Another day, another car show. There’s nothing like spending a Saturday evening wandering around a cruise-in with like-minded car nuts. While many cars tend to show up regularly, you still never know what you’ll find. The whole idea of a cruise-in is having fun with your car, and on your own terms. Many vintage-car owners don’t take their cars to a proper show, which entails sitting around all day and probably getting sunburned, all for the chance to take home a plastic trophy. But what if you could take your car to a free-range type of show, stay a couple hours, and leave whenever you want to? That’s the appeal of a cruise-in, and the reason so many cars show up, including this ’56 Dodge Coronet. Shall we check out the rest of the field?
Although you might remember this 1956 Ford Mainline from my East Moline car show post, these pictures were taken first. They’re worth a repeat, though; after all, how many Mainlines have been restored like this when a Sunliner or Crown Victoria hardtop would be worth more? Good for this owner, who picked a little-seen model.
Fast-forward seven years to this ’63 Fairlane. This one looked rather cheerful in white with red trim. I like the way the front looks just like a full-size ’63 Ford, only a bit narrower. A strong family resemblance, indeed.
Now this one was cool: a 1938 Plymouth P6–and not hot-rodded. It was a beauty. If you like hot rods, good for you, but I’ll always take a stock prewar car over a hot-rodded one with a 350 and THM. If you want a modern-driving car, why not just buy a new Camaro, Challenger or Mustang?
This ’40 Buick also attracted my eye. As I recall, the engine had “Fireball Straight Eight” printed on the side. I would have loved to hear it run.
If you’re the more outdoorsy type, you might appreciate this early Bronco. I liked its plain, white wheels and folded-down windshield. These Broncos had a long run, from 1966 to 1977. Finding a bone-stock one like this is tough, as modern off-road enthusiasts prize them–in souped-up form.
How about a Mod Top Barracuda? Notchback 1967-69 ‘cudas are tough to find, and this one, with its special floral top and interior trim, is especially rare. Just left of the car is a camp chair the owner made of the same type of fabric on the car. It’s neat, but I can see why the Mod Top option was not especially popular.
Just a row or two over was an even cooler old Mopar: this ’65 Imperial Crown. The combination of white paint, black vinyl roof and red leather interior was stunning.
Look at that interior! Full instrumentation, “thruster” type interior door handles and genuine wood trim. This one also has the optional headrests. In this shot, the column shifter tells you it’s a ’65; transmission pushbuttons graced Imperials for the last time in 1964.
I just love Imperials. While a ’62 model might be my very favorite, this one still made my day. In my book, any day with an Imperial is a good one.
This black-on-black ’62 Galaxie 500 XL was quite nice. I really like the ’62 full-size Fords–and especially their rear end treatment with jet-exhaust taillights “sunk” into the rear bumper and ribbed chrome trim below the trunk lid.
It’s neither white nor a four-door, but I’ll bet Paul will like this ’64 Monza. Not a Spyder, but still very attractive.
I think this one has factory A/C. The controls and air ducts are very well-integrated, unlike most of the “hang-on” aftermarket A/C units that were common back then. This one even has little Chevy bowtie logos. Note the deluxe color-keyed seat belts.
Here was another straight, not-messed-with prewar survivor, this time a 1933 Buick Victoria coupe. This one has the “artillery-style” wheels that began replacing wire wheels in the early ’30s. It’s a true Classic with a capital C, and for sale to boot.
Here’s another rare Buick: a 1979 Century Turbo. I knew these existed (I have the brochure), but I’d never before seen one in the metal.
Note the boost gauge below the fuel gauge, a tipoff that this was no ordinary Aeroback Buick. It also has bucket seats, a console-shifted automatic and this handsome sport steering wheel–perhaps somewhat at odds with the Brougham-like silver gauges and wood grain. Turbo Brougham?
One thing it was missing, though, was the turbo. I could see where it should have been hooked up, but it wasn’t there. I imagine finding parts for a late ’70s Turbo Buick may be a little daunting.
