It’s Thanksgiving today, and like last year, it’s a good moment to let all know how thankful we are for you to be out there, either as a reader, contributor, author, or casual visitor. And as a special thanks, today’s gallery is devoted to some of the many vintage photos that have shown up in our comments section this year. Images that tell lots of stories, and now form part of the CC collective memory.
Talking about old vintage photos, if you wish to see your car memories featured here at CC, you can send them directly to us at [email protected]. Regarding specs for those, try to send them as high a resolution as your email platform allows. If that sounds too vague, images of at least 1200 pixels width are what’s preferred. And if you have something to say about them, enclose those thoughts in the email’s body. We look forward to seeing what you wish to share.
Let’s get started. Today’s opening image is one of two uploaded by Randerson, shared in one of our Station Wagons posts. Photo number one, taken in 1965, shows their 1963 Ford Country Sedan wagon pulling the family boat to Squam Lake, NH. Photo number two, above, is at the famous Wye Oak in Wye Nills, MD, taken about a year later.
CA Guy added this image to our Sporty Chevrolets post of May, “In 1969 my cousin was 16 and the owner of a brand new SS396. My Dad’s old red and white ’60 Ranchero is parked behind it…”
All I can say is, oh, to be sixteen again… with a brand new SS Chevy to boot.
Steve shared this photo in a post we did on a 1963 Galaxie used as a playground of sorts. As can be seen, Steve’s family’s 1964 Galaxie 500 XL was also an attraction on their driveway.
Several readers uploaded images to our post on Kids and Cars of the 1950s-1960s. Jeffrey Dunn added this photo of his young self, sitting in a 1959 or 1960 Continental.
From the same post, gdwriter added this photo taken in 1968 in front of his family’s 1964 Chevrolet Impala.
One more image from the same entry, uploaded by 210delray, “I have this one from the early 80s showing our 2 sons helping to wash the family car, a 1980 Volvo 242DL.”
Kevin Johnson uploaded this photo of his dad in a feature we had on a 1966 Bonneville: “My father with his 1965 Bonneville. It was one of my favorite cars he owned. I enjoyed the times I rode shotgun with him with my arm out the window like he did.”
John H. shared this great shot on a Vintage Corvette Photos post from January, “My Aunt Susan in my Uncle Fred’s Corvette visiting the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, circa 1960.”
On a somewhat recent post featuring vintage ferry images, CC contributor dman added this shot of himself with the family’s nearly new Volvo 122S on a ferry in Sweden:
“We actually took delivery of the car in England, hence the British plate, and presumably the reason for the fender mirrors. This ferry ride entered family lore due to its toilet facility, a tiny closet with a yellow plastic bucket. For both #1 and #2. No seat, no lid. The other cars are, of course, a Beetle and a Ford Anglia.”
Back in March, I published a short post on a now-rare, yet still running, early Toyota Stout, and Chris in Australia shared this fun photo of his sister and him, in their dad’s company Stout. Taken near Lae, New Guinea, in December 1965.
Mustangs were the subject of an April vintage snapshots piece, and Don Stolfi uploaded this image, “My little brother helping me wash my Mom’s ’65 Mustang.”
On a post about convertibles, Phil Herning added this image, “My Mother next to her Ford Convertible in El Portal, aka Miami Springs, around 1954.”
A very fine 1965 Buick Sportwagon, uploaded by Mike P to one of our vintage photo posts featuring station wagons.
And another lovely wagon, uploaded in the same entry by CC author Ed Stembridge. “Our 1968 Country Squire LTD with 390/4bbl. Dad bought it used, maybe a year or two old, when I was around 10 or 11. Spent a lot of time in the “way back” with my three brothers on road trips.”
