t take much longer to identify all of these. I am continually amazed by the knowledge of the commenters on this site!
Anyone want to take a stab?
I’ll take a stab at two of them. #7 ’55-’56 Chevy. #15 ’60-’64 Falcon ?
#11 is either 67 Camaro or Firebird, #13 is a 67 or 68 Mustang coupe.
Number two is a 69 or 70 Cadillac Coupe De Ville, 4 appears to be a 70 Lincoln Continental, 6 looks like a 68 Ford LTD or Galaxie, 8 is a 63-65 Riviera, 10 is without a doubt a 65 Impala, the door panels and seat material give it away as a 65 rather than a 66. Number 11 looks like a 67 Firebird, judging by the steering wheel and vent windows.
I also find these photos fascinating, thanks for the cool article. How people sit in cars, what they do inside, what they wear, how the cars are built, so many ways they contrast with modern auto passengers. One thing no one has mentioned yet is the fact that a curbside observer can easily SEE the occupants of cars. Between the small windows and factory dark tint on modern cars, it’s not easy to even see people in other cars nowadays.
In my job as a firefighter, once a year we do “Fill The Boot” for Muscular Dystrophy Association which, if you haven’t seen it, is standing out on a busy street corner and taking donations from people as they drive by. I get to observe people much like Mandel did, only without the photography. I usually see one or two cars with kids not in carseats, the occasional smoker and a surprising number of people with their windows rolled down even in late model cars that surely have working AC. We pass out stickers to donors and I try to give one for every kid in the car. It’s funny that on many vehicles, I have a hard time even being able to see how many kids there are.
what is that tray for on top of the dash in the 55 chev it has an ashtray
already whatever it’s purpose I hope it’s glued to the metal dash
I think I remember those trays from back then.They were plastic with a magnet on the bottom and were used to keep change and other junk in.
The aforementioned smoking and un-belted kids……. No smokers in my family when I was growing up around the time the photos were taken. My Dad said he got funny looks when he asked the Ford dealer to install rear seat belts in our ’66 Custom 500 sedan. If memory serves, he had them installed in our ’59 IH Travelall as well. When being hauled around by friends’ parents, however, a lot of the smoke stayed inside and I often didn’t have to wear seat belts.
On another note, except for the Fiat, I think every other car featured had actual door lock buttons.
Let me have a crack
1-1965-66 big Ford or Merc
2-1969-70 Coupe Deville
3-Beetle, 1968-70
4-1969 Ford Galaxie or LTD or Monterey
5-1966 Olds Dynamic 88 sedan
6-1968 Ford Galaxie coupe
7-1956 Chevy 210
8-Ist Gen Riviera
9 1968 Buick Electra convert
10-1965 Impala
11-1967 Camaro
12-IHC Metro
13-1965-66 Mustang
14-1969-70 Olds 88
15-1962-ish Falcon
16-Fiat Spider
Correction-4 is a 1969 Marquis Brougham
Additionally behind the FIAT Spider is the back corner of a 914 Porsche driving by.
Today everyone has the A/C on and windows up, so that they can yack with other self-important people in their egg-shaped cars. A bubble life in a bubble car. The people in these pics are real AF and so are their cars. And everyone looks happy.
You should ride with me. It could be 90F and muggy as hell but I’m still cruisin’ with the windows down. I love a breeze 🙂 …
The older lady in Oldsmobile, with rolled up windows, looks non too pleased, though.
And the windows were down in the summer. I was a spitball assassin at red lights. Shot, duck…and dodge the parental hand correction if too loud.
Remember those wax paper straws? If you poked a hole through one end and threaded a firecracker fuse through it, it made an excellent time delay. Just enough to light, ring the doorbell and run.
The folks in the pictures above look like they’re straight out of an episode of Adam-12 or Dragnet, which I think showed the “folks” of LA better than any other show of the era. I love the LA of the 1930’s through early 1970’s that was featured in so much film noir.
I’m immediately reminded of this song from that era.
I so love that song! It should be boring, going back and forth between the same two chords repeatedly throughout the song, but it isn’t thanks to the ever-changing backing vocals and instrumental riffs courtesy of producer (and co-writer) Norman Whitfield. Then of course there’s the lyrics delivering a life lesson that lives up to the group’s name.
But WTF with that Youtube photo? I don’t know who they are, but they’re not The Undisputed Truth which had only 3 members and two of them were women.
Smoking, no seat belts; judging by their expression a lot of the people in the photos seem to display the attitude that they resent having their pictures taken, like their privacy is being invaded. Regarding smoking in the car, going back to about the year 2000, none of the cars I have owned have had ashtrays.
Looks like Pablo Escobar driving for the lady giving the finger!
The lady , driving, about three-fourths way, down the pic list looks like “Jo Anne Worley”.
I’m sure you’ll find these interesting, too
https://fuelcurve.com/cruisin-van-nuys-boulevard/
Thanks. Interesting pics!
no fat people
Unlike TV commercials today!
So glad they outlawed second hand smoke – we were told that it killed people. So, the moment it went into effect, we immediately saw millions of lives saved every year. The death rate was halved, and the there was a dramatic immediate drop in heart attacks.
LOL. Right.
You do realize that smoking doesn’t kill immediately right? Therefore quitting smoking or curbing second hand smoke doesn’t have an immediate reaction. Just stating the obvious.