Text by Patrick Bell.
Pets are a big part of most of our families, so it is natural they are involved with our cars. We have a gallery of vintage pets today, and some cars as well. Let’s take a look.
We begin with a man shaking hands with possibly his best friend on a damp day. Behind them was a 1965 Ford Country Sedan that looked nice and clean. It was light on the exterior options, as all I see were a radio antenna and whitewall tires. The second row seat appears to have been folded down with stuff stacked back there. And a camp trailer was parked ahead that was plugged in and perhaps in use.
This pup looked like he was waiting for the youngster to kick the ball. They were standing by a 1946 or 1947 Buick Super or Roadmaster Sedanet. There was no difference between the two years that could be seen in this image. The Roadmaster had a five inch longer wheelbase that was difficult to discern without parking them side by side. It looked in good condition other than some curb rash on the front tire.
A lady was bonding with a dog in a wooded area. A 1953 Studebaker Commander Deluxe 4 door sedan was parked beside them. It had a pair of outside mirrors that look like they would be about useless, but conditions were so different back then I am sure they were better than nothing. The Commander was the V8 model, while the Champion came with six cylinder power.
One could say this lady looked too classy for a Volkswagen Type 1, but that would be an underestimate of their appeal. They were a high quality, simple and reliable vehicle that appealed to all kinds and classes. This one was a 1958 or 1959 model, and had a radio with a fancy antenna, and a curb feeler.
Here was a pup looking for some attention. The car was a 1950 Buick Super 126 4 door Tourback Sedan. The “126” referred to the wheelbase, as it was the one longer Super model that was the size of a senior series Roadmaster. The lack of a “Dynaflow” nameplate on the quarter panel marked it as a manual transmission equipped car. Otherwise it had two tone paint and a radio with a roof mounted antenna. The occupants were stopped at the Lincoln Caverns in Pennsylvania.
A smiling lady and a smiling dog were posing with a close to new looking 1955 Ford Fairlane 2 door Club Sedan. It had V8 power, standard hub caps to go with the blackwall tires, and an Oregon license plate. It was parked in front of a well manicured brick home.
This was obviously a hot day likely somewhere in Ohio. You had the hot dog, all the windows open on the house, and two different Ohio license plates from either 1956 or 1958. The cars in the background were nice and clean, all 1955 models, and no two tones in the bunch. There was a blue V8 powered Ford Customline Tudor Sedan with a full wheel cover on the front and a standard hub cap on the rear to go with the snow tire. Then a white Buick Special or Century 4 door Riviera hardtop, the first year for the four door hardtop. And a black Cadillac Series 62 Sedan brought up the rear.
A gentleman with a loyal companion and a 1956 Rambler Custom Cross Country wagon were out in a wooded area. Nash and Hudson merged in 1954 to form American Motors, and this was an example of their first new car. Luggage racks were standard on Rambler wagons, and this one also had woodgrain trim, full wheel covers and whitewalls for further dress up. It may have been raining lately since the wipers weren’t parked.
Lassie was ready for a ride in a 1956 Ford Country Sedan from Illinois. It was purchased at George C. Poole Ford in Arlington Heights. This was Ford’s most popular wagon at that time and Lassie seemed to approve.
This man was probably not an official dog catcher, but he did catch this one. Behind them was a 1961 Oldsmobile F-85 wagon, which was in it’s first year as Oldsmobile’s first compact. All F-85’s from 1961-1963 were powered by the Rockette V8 that was available only in one tune for 1961. It was the entry level wagon, and this one was very basic with the only visible option a radio.
And we have a young girl and a cat out in the flower bed with her color coordinated mom nearby. In the driveway was a 1962 Pontiac Catalina 4 door sedan, the most popular single model for the year.
The captain and his crew were about to set sail in a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport convertible. It was equipped with one of the optional 327 cubic inch Turbo-Fire V8’s, and the unique wheel covers and bucket seat interior were standard on the Super Sport models. Over 185,000 of these were produced that year, with no breakdown between the Sport Coupe and convertible.
If this little guy could have reached the pedals he would have been ready to go. He was behind the wheel of a 1961-1965 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbriar or 1961-1964 Chevrolet Corvair 95 that was parked under a roof of some sort. The single color interior indicates it was the standard model, and a piece of trim was missing above the door.
CC’s Eric703 added this image to a previous post from 2023. The following is what he wrote about the image:
I’ll add one more here as well. This was me at nine years old, along with our dog, in the back of Dad’s 1976 Buick Century wagon. What’s interesting here a few decades later isn’t really me or the dog (it was a ridiculously staged shot not reflective on real life), but rather the wagon’s front seats.
Dad was one of probably 3 people who ordered his Century wagon with bucket seats. I’ve never seen another one like it — and at the time, many people were really puzzled why anyone would want bucket seats in a station wagon. (Dad hated bench seats, and never wanted someone sitting next to him while driving.)
Thanks for joining us and have a great day!
