It’s bed time, so I’m going to let you ponder this scene. Looks like a converted DC-6. Update: it’s a converted DC-4, called the Carvair.
Vintage Car Carrier: The Flying Kind
– Posted on December 16, 2022
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Curbside Classics Archives
It’s understandable that the Vegas will be flown somewhere, because we all know they could never have gotten to that destination on their own.
L0L Vanilla! The Chevettes are in the same ‘lemon’ category! My ex had one. (she deserved that!) I noticed that it’s a GMC truck hauling GMC products.
Wow. Loading? Unloading?
First thought was that they were flying them somewhere for promotional pictures, but wrong models, wrong colors and they wouldn’t have Monroneys in the windows.
Is this how they got cars to Alaska or some other hard-to-access spot? And what did that do to the destination charges?
You may be on the right track. At first I was thinking a place where sales volume would be low, and destination charges might be irrelevant, like the middle east. But, I doubt they would ship such low end cars. Montes and Caprices would seem more likely.
There was a lot of Chevrolet production in LA. Maybe a small shipment to Hawaii or the Philippines?
Nice slow cars for McGarrett to chase around in his Park Lane!
Since comments below identify the plane as an Eastern Provincial Airways Carvair, I’ll take a guess that it’s flying to someplace like Churchill Falls, Labrador – or some other remote company town in Labrador that was being populated at about the time this picture was taken.
Exorbitant shipping/destination fees was my first thought, as well. IOW, someone wanted those 1971 Chevys really badly to pay for air transport. Maybe a government/military contract?
It looks like an ATL Carvair. Unless I’m mistaken, they were all modified DC-4s (not DC-6s). They looked every bit as ungainly as expected. One was still flying freight up in Alaska until it was destroyed in a crash in 2007 – no fatalities, thankfully. There are supposedly only two left: one in South Africa, one in Georgia, USA.
https://mentourpilot.com/atl-98-carvair-what-was-this-thing/
https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-carvair-atl-98-nixon-fork-mine
I believe this is a Carvair, which is a converted DC-4.
Eric, Your 100% correct. These unique aircraft were few and far between, but all were converted from convention DC-4 aircraft.
Australia’s former Ansett Airlines of Australia operated at least two of them as dedicated freighters. I was surprised to see that based on this photo, they must have also been used in the United States.
As a pilot and aviation enthusiast I found this photo very interesting. The Chevrolets are an added bonus.
No ramps visible, so I’m wondering if some enterprising individual parked a car carrier in front of a plane as a promotional shot.
Not sure what they’d be promoting (maybe “We’ll haul anything anywhere anytime”).
Regardless, it’s hard to picture any business case for shipping a couple Vegas to a destination by air- Why would you choose Vegas for a rugged location only accessible by plane?
Could be going to a place like Hawaii or another island nation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Traders_Carvair
One more addition to the points above: Based on the red cheatline, this looks to be one of the aircraft operated by Eastern Provincial Airways in Canada. They flew Carvairs into the 1970s throughout the Canadian maritime provinces – a region that can be every bit as unforgiving as Alaska. The second link below is a timetable showing some of their Carvair routings from 1968.
https://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/Eastern-Provincial-Airways/Aviation-Traders/ATL-98-Carvair/CF-EPV/4481018/
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/pv68/pv68-6.jpg
Yes, this is the EPA Carvair. I think the picture is at Moncton Airport, New Brunswick. EPA operated a scheduled freight service from Moncton to Goose Bay, Labrador. The car carrier is from Atlantic Automobile Transport (AAT), which had a distribution yard in Moncton. During the summers of 1968 and 1969 I drove truck for a produce wholesaler in Moncton. Every day we hauled a load of produce to the Moncton Airport to make the evening flight to Goose Bay, destined for the USAF base there. I often saw the Carvair on the ramp being loaded.
It’s gotta be from either 1971 or 1972, judging by the single headlights on the Chevelle.
According to my buddy’s dad, “Real Chevelles have four headlights.”
Goldfinger used a Carvair to get his Rolls-Royce to Switzerland. Being a civil servant, James Bond had to take the ferry, economy class.
? Wasn’t there another article about this same deal in the 1960s showing little British cars being loaded ? .
-Nate
We did this a few years back
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/rampside-outtake-silver-city-airways-bristol-type-170-freighter/
That’s it ~ thank you .
-Nate