This 1975 Nova LN probably is about as scarce as the ’79 Buick. I had seen this car before, but not for a few years now. Since then it’s been treated to some rust repair and a new paint job, and it looked great. This one was originally ordered with the 5.7-liter 350 and THM automatic transmission. It was bought new, in 1975, from Eriksen Chevrolet, by Jim and Mary Conrad, who still own their red Nova to this very day. More info on this car can be found here.
The LN was the luxury version, and GM’s attempt to infuse a bit of comfort and luxury into the workaday Nova. The interior was very nice, with bucket seats and a console–unusual for a 1975-79 Nova. The ’75 LN and subsequent high-trim 1976-77 Concours were not big sellers, and the luxury-Nova experiment ended in ’78; however, the new 1978 Nova Custom model received the grille and several trim pieces from the LN/Concours. Jim’s love for this car was very apparent throughout our chat. He also belongs to the Eastern Iowa Novas club, which has a big car show every June. I’ll have to check that one out next year…
This 1951 Ford was gorgeous. I especially liked the flipper wheel covers and red wheels. And while the new-for-1951 double-spinner grille is nice, I must admit that I like the 1949-50 single-spinner grille better.
This 1937 Pontiac was not strictly stock, but still looked very sharp in black paint with cream-color wheels and wide whites. Although I prefer stock classics, I still appreciate tasteful modifications like this. It just looked good.
This Advanced Design Chevy pickup was another custom I liked. Its neat combination of vintage-type logo, baby moons and primer just worked. What’s more, it can still be used like a truck.
It’s getting dark, and we’re just about done with our tour. This ’62 Impala with Crager SS wheels was a late arrival, but I managed to get a picture in the fading light.
The gold-and-pale yellow color combination was striking. You wouldn’t think it would work, but it does. Love that cue-ball shifter, too.
In closing, let’s look at this polarizing 1934 Hupmobile, the first car designed by Raymond Loewy. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s a full classic, it’s rare, and would be a beautiful car in stock, not-messed-with form. On the other hand, the fit and finish were first-rate, the colors tasteful (not neon purple with flames, for instance), and it did look nice. But boy, it would have looked so much more beautiful in original form! Why couldn’t they just have added wire wheels and wide whitewall tires and stopped there?
I know why the 79 Century was missing it’s Turbo:
My buddy had a 1980 Regal 3.8l turbo car at the same time my father had an 81 with regular 3.8l
We had an impromtu drag race one day, both cars were equipped with the miserable 2.41 rear gears and by the time we shifted into 2nd at 55mph the turbo car was juust starting to pull away.
Buick really got it right with the later turbo cars, but for the first few years all the turbo did was overcome the inefficiencies in the plumbing setup, with very little net gain.
So much eye candy. Where to begin. On that lead-in Dodge, I feel bad about this. I should like these more than I do. Mopar guy that I am, I think the Dodge is my least favorite of the 55-56 cars.
I LOVE the 63 Fairlane sport coupe. One of my teenaged car-lust episodes was for the maroon 64 Sport Coupe that the buddy of an older cousin drove. 289 and a 4 speed. I loved it even though the teenaged driver tried to kill me in it once. A 180 degree skid to avoid running a red light in a busy intersection is really, really terrifying.
The 67-69 Barracuda looks so much better as a fastback. The other body styles never worked for me. That Imperial reminds me of my 64 Crown Coupe, only I had white leather in mine. And pushbuttons!
Finally, another vote for the color combo on the 62 Impala hardtop. I have seen one or two of those before and they are really beautiful. A very nice show, Tom. A great way to start off a Tuesday afternoon at the office.
“I’ll always take a stock prewar car over a hot-rodded one with a 350 and THM.”
We are indeed cut from the same cloth, Tom. After seeing the photos, I really wish I had been able to make this show!
That last picture made me want to gag, and had I been there I’d have probably taken a swing at the owner. It’s bad enough that almost every Chevrolet, Ford, etc. that’s been restored has to be restored to a “don’t I wish I had it in the school parking lot during senior year” standard. Yeah, every middle aged and older guy is trying to approximate the high school life he likes to think he had. But to take an actual rare, pre-WWII automobile and hack into it and make it some kind of ill-handling, most likely overheating street rod that’s good for two things: showing off and stoplight drags? That’s my definition of justifiable homicide.
