I shot these pictures no more than 1.5 miles from my house while driving around so you may see part of my car in a few. Yes, I shot all of them in B&W.First was the 1st Gen Nova which is the best I can do since I don’t often get into the minor details especially with GM cars.
Next a 1966 Ford Fairlane and would say a rare sighting but then I saw two last year.
A 1956 Ford Victoria and this is a rare sighting as it has been many decades.
I’m going with a 1965 Beetle and still some around.
Going with 1984 Corolla and pretty much all gone.
Going out on a limb, 1997 Taurus. Around 2017 saw few of this Gen on the road while Pick ‘n Pull was packed with them. Then bam! Gone from Craigslist by the middle of 2019. For car years, versus dog years, disappearing in 19-20 years is pretty darn fast given the quantity built especially since the 3.0 Vulcan can go 300,000 miles. Yet everyone in the junkyard was under 200,000 miles. So that leaves the transmission.
To be honest I have no idea since it looks so nondescript
Another GM car and I’ll go with 1970 Cutlass
Here is a true unknown to me
I did a story on this 1961 Caddy but I always saw it like this under a cover
1966 Chevrolet C10. There is a very nice driver in the town where my office is. See it almost every month as the owner uses it for his business.
1998 Chevrolet Camaro is my guess and hardly ever seen outside of the one in my nephews garage.
1998 Ford Escort and I never saw many of these when new.
That is all for this roll of film as the rest was used on another subject. For those interested the camera used was a Minolta X-570 and the Minolta 35-70mm F4.0 zoom shooting expired (2005) Agfa APX 100
Nova’s an early model, 1962-64, the rear view didn’t change until 1965 when they narrowed the rear window and changed the taillights for one year before the big ’66 reskin.
The Corolla’s an ’86 or ’87. 1984-5 US market cars still had sealed-beam headlights, along with all-amber corner lights that don’t wrap as far over the side as the later ones seen here.
“Nondescript” is a late-90s Pontiac Sunfire.
There was at least one running change to the round-body Escort sedans, some like this have the backup lights below the main taillight cluster and others have them built into the taillights with the same slit effect on the original Taurus, but horizontal. I can’t for the life of me remember which was the early and which the late version.
Wonderful shots! The b/w really adds to some of these. If it weren’t for the jeep in the first shot, you could convince me it was taken years ago. The small house and the flagpole really give a 1970s vibe. Also, the pic after the Taurus is a 1995-99 Pontiac Sunfire.
On the oldie, I’m guessing ’36 or so Studebaker, mainly by the suspension and the headlight mount in the fender.
Studebaker would have had a transverse leaf spring front suspension. From the front fender creases and the grille I’m guessing 1937 Cadillac, but not with a high level of confidence.
Is that a stock front suspension on the 30s car or a later implant? I cant instantly recognize that fender but someone will know.
I’m no expert, but that suspension does look to be from a later vehicle. Don’t think it’s a Mustang 2, possibly a chevy?
1937 Cadillac still had the headlamps on the radiator shell. From my only *slightly* more confident ID, I’m seeing 1938 LaSalle… if that’s the correct grille from the car.
I also believe that’s the correct early GM IFS. Not the Dubonnet Knee-Action used by Chevrolet and Pontiac, but the conventional setup used by the senior divisions.
I believe you’re right. The ’38 La Salle would have the headlamps in the correct position mounted on the fenders.
As far as I can tell, that’s the 1930s GM ifs with Delco lever action shock absorbers, but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen them in person. Chrysler used tubular “airplane-type” shocks, and Packard, while using the Delco shocks, had a trailing arm setup that was quite distinctive.
The Vicky looks to be a ’55 with the round parking lights. My dad had a ’56 Deluxe Ranch Wagon. Great post. Thank you.
Custom Ranch Wagon according to the 1956 sales brochure. Has oblong parking lights.
That early car has me flummoxed. I ran a restoration shop for 30 years and have seen hundreds of cars in that condition. I know what it’s not:
Not a GM car, not a Ford, Mercury or Lincoln, not a Studebaker, or Packard. Not a Chrysler, DeSoto, Plymouth or Dodge. Not a Graham, Willys, or Hupmobile.
TBM3FAN, You’re just gonna have to go back and knock on the door. Ask them what it is please!
I think if you’ll compare the cowl stamping to the attached image of 1939 LASALLE 50 CONVERTIBLE COUPE you’ll be convinced that the cowl is that or similar.
A decent cowl image was not easy to find, for me at least.
Attached image was swiped with thanks to barret-jackson.com for graciously leaving the keys in the ignition of their past listings image files.
With photo credit again to barret-jackson.com here’s
1939 Cadillac Sixty Special.
Again, the very similar stamping.
The mystery car must be close.
JimDandy,
I will concede that the cowl may well be from GM, but in enlarging the photo that square indent sure looks like it’s original to the car. And I will note that the strengthening ribs are different from the 2 examples you provided.
Right. Agreed.
But I believe the similar unique trapezoid-like reinforcements puts us on the trail.
Yes. It’s likely a GM vehicle. It’s that recessed square panel that has me flummoxed. And I’m also thinking that front fender may not have been on the car when new, as it doesn’t seem to match various GM cars in the 1936 to 40 era [36 being the first split windshield for production GM cars, like with Cadillac.]
I have a whole bunch of covid lockdown curbside classic photos from New York City, including a 1960 T-Bird down the street from Forest Hills LIJ, on the rainy day my wife’s grandmother died of covid at the beginning of April 2020, as an ambulance turned past (and I followed) to go to the ambulance bay next to the freezer truck mobile morgue.
And the Thruway in Rockland and on the Tappan Zee Bridge, empty.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LMpcGxR8gSZWgNVa7
Still trying to digest the whole experience.
The Beetle doesn’t look to me to have the taller windows adopted for 1965, so I’m thinking ’63-64. I’m no Bug expert though.
It used to be B&W film was cheaper to buy and to develop. Nowadays color processing is cheap and takes an hour while B&W is expensive to process and can take days for the turnaround at a real photo lab. That situation has resulted in the availability of “chromogenic” C-41 process B&W film that can be processed in the one-hour machines at your local CVS. It doesn’t quite capture the look of traditional panchromatic black & white film prints though. One option is to process it yourself at home, which is easier with regular B&W film than with color. Don’t have a darkroom? Get this awesome new darkroom-in-a-bag: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/ilford-pop-up-darkroom-is-perfect-solution-for-developing-analog-photographers . I really need to give my film camera (Nikon 35Ti, also awesome) some exercise.
I develop all my B&W film myself. Did five rolls this weekend from five different cameras spanning 1915-1984. Still have two more 120 rolls of Tri-X to go.
That appears to be a 1964 VW # 113 Beetle .
The Ford is a Crown Victoria, the basket handles makes is a Crown Vs. the plain Victoria, nice car .
I like the B&W images, in the late 1960’s I spent some time taking photos with B&W film .
-Nate