Beetles are a recurring topic in our vintage photo galleries. This image was shared by Morten, a 1200 model bought in 1962; “I grew up with this car. Good memories…”
Fashions of the past have also been a topic in our snapshots galleries, and this 1973 Ford Gran Torino was shared in one such post. Uploaded by James A. Malone III, an image “from a monumental ‘Cross Country’ trip that I took after being laid off from a fabrication shop in 1979. I changed the oil and filter, air cleaner and tuned it up with new points, condenser and plugs. I had that Ford 351 Cobra Jet running like a Swiss watch. Spent almost (3) three glorious months driving to every major State and National Park I could “ZOOM” through. I took rolls of 35mm slides and even 126 Instamatic photos. What a drive it was. What great memories to reflect back on. The United States is one BEAUTIFUL country.”
And that sounds like the ideal memory to close this gallery with.
But before leaving, some final thoughts for today. As many know, web publishing is a dynamic and unpredictable place, with lots of ups and downs in this business. As some of our recent posts have mentioned, the threats to sites like ours devoted to cars as a part of our lives are many and varied; from tons of AI slop to poorly crafted (and sometimes just plain deceitful) material. Regardless, CC has found a niche in this competitive environment, and we’re thankful for your devoted viewing and contributions. And despite those challenges, 2025 seems like it will be another record viewership year for us. We can’t predict what the future will be like, and as always, it’s full of uncertainties. But in the meantime, there’s much to be thankful for. On my part, a special thanks to our Chief Editor, Paul, for allowing me to be CC’s host, and then, to our authors, editors, and community for making this such a fun place to be.
Guess the “new guy” can start, I think the majority of CCs success is you’re dealing with actual memories, hands on stuff, things that were pretty universal for most of us considering the time. My brother has a ton of family slides he’s going through, and many images just like these, only the faces and locations are different. There are very few sites today that feature vintage photos of our youth, and time, or health, has a way of dimming those memories, but a ’66 Pontiac,( or whatever),,just like Uncle Marv had, and wonderful memories return simply by that one image, by golly, that’s powerful. Thanks for helping.
Seeing old photos with our readers and their cars is just about my favorite thing here at CC. It’s one of the two pillars of the site, along with automotive history. I look forward to more of you sending in photos that we can share here.
And I’m very thankful to you Rich, for so ably guiding CC on a daily basis since you took over. It’s finally allowed me to have more time for other interests and activities.
Great cars. I had a ’68 LTD wagon. Never should have prayed with it. Here is a picture of our house and driveway in the Spring of 1969. Near Syracuse, NY. My Dad’s 1965 Scout, my brother’s ’65 Mustang and Mom’s ’64 New Yorker 4 door hardtop.
I’m thankful for CC and the output of this community nearly every day. This goes to all of the contributors and commenters who share their knowledge, opinion, and good humor. And in particular, to Paul, Rich and Arron who hold all of this together.
I enjoy seeing old photos, but particularly those where there’s a back story and identification to the photos. Thus, this collection today is particularly satisfying.
And in that vein, here’s a photo that I ran across the other day out my way that I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do with. It’s not really enough to base a whole post upon, but maybe that remains to be seen. This is my mom – I think dressed for her high school Junior prom – standing in front of the family’s Chevrolet pride and joy. This car was photographed frequently during those years, but this particular view seems one of the best. If I recall correctly, from seeing this car myself about 10 years later (by that time it no longer ran and was slowly returning to the Earth under a tree on the property) it was a two-tone butterscotch and white. I remember thinking for much of my adolescence (as the car stayed under that tree for another 25 years) that “someone should save this thing”. Unfortunately, no one ever did…except in photos.
Happy Thanksgiving to All!
Agreed. I hate that I can never share anything because I’m too young, but I do have this one of my mom in front of her new 1976 camaro that she sold later when I came along for a family car.
And although I didn’t exist until the 80’s and never really pose for pictures, my wife and I on July 4th of this year in front of my 1977 camaro (’65 corvair visible in’ ready for primer’ status visible on the right). It somehow came out with a bit of a vintage vibe.
THANK YOU for the submission E-Mail address .
