It’s been a while since I’ve done a true “walk and talk” car show post, save the VW one a month or so ago. So, time for a post where you don’t have to think too hard. Grab a beer, open a window or take your Kindle/laptop outside, and let’s just enjoy some nice old cars. It’s summer–let’s enjoy it!
This 1968 Sport Fury is for JPC. The big C-body Mopars are not frequently seen, due to people of questionable character who think nothing of taking a clean ’71 Newport or ’66 Polara, ripping out the 440 for their knuckle-dragging monster truck/street rod/you name it, and crushing the rest. So, good to see a survivor! It looks just right with the color-keyed Magnum 500s and RWL tires.
Just a couple hundred yards down from the Fury was this spiffy Sunbeam Tiger (Update: It’s an Alpine). The Plymouth was for JP, but this little Rootes Roadster is for Bryce.
I know these were getting dated by 1966-67, but I’ve always loved the way these sports cars look, with their clean flanks and cool little fins. The Minilites are a nice touch.
Hmm, a lot of red cars at this show. But they’re all interesting, like this nice ’67 Galaxie 500. Nice to see one, as a favorite teacher drove one of these when I was in middle school. His was light blue metallic with a white-painted top (not vinyl!), blue interior and had these very same wheel covers.
I always liked the front end on these, with the stacked lights and pointed nose. And that roofline–well!
Paul recently did an Outtake on a would-be SHO, and while this one looks more authentic, I am not positive it is the real deal. Were cornering lights and this light beige color available on the SHO? I don’t think so, but maybe our resident Taurus expert, Ed Snitkoff, can enlighten us all.
Another red car, but I think this one is more than worthy of a few shots. I’ve always liked the early Rancheros and El Caminos, when they were still full-size and had the outrageous fins and chrome.
This one had what appeared to be an entire Impala interior, right down to the striped cloth-and-vinyl upholstery.
There’s those crazy fins and cat’s eye taillights; I love ’em!
While the ’59 Elky appeared pristine, this ’58 Bel Air appeared to be largely original, save the ubiquitous Rally wheels. I think it would have looked better with ’58 dog-dish caps. Still a cool ride, though.
How about a full-boat ’70s Silverado? This one was really clean and largely stock. Unusual in my part of the country, when these ’73-’87 C10s are usually rusty relics or street-rodded.
You can tell it’s the top-drawer model by the abundance of fake wood on the dash. The velour bench seat appeared to be custom, however.
You want stripes? We’ve got stripes–lots of them! I wonder if it had the factory 454.
This early postwar Plymouth had lots of patina–and those dratted Chev Rally wheels. Come on, there are lots of cool wheels out there. Dare to be different! How about color-keyed Mopar police slotted wheels with the vented hubcaps? That would look pretty nice!
There was also a clean ’63 Fairlane hardtop. It looked even better with the Ford styled steel wheels.
Most of the Fairlanes I see are the 1966-and-up variety, so it was nice to see one with fins.
This ’30s Plymouth was street-rodded, but in a good way: not chopped, a subtle paint job, and fenders and bumpers intact. I especially liked the hood ornament–seen at the top of this post.
How about a nice Chevy II? Like the Fairlane, most of the Novas I see are of the 1968-72 coupe variety, and while those are nice-looking, they get old fast (I’ve probably seen fifty of them in the last year). This red-on-red drop-top was more my style.
See how cheerful interiors are in red. And with a red dash, steering wheel, etc. I am getting tired of cars with beige, red, or gray interiors still having a black dash, carpet and steering wheel. Attention manufacturers: did you know black steering wheels get hot in the sun?
Enough of the ranting–it is a bright, sunny day, and we are looking at cool cars. This is CC, not some bilous rant-heavy website. Here was a nice ’57 Bel Air Two-Ten sedan. I know, I know, these things are everywhere, but not usually the sedans, especially stock. I’d love to see a four-door Bel Air wagon or four-door hardtop, too!
Well, that’s about it. I recall it was a very hot evening, and I was anxious to head back to my folks, sit out on the patio with a beer, and watch the river go by. Ah, summer, how I missed you!
What can I say, you always know how to pick the winners, Tom. So much RED, and I love it. At some point a ways back, i fell out of love with that color, but I have no idea WTF I was thinking. I’ve recently fallen hard for it once again, specifically because of cars like these and a handful of red Volvo 940s (of all crazy things) I started noticing in the last few years. I’m digging all the other colors/cars shown here too, even the ’34 Plymouth – and I’ve been burnt out on the “street-rod” look for about 20 years now, so that’s really saying something. My only gripe with that one is the standard issue chrome Torq-Thrusts (I think?) and the crate 350/THM350 package that undoubtedly lives under the hood… but I’m gonna use my imagination and pretend it’s running a gnarly flathead six with at least a pair of Strombergs on top:
I do like the early Fairlanes with their finlets. The 59 is the best Elky, and I wouldn’t mind the Galaxie either.
