(click on image for full size)
I stumbled unto this, at customcarchronicle.com, and just had to share it. It’s a colorized photo of a custom car show organized by the Lords car club in Los Angeles, in 1954, Click on it for full size, and see what a street scene in California in 1954 looked like. Only one foreign car to be seen )MG TD). Twenty years later, that would be very different.
I’ll take the maroon ’39 or ’40 Ford.
(But only if it’s new enough to have hydraulic brakes! 😉 )
Ford – finally – adopted hydraulic brakes for the 1939 model year.
Independent front suspension would have to wait until the 1949 Ford.
On the left you can see the front of what I call a hot-rod-sport-car. Even looks like a MG-TD showed up.
The seafoam green car with the dark two tone cove on the side and the hood and trunk open is the Hirohata 1951 Mercury custom built by Barris brothers. Arguably the most famous custom 49-51 Merc of all time. Awesome photo and probably the #1 era that I would take a one-way trip back to if there were such an option….
Hard to believe that the Hirohata Merc was built from a one year old car.
I’d take the track nosed roadster on the far left, too bad the resolution isn’t better.
On this site they identify each car:
http://www.customcarchronicle.com/historical-custom-car-shows/thrifty-parking-lot-show/
Thanks for that! I’ll add the link.
Great info! I was ready to peg that light blue convertible at the end of the row as a Studebaker, but wasn’t sure.
I thought that one looked familiar–legendary!
I see the foreign car (MG) to the right. But what about the motor cycle at the entrance?? ???
Looks British with the chromed tank and knee pad, single cyl.
Triangular engine case. Triumph? Don’t see the rider, and wonder why the bike is parked right alongside a busy exit.
Also, that convertible at the front of traffic up top looks interesting. Can’t quite place it.
Looks British. BSA? Norton?
Has the look of a BSA Gold Star to me.
NICE PHOTO ! .
Thanx for sharing this Paul .
-Nate
The selective colorization is interesting – I get not going for the cars at the back of the parking lot, but why not that car in the foreground.
And no red ones? I kind of thought that “candy apple red” was the grail in the mid 50s.
I just replaced it with the fully colorized version from the link that DougD left.
I believe 1954 is correct. I can’t tell if the green Chevy pulling out is a 1953 or 1954, but the car parked next to the only foreign car in this photo is a 1954 Olds.
Hirohata’s Merc was finished in 1953 so most likely this is 1954.
Just realized this is one of the last U.S. auto gatherings where nary a small block Chevy could be found. 😉
Most interesting links here! Totally amazing actual ’54 pics! It is curious how a lot of today’s styling cues go back to this era. The chopping and dropping is still what its all about. Thanks for sharing, Paul.
For more views of early ’50s LA, and more foreign cars, try to find a copy of the 1954 film-noir ‘Drive a Crooked Road’. Mickey Rooney plays an auto mechanic and ‘gopher’ at an LA foreign-car agency, who drives the shop’s MG TD and dreams of becoming a race-car driver. There are scenes of his workplace that actually look like they were filmed in an auto repair shop, with numerous Jags and Mercedes coupes & roadsters on the lifts. Kevin McCarthy leads a local gang planning a Palm Springs bank robbery.
Kevin McCarthy’s girlfriend, who drives an early ’50s Hillman Minx convertible, lures Mickey in as the getaway driver. In another scene, Mickey drives to meet the girlfriend at Malibu beach and parks the MG near a Triumph Mayflower.
The robbery goes off without a hitch. Then the double-crossing begins!
Some consider this one of Mickey Rooney’s best ’50s film performances.
Enjoy it if you can find it.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Another 1950’s Micky Rooney flick was ” A Small Case Of Larceny ” where he and an ex Army pal open a gas station….
Also shot mostly on location .
-Nate
So how much lead in those sleds? Gotta be a couple of hundred pounds.
And thanks, Paul for the glimpse of the past. Great pic.