Being winter time, we shall pay attention again to the tradition of taking a visit to warmer climates. Today’s virtual tour features again postcards of lodging facilities in the Sunshine State in the ’50s and ’60s. And as usual, most of the images contain some neat vehicles of the era.
Our opening postcard is at the Galt Ocean Mile Hotel, in Fort Lauderdale. And what ride of these would you have taken back in the day to visit these locations?
Dreamland Motel, Daytona Beach.
Alamo Court, Daytona Beach.
Tropic-Aire Motel, Daytona Beach.
Beach Motel, Clearwater Beach.
Sierra Motel, Daytona Beach.
Tropicana Motel, Daytona Beach.
Tahiti Beach Hotel, Daytona Beach.
Imperial Beach Motel, Daytona Beach.
Marco Polo Inn, Daytona Beach.
What a treasure of Americana! Thanks, Rich. At The Sierra Motel, a Frenchman and a Dutchman are visiting.
My Great Uncle Earl told me he and his wife Anne could winter over a few weeks in “Floridah” vs paying to heat their Orleans, MA home. Sometimes he’d trade in his Ford convertible while down there vs Massachusetts. They would stay at a small “mom and pop” motel around St Petersburg.
That looks like a Rambler woody in the parking lot of the parking lot of the Tropic-Aire motel. Rambler wagons were common in my area as a kid. Yet I don’t recall ever seeing a Rambler woody of 1950s vintage. Anyone know if the woody treatment on the Rambler was a normal factory option or a special regional build?
1956
The ultimate unicorn Rambler wagon would be a hardtop (no window frames or B pillar) woody , which I think was a thing.
Oh wait it was covered here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/1956-rambler-cross-country-the-first-hardtop-wagon-a-new-concept-indeed/
I assume they didn’t make many of those and don’t know of any existing in the wild today.
One big drawback of Rambler station wagons (including the new 1963 bodies) was that they retained the coil spring rear suspension. The springs IIRC caused the rear deck to be higher than it might have been since they were not at the far ends of the rear axle, plus to use sedan roof panels and rear doors (I guess) the roof lowered toward the back. They should have just gone with a leaf spring rear suspension for the wagons and lowered the floor a few inches.
Meanwhile for example 1957 Fords had thicker roofs than sedans, disguised by some roof sculpturing.
Thx Michael,
I thought had seen just about every Rambler imaginable. They were such a common car in the small Wisconsin town where I grew up. Yet I can’t recall ever seeing one of these.
Still learning after all these years. Sigh. . .
I miss the individual hotels, non franchise. More of a local flavor of the region your traveling through. Now it’s just cookie cutter no character rooms. It’s a no wonder airbnb’s are gaining a foothold.
A Mercedes Ponton parked next to a Renault Dauphine .
I love it .
Here and there I still run across older (40’s / 50’s) motels in my travels, most are fairly beat up but as long as clean with no bugs and hot water I’m in like Flint .
-Nate
To the left of those 2 “foreign cars,” ……
A maroon 1960 Olds is flanked by a 2 ’55 Olds’s:
Green ’55 on left is a 98 Holiday 4-dr.
Black ’55 on right is an 88.
Both are pillarless hardtops. But, in the 5-yr span between ’55-’60, they became yesterday’s news!
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And a ’56 Holiday 88 at the Alamo Court. I drove one like it in lt/dk blue to HS in ’77-8.
What is the white sedan parked on the street in front of the Galt?
I believe that is a ’55 Dodge
I love motels like this from back in the day. Stayed at a few as we drove cross country in 1966. Now they are mostly extinct and replaced by monster hotels. Actually, when taking my licensing exam in Fullerton, a few of us stayed in one of those motels right across from Disneyland. Had names like Tomorrow Land Motel with all the kitsch figurines out front in 1981.
My first trip to Florida was as a college sophomore on spring break in 1970. A bunch of guys traveling down from Maryland in a buddy’s tired ‘62 Chevy Bel Air. I think we spent more on oil than gas. Only about 20 miles of I-95 was completed south of Virginia. Speed traps everywhere, which we avoided, aided no doubt by the Chevy’s wheezy 235 six’s lack of oomph. Made it down and back though. Good times.
A red Sunbeam Alpine is found in front of the Imperial Beach Motel.
Motels. I like motels even as they’re out of fashion these days. In an informal poll of a couple of dozen friends a few years back, they came out on top over the hotel format, ~60/40. I fail to understand the desire to park on the back 40, walk to the lobby, than walk down the hallway to just outside where your car is parked. OK, often it’s not right outside, but with a hotel it’s never right there. Far from always, but jeez, it’s just so inconvenient to park right outside your room. I just hate it when I only have to walk 20 feet to get to my room. (especially with the way my wife packs)
Hehe – motel parkings. The really big stage for automotive self-promoters.
I think when I see these motels and hotels from the 1970’s, why would you tear down something like that?
I actually live in a motel in Fort Myers FL. The motel was built in 63′ and originally called the Shipswheel motel there is a picture in the lobby from the grand opening.You see the motel and nothing but salt grass!!