-Nate
Thank you, Rich, and the other CC Poobahs, for doing the arduous work throughout the year. These personal photos always spark within my own mind pictures of myself in similar family cars, oh so long ago. This is one of the truly unique values of CC. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
I am very grateful that this site exists, I visit it every morning.There is a good variety of material posted here, appealing to many different enthusiasts tastes. I’m also glad that I was able to contribute a few stories and hope that my comments have contributed to the discussion. Here’s a photo of my second car and first Cadillac. It’s a ’64 convertible bought for 340.00, off a used car dealer’s lot. I was 19 years old and had just graduated from high school the year before in 1973. I had a lot of fun with this car.
Thanks for posting my 2 pics as leadoff photos, it sure evokes memories. My Mom Priscilla in the shotgun seat died just 3 years later in 1968 when I was 18 the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore years of college. My little brother in the “way back was 6, now 64. It seems a lifetime ago, and was.
I too am thankful and appreciate all of you who work so hard or thoughtfully contribute to keep this a great place to visit. I’m mulling over some Coals but with over 400 cars (I was a curbside vintage car dealer as a sideline career for 40 years) it’s hard to figure out how to even organize writing about it. We’re in transition from upstate NY to Denver CO but when the dust settles in the Spring I hope to give it a whirl. Maybe organize by make? Ala “Oldsmobiles I have owned…” (a lot of them!) We’ll see. I’m already being tempted by all the solid old vehicles in Colorado, and even have my eye on one, so there may be more yet to come, at age 75 there won’t be too many though. A very Happy Thanksgiving to all CCers!
Early welcome to Colorado!
Particularly liked the boat trailer photo. I think Sqam lake is where “On Golden Pond” was filmed.
Is the boat a Thompson?
Yes it was filmed right across from we stayed, we could see that cottage, it was built as a small one but added on for the film.
The boat is a 1958 MFG Cambridge. About 12 years later it became my first boat. Fiberglass with wood trim, basically a copy of a Lyman hull. In the ’80s I did restore a wood Thompson (built in NY) that looked very similar.
Thanks for including my picture with the family 122S wagon. It was 50 years ago this month that I bought my own first car, also a 122S in the same color, though mine was a 2 door. It’s great to see the other reader’s photos in such a variety of settings. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and thanks to all of you for making this site so good, and especially to Paul, Rich and Aaron.
Pretty sure that Kevin Johnson’s dad’s terrific ’65 Bonneville was registered in the Bronx, NY:
AAA used send its members key chains with a little duplicate of one’s licence tag.
My Bronx-dwelling grandfather used to give me his key chains. I dutifully memorized the tag numbers, such that, years later, in my 30’s, I could tell him the license numbers of his ’57 Mercury, and then his ’65 Impala.
The license numbers were 4 characters and BX, which clearly indicated his Bronx address.
The Bonneville pictured shows a yellow-on-blue NY plate with BX, as in those key chains. In fact, the neighborhood pictured resembles my grandfather’s old habitat. Pelham Parkway, perhaps?
Wow! A 16 year old with a new SS 396. Immediately go to the head of the line! Bet he had a lot of friends, maybe not as many dates as most fathers wouldn’t trust a 16 (17, 18 or more) year old possessing that much power at such an early age. Lucky dog. 😉
My 20 year old self with my 3 year old $2000 used car, a 1973 Dodge Challenger Rallye 340.
My best friend at the time spent Big Bucks on his 1975 Trans Am for engine work to be able to outrun this Mopar.
Here is our just barely middle class home circa 1968. The bright squares on the roof are from replaced slate shingles after hurricane Betsy visited New Orleans,
Mom’s 1966 Ford Country Sedan station wagon in the driveway; Dad’s 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint peeking out in the bottom corner of this pic.
We used to have many more pictures; but after the improperly built and maintained U. S. Core of Engineers levies failed and flooded much of the area after hurricane Katrina we lost a bunch of family pictures that were stored on the floor of a closet.