This is the final instalment of the series, but will be a bigger post than the previous two. For a summertime car meet in a small French town, there sure were was a lot of Detroit iron present. There were literally dozens of Mustangs – either really old or really new, none of those 4-cyl. types – and a very varied bunch of everything else. This Cordoba, with its 20’’ rims and curious colour, is a case in point. The Caddy behind it was a real looker and will have its stand-alone post sometime.
Just a couple of early-model gen 1 Mustangs to illustrate what I was claiming above. There were just too many to keep track.
Didn’t see any of those obese early ‘70s Mustangs, bar this one. It was so unexpected that I needed to take a photo.
Crown Vics might be downright common where you are, but in France, they’re rather exotic!
My pick of the US Fords was definitely this ’64 Thunderbird – surrounded by a pair of those ever-present Mustangs, for good measure.
A few hot rods were also present, but apart from this one, they kind of blended in the background for me.
Prowlers are really a breed apart, though. Always an impressive sight.
The older stuff is much more my speed, so that’s what we’ll chiefly be focusing on. It may be kinda dumpy-looking, but this 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook still brought a smile to my face.
GM’s 1958 offerings get a lot of flack for their fussy styling, and justifiably so. But they did a pretty decent job on the Cadillacs, in my opinion. Best of a bad MY.
These need no introduction. What this particular one does need is a different colour.
Amidst the flock of Mustangs, this Trans Am (circa 1980?) looked a little out of sorts.
Same for this Camaro RS, the only on of its kind I spotted that day. But I will admit that the Buick right next to it was rather more interesting.
Here’s a closer gander at it. I’m not overly familiar with these and the web is not helping much, so anybody know if this is a ’71 or a ’72?
Corvettes were pretty numerous, but this early C3 was one of the highlights. No idea why my phone turned the red interior into a strange shade of pink. Incredible condition, though!
It was refreshing to see a Corvette in blue instead of the eternal red. The best-looking C1s were the pre-quad ones, in my view. But if quads must be included, the late ones like this ’61 (or a ’62), with their defanged grilles and their duck tails, are the best of that lot.
I don’t know if it’s because this Chevelle is such a simple (almost plain) design, but those quirky wheels really stuck out to me. Surely not original, but an interesting addition.
Speaking of wheels, those really don’t fit that otherwise very sweet ’67 El Camino.
Ten years earlier, Chevy pickups were a lot chunkier! Love that design.
Why is the middle child of the tri-five Chevrolets routinely overlooked? They’re beautiful. OK, that hood ornament doesn’t know if it’s a bird or a plane, but that’s the only oddity.
Not a fan of the fender skirts either, but I imagine that can be easily remedied. The interior is probably one of the best of the period for GM.
One of the absolute gems of the whole show was this 1953 Studebaker Starliner.
Pity there were a few non-stock items – those rims are especially awful. But the aftermarket steering wheel is less problematic. Makes the car look even more “European”…
Sometimes, trying to look “European” took things a little too far.
Just what nationality would you say the DeLorean is? American-financed, British-built, Italian-designed and French-engined – a true world car.
Predictably, the Japanese contingent was quite limited. Still, a handful of noteworthy finds included this Celica drop-top.
There are a lot of these old Land Cruisers in France, especially down south. Few are this clean, though.
There were a couple old Nissans about, but nothing worth a quick snap. This RX-7, on the other hand, warranted a lot more attention. Best wheels of the show?
Onwards across the Channel. Can anything be more British than a Morgan +4? An MG, you say? Hold that thought.
Finally, something prewar. Alas, it’s an MG, and those all look a bit too alike to me to identify. Anyone? Anyone?…
Not the same car, but close. Still no idea what model it is exactly, but looks like a late ‘30s Tickford T-Type.
Now that’s postwar. And now I know my bearings. It’s a 1950-53 TD, looking quite spiffing in silver.
Last MG of the post, but it’s a great one – the MG A coupé. But we’re not out of the sports car world yet, far from it…
I’m not sure I’d seen a big Healey with this colour combo – very classy.
Quite a few Triumphs were also about. Early Spitfires are especially attractive, much more so than TRs in my view.
Even later ones like this Mk IV (1970-74) look very cool. Interesting way to get your spare tyre stolen.
That 1300 TC (1968-70) was a pleasant surprise! Triumph roadsters are a dime a dozen, but these little FWD saloons have all but vanished from the roads. Not that they were all that common in France to begin with…
Old Landies make for a pretty impressive charabanc. Bet you could fit eight people in the back there.
The last Englander of this post will be this absolute minter of a late model Rover P6, in the regulation dark brown. Not every BL car was a shoddily-built penalty box drawn by 7-year-olds.