Wonderful pictures that made me smile. From child-hood to senior-hood I have traveled many long distant miles with pets. For decades I only bought new cars that would be comfortable for the pets. The picture of the dog standing with paws on the steering wheel brought back one memory. I was moving between states and leaving on an extremely hot day with the car packed and cats not so happy. I parked in front of the apt. rental office to drop off my keys, left the car running with AC on. One of the cats had stepped on the power door lock switch locking me out. When you call AAA they ask if it is an emergency. Yes I said, the car is running, doors locked, and a cat is holding onto the steering wheel. AAA arrived within ten minutes.
Let’s get this show on the road!
Interesting picture of Eric703’s Century wagon. I worked in a Buick dealership in the early 80’s, and we did a fair amount of factory special ordered cars but I’d never seen a 73-77 A body sedan or wagon with buckets (I cant tell if it’s got a floor shift consoole) Also interesting is the modification of the seats to include backrest ashtrays, the coupe buckets didnt have them (the ashtrays were in the armrests). The only reason this sticks in my mind is Pontiac and Olds seemed to have them from time to time (in the Grand Am’s and Cutlass Salon’s) and I always wondered if it was just not an option on the Buicks. I did see a number of Buick A body sedans and wagons with buckets/console starting in ’78 with the downsized redesign.
Just saw this after I posted below. The bucket seats did not have a console between them – it was just open. I think these were different seats than the buckets offered in the sport-level coupe. From what I recall, these particular buckets were optional on Century sedans and the regular coupes in 1975, and then expanded to wagons for ’76. I think they were only offered in vinyl, which I hated when I was a kid. I bet that even with sedans, the take rate was minimal, and few dealers would actually stock one.
It’s funny to open up a post and see myself! I’ll add a bit more detail to the last picture of me in the back of my dad’s Century wagon.
Dad bought that car in 1976 when I was 3, and my sister was 8. He gave in to the realization that our family needed a station wagon, and in looking around, he learned that Buick offered a bucket seat option that year. He thought the Century was a decent car, so he custom-ordered one with buckets from Wilkie Buick in Philadelphia.
Dad was an early adopter of imports, and became accustomed to bucket seats. And he absolutely didn’t want anyone sitting in the middle while he was driving. Bucket seats (vinyl) were offered on Century coupes and sedans in 1975, and expanded to wagons for ’76. There was no console between the seats (it still had a column shift). I probably wasn’t exaggerating much when I wrote that about 3 people ordered this option… the bucket seat option for Century wagons wasn’t offered again for 1977.
Overall, the Century was a great car – my parents kept it for 8 years, and then bought a Plymouth Voyager minivan to replace it… with bucket seats, of course. Dad sold the car to someone at his work, and that guy drove it for at least another 5 years.
Also, I mentioned the shot was ridiculously staged, and it was. Dad’s car was always parked in the garage, never in the driveway. The dog was never off-leash outside, because he’d run away. I’m sure my mom was hovering just out of camera shot in order to catch him if he bolted. And I never plopped myself in a random place to do homework. If I’d mentioned “Hey dad, I’m going to lie down in the back of your car and do my math homework,” he probably would have spanked me. When we uncovered this photo a few years ago, it was next to a similarly staged picture of my sister doing “homework” at the top of the stairs inside the house, so I presume my folks took a set of studious-looking pictures of the kids probably for our grandparents.
I have never had a pet to go with my car, but have gotten to vacuum a lot of pet hair out of cars after I have bought them. 🙂
I had forgotten all about that Buick picture with Eric 703. I think Eric wins the colonnade-with-odd-seats contest. All I have was my mother’s 74 Luxury LeMans that came with white vinyl seats in an otherwise burgundy interior. I never saw another one, but eventually learned that Pontiac offered the option of white seats in interiors of other colors. No dog was ever in it, however.
Nice images, I like wagons and dogs .
I never put pets in my vehicles because it takes so long to get every single hair out later .
-Nate
Got to add this, CC’s former mascot:
W126 – with cat.
I’m never would have noticed the bucket seats on the Century as being unusual, but those massive wheelwells – combined with the body shape – sure limit the Colonnade wagon cargo capacity.
Well, the fuel tank and spare tire had to go *somewhere*, didn’t they? And there was still 4′ between the wheel wells; you could put 4×8 sheets in and close the tailgate.
Fair enough; it does have more room than my Tacoma 🙂.
No way these wagons could accommodate a 4×8 sheet of plywood. (90.5 x 44.5″ were the floor dimensions.) The GM ads show the big wagons (Caprice etc.) with a sheet of plywood in them, and I’m sure they would have shown that if they fit in the mid-size wagons. The space utilization in the 73-77 midsize cars was really not good.
It’s also crazy to imagine them putting ash trays in the backs of those bucket seats, precisely at the face level of a kid or adult riding in the rear with just a lap belt.
Can’t always assume the antenna means a “radio” on those older rides. One of our “Biscayne’s” (the “68”) had the antenna but my dad had the radio pulled out for the “$40”, odd dollars credit. lol
Fine article that gave me some genuine happiness on a day that I really needed some. I just loved the photos (and the dogs)especially the lady with the`53 Studebaker and the dog in the driver`s seat ready to go!
Those rough collies must really struggle in the heat – a neighbour’s does over here!
Were there any cars in those photos?
The closest I have to offer in the “Pet and Car” category is my 1968 Mercury Commuter Matchbox wagon with the two dogs at the tailgate window~