Yes that is a SHO bumper cover with the fog and cornering lights and that’s definitely the Yamaha headed engine’s basket of snakes intake, but the “grille” panel is from a police spec car. Considering the grille change would far and away be easier than the engine and bumper cover swap I’d say it did start its life as a SHO.
Note Wikipedia does say that Mocha Frost was a color available on the 91 SHO, but I’m pretty sure the 91 should have the SHO specific slicer wheels rather than the those.
The El Camino is me.
Don’t know why those appeal – I was never a fan of that era Chevrolet; and especially not the bubbletop – but the rarity and geek factor of the EC just sends me. The 1960 had better lines, IMHO…but the 1959 was the original, Harley Earl’s goodbye kiss to GM and its customers. Where he showed what he was really thinking.
That Fairlane is gorgeous,and a red Mustang?What’s not to like,thanks Tom
the 1957 Chevrolet is a 210, not the vaulted Bel-Air. Not stainless trim on the rear quarter panels and no gold trimmed chicklets on the front fenders, but it has the two toned sweep of the Bel-Air. More impressive that it was saved, really.
Very good choices, and very nice pictures, Tom. You capture the angles and orientations that make each car unique and interesting. For example, lots of pictures out there of a ’57, but with this one you can really see how Chevy took the ’55 roof and overall structure and lengthened/modified the front, sides and rear to produce a new car and another classic.
Hope the beer was cold and the barges were moving!
Thanks Tom, you have highlighted some interesting cars there. There are always more in the backgrounds of the photos too – eg what is the white car at top right of the first photo of the Tiger, or the green wagon beside it?
It also shows context varies too – the second Tiger photo shows a Pontiac G8, a modern classic in the US but just a common-or-garden Commodore here in Australia.
The green wagon was a Crosley; you can see several pictures of it in this post: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show-classic-downtown-east-moline-car-show-an-eclectic-mix/
The white car was a circa-1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo. I will probably catch up with it at the British Car Show on August 3rd.
The green wagon is a Crosley. My aunt had one as a daily driver. Riding in it with a bunch of other kids was not unlike riding in a dog carrier on a riding lawn mower.
Thanks for the replies, you can understand why I didn’t recognise a Crosley. Lotus didn’t cross my mind at all for some reason.
OK, since no one else has claimed it yet, I’ll take the ’67 Galaxie.
The Tiger and El Camino are outstanding!
I want that Fairlane. Just like that, or if I had too id take it in black. But I really want a white one.
I also like that half ton, if it where mine I would have to paint the rocker panel stripe back to red. It just looks like it dosnt belong with the hockey stick style stripes above it.
When I was in my teens a guy I knew had a 77 silverado that was rough and tumble but man could that thing take a load, he once put a granite rock in the box that was as long and wide and high as the box, the thing was saggy but not riding in the bumpstops. To get the rock out of the bed he wraped thick hemp rope around the back of the rock and tied it off to a tree, he stopped a little short and wrapped the bumper under the truck.
Love the 210, nowadays you’d think Chevrolet made nothing but Bel Airs back then. That ’58 I believe is a Biscayne. The Bel Air had the basic side chrome identical to the Impala, but without all the extra chrome gew gaws. The Delray had no chrome on the sides at all.
Hate what was done to the 30 Plymouth. Ditto the 46-48. Look closely at the aircleaner. Long, chrome and white. Not what came with a flathead six (a black round canister). So I’m guessing the motor has too many cylinders and the wrong valves.
The 63 Fairlane has 65 Mustang wheels. Well, if you gotta go unoriginal, at least keep it in the same family and period. The 68 Plymouth rocks. Ditto the Chevy II, nicely original and correct.
Really, really, really want that Tiger. Would rather have an Alpine. Although my real, unobtanium dream is an AC Ace. It’d be worth it to pop the hood and boggle the onlookers with what is underneath.
I’ll bite. What’s the motor in an Ace?
Either a 4-cylinder OHV (can’t remember the manufacturer off the cuff) or a BMW 328 OVH six cylinder. As you can well guess, an original Ace is much rarer than a genuine Shelby Cobra. They only made something like 600 of them to begin with (1956-61), and Lord know how many were converted to a “Cobra” by their owners.
And the car was a very highly rated sports car in its day with the original engines.
Actually, three different engines, but all of them inline sixes. The first was AC’s own OHC two-liter six, which was already very elderly. It made some 100hp. Then the Bristol 2 L six (based on the BMW pre-war 328) with triple carbs and 120 hp, good for 116 mph. And after 1961, a tuned UK-Ford 2.6 L six with special cylinder head and triple carbs making 170 hp and a top speed of 130 mph. Somewhat ironically, the first Shelby Cobra used the 164 hp 260 V8, which was less hp than the 2.6L six. But that was of course just the starting point.