There are many classic Alfas in Tokyo, but not many mid-to-late-‘70s Alfetta GTVs. Actually, there used to be quite a few in France when I was a kid, but I guess they’ve all disintegrated. Bar this one, thankfully. Ain’t rust a bitch?
As much as that yellow ’59 Cadillac looked atrocious, it works a lot better on an early ‘70s Autobianchi A112. Funny that, eh?
Fiat 500s may be cute as a button, but their Autobianchi cousins are almost sexy! The painted dash should make this a 1962-65 Bianchina Berlina D.
The Italian car that really stole the show (and yours truly’s heart) was a stunner of a 1933-37 Fiat 508S Balilla Spider. Designed by Ghia, these tiny works of art initially got the same underpinnings as the rest of the 508 range, but soon got upgraded with an OHV engine (36hp for 995cc) and a 4-speed gearbox. Some of these were made in France (by Simca), Czechoslovakia (by Walter) and Germany (by NSU), but this seems to be an Italian one.
Keeping the best for last with the German cars, natürlich! Fewer Benzes here than in Japan, but still a few nice ones, like this late model Pagoda.
The only breakdown I witnessed over the entire event was, oddly enough, that of an ordinarily bulletproof W111 cabriolet’s 3.5 litre V8. Unmöglich! But what a gorgeous interior to wait for the tow truck in…
Try as one might, it is impossible to escape the W123. It’s a scientific fact.
Porsches, Porsches everywhere, but most of them water-cooled or otherwise boring. Then I spotted this 356B and things were looking up!
Great period colour on that 911. And the old-fashioned yellow headlights are a great touch.
I have a serious soft spot for these “angry” 1962-69 Type 3-based Karmann-Ghia 1500s. Another winner of a Corvair-inspired design.
I hadn’t seen a non-Quattro one of these in ages! For whatever reason, there are very few classic Audis where I now reside, so seeing this one got me all nostalgic.
Older Opels are very rare in Japan as well – Isuzu filled that particular market, in the ‘70s / ‘80s. These Kadett Cs are the only T-cars that look “right” to me, as those are what I grew up with.
My personal pick of the Deutschers was, unexpectedly, a small Ford. You just don’t see these early Fiestas around anymore, and this one was just astoundingly immaculate. The interior was so perfectly late-‘70s you could almost hear the Abba music.
Speaking of which, the last car will be this Swedish beauty. I wish I had taken the time to photograph it more, but I’m sure I’ll find one in Tokyo. It’s a Volvo, so it’ll be there.
Over the next few months, I will be returning to my Bazas photo archive to feature more individual cars in greater detail – ones that were not covered in the last three posts, or that you may have noticed in the background somewhere. All in all, this was a really cool show, though the amount of cars far outstripped the town’s parking capacity. A traffic jam made of classic cars is still a traffic jam, so I guess the locals must have not had that great a Sunday. But the rest of us sure did.
That´s a lot of old metal. Each of the cars is a long way from ordinary so it might seem strange to pick one over the others. That said, the Triumph is for me the wierdest of the set. It´s now unusual even in Britain. I find it deeply odd that there´s even one person there who wants to have such a car (despite its charms). Triumph is a sad case: it had a full range of cars and was a sporty brand before that became “normal”. It was, if you like, a British version of BMW and Alfa Romeo. It was subsumed into BL and stifled in favour of the two-model brand, Rover. That means Rover was competing internally in BL with Jaguar. Triumph faded out selling a rebadged Honda Ballade.
https://driventowrite.com/2017/11/21/1981-triumph-acclaim-road-test/
in a sense Triumph and BMW’s fortunes crossfaded – for a period they’re even both designed by Michelotti
A lot of fun stuff there. I like the steering wheel in the Studebaker, maybe the (Halibrand?) wheels would have been better with blackwall tires.
I think the one I’d most like to take home today is the 52 Plymouth Cranbrook, I’m feeling rather stodgy this morning.
Those “awful” rims are period correct Hailbrand magnesium wheels, which would have been an expensive and very tasteful addition to the Studebaker in its time. Halibrand made wheels primarily for racing cars, and essentially all Indy 500 and other open wheel racing cars used them. And they were the preferred wheel for other competition sports/racing cars of the time. Extremely strong and light; it is where the common term “mag wheels” originates from.
Here’s a picture of the same Halibrands on one of the more famous users of them (1957 Corvette SS). Sublime.
I’m getting carried away with these superb Halibrands. I need to do a history of the company. They make any ’50s car or hot rod look so much better.
Indeed. Just lose the whitewalls.