While I can enjoy the informal Saturday “cruise nights”, it gets tiring to be looking at the back lot of “American Graffiti” all the time. This show looked like a good one, as there were more proper, original restorations around and it wasn’t just high school wannabe city.
Just the same, give me the old days in the car hobby. When, if you showed up at an antique gathering with your SBC-modfied whatever, you were told (not so politely) to shove that car up your ass, and no, you weren’t putting it on the field.
Too many street rods, nowhere near enough genuine antiques.
By the way, Hupp’s sales for 1934 were barely over the 9000 unit mark. Given that 90% of those were four door sedans, then factor in the ravages of time, and maybe you can see why I get so pissed over that car. This is the second Huppmobile I’ve seen aborted like this, now. In 45 years, I’ve only see three others (all original, thank God) and they were all Skylarks.
I have to agree with you on the Hupp. I also hate seeing something really rare chopped up and turned into a street rod that would excite all of his street rodder buddies just as much if it were a 34 Chevy that they made a million copies of.
I see it on more modern cars too. My local CL recently featured a really original 57 Stude wagon that was a fascinating car – until I got to those dreaded words “Chevy smallblock” and “TurboHydramatic”. You wanna upgrade your 57 Bel Air, its not what I would do but its your car. But to take a really rare Stude wagon and swap a Chevy drivetrain into it is like sucking out the car’s soul. A StepfordBaker?
Edit – This reminds me. I watched the first(?) episode of Car Counters. The guys got a 62 or so Falcon Ranchero. They freaked out about all of the rust. It probably looked really bad if you live in Vegas, but it looked like a really good car to a midwesterner. So, they deemed it a lost cause and turned the poor thing into a pool table. It looked to me like a very restorable car that is now gone.
Car Counters alternates between enjoyable and infuriating. The most rediculous one I’ve seen so far is where they picked up a rusted out ’59 Rambler wagon, shoved a chassis and powertrain (never did specify what) under it, had a new interior sewn, and then sold it without repainting the body! Yeah, some guy bought it for his wife. Most wives would kill their husbands for bringing something like that home.
That Ranchero bothered me too. It could have been fixed up. On the other hand, they did a nice job on the IROC-Z.
You know, I just can’t get worked up about what somebody else does with their own property.
This car could have been a complete basket case before, sitting rusted-out behind somebody’s barn with no drivetrain at all in it and an interior that was used as a chicken coop.
And the owner chose not to go the full-restoration route.
That is their choice. While I agree with you and it wouldn’t be my first choice, it is theirs to make.
I am just glad to see it in nice condition, out in a public car show for everybody to see.
redmondjp: You said it.
Syke, JPC: How do we even know the owner didn’t just start from a half gone rusted bodyshell? If you’re installing a newer frame and drivetrain anyway, it makes little difference either way. Not that a frame/drivetrain would be readily available for such a rare car except for the mega-rich Concours crowd.
I’m with you redmondjp.
It may not be genuine, but at least it’s still out there for all of us to see. That’s a plus in my book.
Wow, take a swing?
Justifiable homicide?
Lighten up Francis……..
Yeah, I can’t say I’m fond of ‘auto butchers’, either, but there are a lot of rusting heaps in fields out there where a full-restoration just isn’t in the cards, and bringing it back with a 350/THM is better than letting it rot to nothing.
I’m more of a 5.0L HO/T5 guy myself…just sayin…
That Hupp was at the Detroit Autorama this year. Not my Cup ‘O’ Meat but cool none the less.
That Nova and Century are more my style. I never liked the color keyed hubcaps on the GMs from that era too much though
Cup of meat?
Bob Dylan or Manfred Mann fan?
The Imperial and the 62 Impala would be my favorites of this post. All the cars are nice, though. As far as the American Graffiti, I don’t remember anyone in my high school driving that hot rod stuff. I recall a few 57 Chevys, coupes and sedans. Some were beat up and some were nice originals. Most were in between. Very few had anything more custom than chrome reverse wheels or baby moon hubcaps. No Corvettes, Jags, or anything remotely exotic. Most of the kids who drove to school used their parents cars on very rare occasions.