The 2.6 engine came from the Zephyr/Zodiac sedan with a Raymond Mayes cylinder head allowing triple SU carbs these went well even with the Zodiac still attached.
Did AC keep making any non-Ford V8 engined cars after Shelby started making Cobras or did they just become a supplier?
That is an Alpine. I can see the 1725 badge on the rear and there are no V8 call outs, cool car and not many survivors plenty got fed V8s over the years original 4 bangers are a find.
The Nova convertible is awesome looking. I’m heading to a big annual show this Sunday in Dedham, MA and hope to get pictures of some of the more interesting, less common cars.
My choices? The Fairlane first and the ’67 Galaxie a close second. However, the El Camino’s interior would put anyone in a happy mood. What a cheery car…er, truck.
You are right Tom – that 68 Fury is just my flavor. However, I also have a strong thing for the 67 Galaxie 500, since one was my first car.
Those Galaxie wheelcovers bring back memories. My convertible came with the normal wheelcovers, but I liked these better. The covers themselves were easily found in local junkyards. However, these each had 5 holes for the extra long chome lugnuts to stick through. Those chrome lugs were maybe 2.5 inches deep, but all of the 10 year old ones I could find in the junkyards were crap. I still remember paying $1.20 per lug (20 lugs) for new ones at the Ford Dealer parts counter. Big money for a high school student in 1977. But they really improved the look of the car.
A nice selection of fun stuff at this show, but too much red paint for my tastes.
I always liked those wheelcovers. I’m not sure which years got which style…but some have blue plastic centers, some have red plastic centers, and I THINK some had gray plastic centers. I tried to take a pic of some I have in the barn but only one is hanging on the wall, and it’s too high up to get a good shot of. The rest are stacked up…oh well.
Silvis – the backshop of the mighty fine Rock Island Line.
“The big C-body Mopars are not frequently seen, due to people of questionable character…”
Off to bang my head on the wall, and then hug a fuselage fender and give thanks to old lady original owners.
I really like that ’63 Fairlane. I have basically no knowledge of early ’60s Ford products, but every one I see looks good to me.
Well if the ’68 Fury is reserved for JPC and JustPassinThru voiced a strong desire for the El Camino, I’ll have to arrive in the beige Plymouth street rod. I doubt a big block would fit under that hood with the sides on, so here’s hoping there’s an LA small block or maybe a 3rd gen Hemi hiding under there, and definitely not a SBC.
I have seen plenty of both the 33-34 and 35-36 Mopar cars with 340 or 360 power and with closeable hood sides.
Whoa, hold yer hosses – IS that Five-Seven a 210?
I thought the 210 had a single chrome strip that ran straight back to the fin in the rear. The fluted aluminum plating, simulating a contrail, was reserved for the Bel Air.
I only know that because it was only in the last few years (Internet!) I’d actually seen a Five-Seven that was NOT a Bel Air. Surprised me.
EDIT: Another look at the photo shows script on the very rear. Only Bel Airs had that model-designation script. I don’t have ability to download and blow up…someone can.
You’re thinking the 150, the cheap model of the line. The 150 had a straight chrome strip midway along the rear body, connecting to the dip in the side windows by another chrome strip. Two-tones in those days were the lighter color on the roof, trunk, and the quarter of the side enclosed by the chrome strips.
FWIW – Without downloading I can zoom in or zoom out my screen view by holding down Control and turning my mouse wheel one way or the other. It might work for you too. Unfortunately when I do this the scrip on the Chevy fender stays blurred.
I checked the 57 Chevy brochure. All of the 210s are shown with the Bel-Air style side chrome, but without the ribbed aluminum insert. Instead, there was a contrasting color painted there. It could be that the upper piece of chrome was omitted if you got a single paint color, or maybe that extra strip was separately optional.
I’m pretty sure that that script on the rear fender says “Chevrolet”.
The chrome on a 1957 Chevy 150 is different. It looks like the chrome from a 1955 Chevy. It is completely different than the chrome on a 210 or Bel Air.
The Taurus has the police-package grille, they were the only ones with the extra slots just inboard of the headlights.
The ’70s Chevy truck interior looks like they tried to get the seats as close to stock as possible; the cloth on the door panels is non-original too but the panels probably came off a lower-trim model since the Silverado’s upper sections had more fake wood.
Speaking of which, notice it’s high-trim but no A/C – something we’ll never see the likes of again!
Uh, is the right hand side of the Tiger’s exhaust obscured… or missing?
1725 engine, only one tailpipe.