Although I’m not a fan of whitewalls, they are of course very much period correct, even on performance and sports cars.
Halibrand wheels were actually a Studebaker approved dealer installed accessory during the Sherwood Egbert years.
I could spend all day commenting on these cars, but I’ll focus just on the white Audi Coupe GT. I had one (my first car, that I bought at 16) – and haven’t seen one of these early Coupes in decades. I still love the looks of that car, and this one – with the smaller European bumpers – looks better than the North American version.
This white one appears to be an ’83-84 model, and it occurs to me how tiny those 14″ tires look… we’ve become so accustomed to bigger wheel/tire combinations now.
Also, I notice the owner draped a towel over the top of the rear seat. On mine (which I purchased when it was only 8 years old), the fabric there was already torn to shreds by the sunlight. I recall that being a common problem on those Coupes that didn’t have leather upholstery.
Thanks for documenting the cars from this show; it’s been quite a treat.
Regarding the C1 Corvette, ” the late ones like this ’61 (or a ’62) … “.
This looks like a ’61 based on the white cove, trim, and call outs. Of course all of these items could have been modified over the years. Love the duck tail.
” It may be kinda dumpy-looking, but this 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook still brought a smile to my face. “.
Most post war Chrysler products were thought to be dumpy looking, even when new, but they ran and ran. Chrysler hung onto flat head engines and weird semi-automatic transmissions a bit past their due date. However, late ’40s and early ’50s NYC taxi drivers loved those big, ugly, but roomy and shiftless Desotos.
Thanks for all the photos.
To this American guy of a certain vintage, the wheels on the Chevelle and the El Camino look very age-appropriate.
A grand collection. Love the Audi Coupe. Rarely seen even here in rust free Arizona. The Buick is a 72. A body colored header was added to the leading edge of the hood (bonnet) to give the mid size a bit of familial touch with the full size 72 Buick. which received a similar application.
Great show. No disrespect to Halibrand wheels, but agree with Tatra that RX-7’s “rotor” wheels are best of show. Found a fine non-Quattro Audi Coupé at High River, Alberta show a few weeks ago.
Thank you for the picture series.
Memories are awakened: I had a Karman-Ghia 1500 in dark green with a white roof. It must have been around 1979/80. Bought for little money with lots of rust. Due to my small purse, my fight against the brown plague was relatively hopeless. After about 9 months I waved the white flag.
My father’s comment: Told you so, it’s a Karman, they only do in rust traps, they invented it. (He knew the company from his time when he was involved in the development of the 914.)
But even though the pleasure was short-lived, it was the beginning of my old car virus and more (old) vehicles followed over the years.
Great collection of photos! Thanks for your work for this show. YUK to the mis-painted Cordoba and ’59 Caddy. Oh, well. There is no accounting for taste. Love the Rover V8.
Another great selection T87!
I’m sort of with you on Mustangs that are not early – the larger and the later they are the less they appeal. But an early one, preferably a convertible, is still a sight worth seeing.
Is that 59 Cadillac a factory colour? Definitely striking, and wanting to be noticed
That Chevy bonnet ornament looks great.
Hard to pick a favourite – maybe the Triumph 1300 for surprise and nostalgia reasons.
But isn’t that Fiesta Mk 1 actually Spanish (assembled in Valencia?)
Tremendous job! You had me at the Cordoba.
What a vast sampling! Any of several of these are eye catchers for me. Thanks
The French classic car enthusiaists certainly like their cars in bright colours!
Way back when, every French car was dull white – except for a (very) few outre colours like pebble grey or depression blue.
So I’d guess a French enthusiast would choose a really loud colour, just to be different.
Oh, yes, yes, the Balilla! Probably not much of an actual car by the specs, but lordy, why waste money on Zagato or somesuch when you can do it yourself and nearly as well as matters? Even better in reality, too.
As to Rx-7 wheels, the answer is no. I mean, yes, they’re cool to a car person who sees it as a rotor, but otherwise, it joins a long list of three-spoke wheel designs that look awful and un-wheelike. Most from the ’80’s. (To be clear, Prof T, you are wrong, and I am Right. There shall be no correspondence entered into).
Nice selection of pics, Sir.
A wee bit sheepishly, I like the Cranbrook best. They look sort-of serious, the Chryslers of this time, long-bonnetted and proper, and thus have an appeal all their own. It’s only when that style is downsized to the early ’50’s Hillman Minx that it’s dumpy (and in that particular egregious case, more like a mobile slow-combustion stove than a car).
Wonderful collecton!
The lemon yellow Buick Skylark GS is likely a 1972 model – due to the color keyed headlight bezels. 1970 and 1971 models have chrome headlight bezels.