Getting a late start.
Alright, one more for the road. I can’t be seen loitering in Motel parking lots…
Curbside Outtake: 1965 Chevrolet Sportvan – Room Service
– Posted on April 19, 2023
-
-
Curbside Classics Archives
Getting a late start.
Alright, one more for the road. I can’t be seen loitering in Motel parking lots…
Although the motel looks to be well maintained; the juxtaposition of a “patina’d” van (with a jalousie window no less) and a double-decker motel (probably the single most common murder scene in more movies and TV shows than I could count) just makes me want to run as far and fast as I can.
It looks like the kind of a place where a drug-sniffing dog would lose its mind. 🙂
I’m probably of the last generation that grew up when motels (which differ from hotels in having individual outdoor room entrances rather than interior corridors) were a common place for middle-class travelers to stay on holidays or visits to see distant family. I stayed at all sorts of mostly independent motels as a kid and they seemed perfectly respectable and safe. In the 1980s these were largely replaced by cheap chain hotels and motor inns (spurred in part by the new interstate freeways bypassing the smaller roads that the motels were built on) and traditional motels gained a bad rep they may or may not have deserved. Certainly they were a security nightmare for hoteliers who couldn’t see their guests entering or leaving the facilities. They don’t seem to have been built frequently after the ’70s and those remaining are too often in poor condition and have seedy reputations. And way too many still have rusty old neon signs promising air conditioning and a color TV in every room. (some now keep these intentionally for retro appeal).
Anyway, this motel, despite seemingly good condition, doesn’t seem to be attracting many guests…
“$40 in advance. Would you like 1st floor, 2nd floor or the annex?”
These were so much fun to drive. As a kid driving a parts truck for a GM dealer in Vancouver, second gear rubber could be had quite easily, with the 6 cyl, 3 on the tree transmission, should one be so inclined. We were disappointed in the performance of the 307 though in 1968, as it lacked the “snap” of the 6 cyl, and perhaps had better weight distribution.
We have one of these in our neighborhood, but even more beat up…has plates but haven’t seen it move. In my head I always envision it done up as the Mystery Van from Scoopy Doo lol
Pic!
It was likely too large, reduce it so it isn’t more than 1200 pixels. Or if you just get a choice of four sizes when you reduce, use the second smallest…