A few times my Dad allowed me to drive him to and from work. That was a treat especially on the unsupervised trips. Even his 64 Biscayne felt cool. My dream car in high school was a 48 Desoto coupe. For $ 125, I would have been a happy guy. Mom vetoed that. I can still recall it. Battleship grey, six cylinder Gyromatic. A three window coupe, I think, no back seat.
Unless we’re talking Greenwich, Conn. or Beverly Hills, 99 percent of the kids didn’t have the stuff portrayed in those ridiculous movies.
Re: American Graffiti. That’s my point. Having graduated from high school in 1968, and having gone to the rich high school in the area, there were at most one or two very mild customs (moon hub caps, one or two bolt on items) in the very small student parking lot. What kids got to drive to school (yes, the bus was considered uncool then, too) usually had mom’s car. Which meant there were a few station wagons in the parking lot.
You were lucky, you at least brought up that old DeSoto. I knew better than to even ask about having a car, or to drive one of the family cars to school (“our taxes are paying for the bus service”). I finally got to drive dad’s ’67 Camaro RS to school the last two days of my senior year, both of which were half-days. Straight to school, straight home, and I was being timed. The final insult from a father who got out of the Chevy dealership eight months before my 16th birthday.
Nowadays the over-40’s custom scene is primarily populated by baby boomers living out the lives they wished they had in high school.
I graduated HS in 1980, and would echo your observation about the cars in the student lot. There was a Chevelle SS (friend with well-off parents), but the rest of us who were into cars had to limit our “hot rodding” to maybe a larger set of rear wheels & tires, or maybe a junkyard engine swap as my best friend did in his ’65 Mustang ‘boxtop’ – the original 289 had died and been replaced with a 302 warmed up by his Dad, which Billy blew up in fairly short order. A stock 302 was its replacement.
Another friend had a Galaxy 500 with mag wheels, but nothing else special – loved that car!
I was two years before you, 1978. Mid 60s iron was the rule, even in an upper-middle-class area. Olds 88s, Chrysler Newports, Ford Galaxies were everywhere. And Mustangs. One friend had a very nice 69 Malibu convertible with mag wheels. Another kid’s dad bought him a red 74 Camaro – but it was a 6/auto car. The son of the local funeral director got a new car for graduation – he wanted (and got) a Chevy Stepside pickup with cool wheels, stripes and a roll/light bar. But he was the exception. Most kids I knew either bought something for themselves or drove an old hand-me-down from mom and dad.
Mine was in the “old hand-me-down” category – photo is from 1980, too, right before leaving for college (Georgia Tech – the Georgia plate was my Dad’s, and got replaced in short order!).
Hard to see many losers in that car show but you all did mention one think I feel for sure is a loser. Modern television. I have never seen car counters. Gave away my TV about four years ago and happy it’s gone.
That ’33 Buick is just painfully awesome.
No whitewalls, black, just the right amount of road wear, and a crooked Iowa plate.
Perfect.
This thread is also confirming my feeling that I may be the youngest commenter here at CC. My HS graduation was in 2002.
Cool. That’s what makes this place so interesting – a wide variety of ages, backgrounds and perspectives. And if I had to bet, I expect we would find a handful younger yet.
I’m willing to bet that the owner of that car is in his mid-60’s at the least, more likely 70’s or even 80’s; has had that car for at least thirty years, and did the original restoration himself. Or, is the offspring of that person. The car is restored to original, not over-restored like is mandatory in competition today.
While listening to me waxing on (boringly) about how car shows used to be, visualize a field of 50-100 cars like this. Nothing newer than 1954, on the old side they’d probably peter out around 1920 – before that, unless you’ve got a big, expensive car, you were trailering. And what I was attending was the local six county antique circuit, where nobody spent the kind of money to own a trailer.
At the ones I attended, the classes kinda ebbed and flowed, but you could usually count on: Model T class, Model A, pre-war Ford V-8, a Buick class (locally there were three of us with ’37’s: my Special, another club member’s Roadmaster, and an elderly couple with a Limited – organizers always set it up so we parked together), something for the real Classics (mostly Packards, one Cord 810) then everything else was pretty much divided up by decades (20’s, 30’s, 40’s). Extra points were always given for original cars over restored ones.
Those were some wonderful days
Love that ’38 Plymouth. It was Bogie’s car in The Big Sleep.
Yeah I kind of like that too, my Dad’s first car was a 38 Desoto, pretty much the same except for the grille.
As for the Hupmobile, I skimmed over it but went back now and took a look following Syke’s comment. Definately completely not my cup of tea, I particularly dislike how the wheels are wide but the fender mounted spares are original. But, when it comes to prewar cars the demographics don’t look good. The old guys are passing on or having to give them up. Younger guys don’t have the connection and aren’t interested. I’m just happy someone did something with it and it wasn’t crushed. Who the heck cares about Hupmobiles anymore? (rhetorical question)
Cool show I like mostly standard cars mild mods are ok but Ive lost interest in hotrodding now.
Me too. Give me stock, restored, or original, any day over hotrodded
Nice selection of cars Tom, and well presented too. It’s nice to see details such as the convertible top-imitating creases in the 62 Impala, and the lead Dodge photo that begs the question, were all those decorations factory, and if so why? The 51 Ford was known as the Twin Spinner in Australia.
My fathers first car in Australia (he emigrated from England in 1950 at the age of 22) was a 1951 Ford which he always referred to as a twin spinner. It was a company car as he was a travelling salesman. His second car was a 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, and there is a photo of me at age 3 sitting in front of it.
+1 on the 33 Buick! What a beautiful car. Love the black tires, patina and the crooked license plate. My parent’s 51 Super was seafoam green and never, ever had whitewall tires!
> … prewar car over a hot-rodded one with a 350 and THM. If you want a modern-driving car, why not just buy a new Camaro, Challenger or Mustang?
When a prewar-inspired retromobile appears, I might look into it. The nearest I’ve found to satisfaction are the HHR and PT Cruiser. Till then, a prewar junk hulk fitted with modern power and aircon will have to do. Much better than rusting away in a field, I say. CamChalStang? Oh, please. Modern car proportions are approaching 20s-30s designs more and more, esp. 34-39, and that’s good! Never much liked the longer, lower trend anyway.
The mod top. The non-turbo turbo Buick. The 37 Pontiac. The 62 Impy. And yes, the Huppmobile.
These are some of my favorite things.
I must go to Moline sometime…
Re the Chevy Concours: I had a ’77 Nova Concours with factory a/c. The car was delivered to me in summer of ’77, probably a late build for that model. Interestingly, 2 lower dash a/c vents were covered by metal plates…must have been a dash from the Olds or Buick versions, ’cause mine had additional ones in the proper Chevy position. A very sad note on GM in the ’70s!!!!
To answer an earlier commenter, the only (slightly) non-stock items on that 1956 Dodge Coronet 2-door sedan are the 1957 Dodge Lancer wheel covers. I can’t say for sure that the paint colors are original or not, but I will say that I have never seen one in those colors.
I love Imperials with red interiors. A red interior can even make it possible to put up with a white car.
The 1933 Buick sedan reminds me of a 1936 coupe that I used to see fairly often in the summer – on the roads, and never at the A&W on Wednesday night. It did have very wide whitewalls, but otherwise appeared as a very well-kept original car.
I’m of two minds on modified cars. I’ve only had one myself, but I love the ingenuity that I see in a lot of modified cars, even sometimes when the finished product isn’t something I really care for a lot. But I do think that it’s a shame to (irreversibly) modify an original car that’s in #4 or better condition.
I know I’m the odd duck, but I really had to go back and look at that Buick Aeroback again. For the mid malaise era, the turbo Buicks were really quite nice. To my eye, that was one sharp car.
The Nova LN was a flop, especially since 1975 cars in general hade higher sticker prices. Nova shoppers fainted at the MSRP’s and they didnt associate Nova with ‘luxury’. Concours name never caught on, either.
Once Chevy brought out cheaper Nova ‘S’ models did they finally catch on. Also 1976-78 model years were mini-booms, between two oil crisises.
Ford having a new name for a new sheet metal car, and calling it ‘Euro size’ helped Granada sales. Also, the old Maverick was still available for budget customers.