Let’s showcase the bowtie division this week, and see a few Chevrolet owners from the past. The collection starts in the later stove-bolt era and covers some tri-fives, batwings, and at least one SS. As well as some other good stuff.
This is a varied group of owners; most are casual, a few are proud, and some just seem to be on their way somewhere. In any case, for Chevrolet lovers, take a look and choose a ride. There’ll most likely be one you’ll wish to keep.
Dad had an identical Chevy Bel Air with the same color scheme as the 3rd photo. There was a strap that ran across the back of the front seat. Six kids held onto that strap as Dad cut his way thru New Orleans traffic and u-turns on Airline Hwy on the way to Schwegmanns supermarket. Our nick name for the car was the “Blue Bonnet”.
I’ve got to go with the Corvair Spyder. My first car was a ’62 Corvair … not a convertible. Loved that car!
I also like the GMC flatbed almost hidden in the background.
The neighbor in the 12th picture seems to be a collector. Dauphine, Mustang, Chevy COE.
The ’58 Impala looks like it just came home from the dealer.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen one light blue like that. That color seems more like the mid-sixties through the late-eighties metallic light blue to me.
Outstanding work on the colour correction. You are doing something amazing: Making the deep past, seem very now and real. And re-connecting these long ago people (and their cars) with us today.
Faded and ancient-appearing photos and memories help some accept the loss of these people, and these eras. Making these photos look so recent, is saddening in a way. As these people and scenes are from so long ago, that little remains but the memories.
Agree that quality-wise, many of these vintage photos (above and in earlier, similar posts) look like they could have been taken yesterday.
Interesting how these images affect your mood. To me, these images are a positive reminder that my childhood was a bright and colourful place, not some dreary out-of-focus black and white (mostly grey) universe that so many photographs from the 40s and 50s suggest.
So my spirits are lifted by the optimism and pride colourfully displayed in these images.
This also highlights that the automotive colour palette has gone in the opposite direction over time – from bright and cheerful, to a sea of white, black and grey – inside and out.
The light metallic green 1961 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan or the equally nice 1965 Chevrolet Caprice Sport Sedan are my preferences out of a great collection of cars. The black with red interior ‘59 Impala Sport Sedan is also a stand out!
I really love 4 door pillarless hardtops. A unique body style that is unlikely to seen the future.
I see myself saying this to my gf today: ”baby, get on the hood cause I’m going to take a picture of my car and of you incidentally”.
The Coral ’55 hard top for me please .
The color corrections are fantastic ~ they really make these pictures pop .
-Nate
The ’55 for me too; although the Monza Spyder is competing well for my attention.
Good looking ’72 or ’73 Camaro (the last picture). And he looks rightfully proud of that car.
That “68 Chevelle” had the shoulder belts down!! Never saw that in our part of the world!!
Those things just stayed “stowed”.
The kid in the drivers seat is probably playing with them. He has to have them folded up and “stowed” before Dad sees them down. Nobody ever used those in real life.
The first new car that I remember in my family, was a dead ringer for the black ’59 in the lead photo. I thought that it was very sharp, a two door hardtop, with a red interior and a V8. I was five years old at the time, My Dad kept it for three years and traded it for a used Corvair Greenbrier van. Then in ’64 he bought a new Tempest wagon, and it was wagons for the rest of his life.
In my old age I really miss the bright colors that were once common, also the two tone combos. I’ve got two red cars, a bright blue one, a forest green truck, and a black over bright silver CUV. These are far cry from the sinister, all black Cadillac Seville of my Forties.
What’s the car behind the pink ’55?
1955 Mercury. I learned to drive in a ‘56 Mercury
At first I thought it was Lee Harvey Oswald in the fifth photo with the pink and black car.
That Camaro in the last picture looks like it rolled right out of high-end Italian car manufacturer. The sweeping rear kammback without the typical spoiler completely changes the flow. One of the few 70s domestic cars I would love to own and the antithesis of 70s bloatmobiles.
They were “surprisingly”, poor quality build. Things were always coming loose/off.
When my mother graduated from nursing school in 1954 she bought a used 53 Chevy 210 sedan. One of her classmates bought a new baby blue Bel Air. Mom always sounded a little jealous on the rare occasions she mentioned it, and that 3rd photo reminds me of this.
I am loving the “Colonel Sanders” style bow tie on the little kid, and all the better that it matches the raspberry paint on Mom’s 56 Chevy. So many of our mothers dressed us boys in sport coats and neckties for special occasions when we were kids.
Keep ’em coming.
My first thought of the ’65 Impala was all of those people could comfortably fit in that car.
Looking at the hats, it was probable Easter Sunday.
As always, the people and backgrounds complete the picture.
Bring back the White Walls !!
Absolutely, ‘bring back White Walls’ even if they have to be extremely thin band given the small size tyre walls our cars have today. White Walls improve any black tyre.
Hard to pick between those two Impala sport sedans.
Easter Sunday 1971 me and Pop’s posing with his 57 210 race car.
Looks like a lot of pics were probably from slides, the colors were so vibrant and matched perfectly with some of the out of this world paint jobs from 50s and 60s. Great shots!
That ’58 Impala is probably a turquoise or teal blue color. One of the rarer colors, but I have friends who have a ’58 Impala in that color. The car has been in their family for many years, as well as a ’54 Buick Skylark that they restored. They bought several vintage advertisements from me, and we finally found an ad in that color. It was in one of the newspaper Sunday supplements (remember those?). GM ran a totally different ad campaign in those papers, than was done in the national magazines like Life, Newsweek, Time and the Saturday Evening Post. They’re printed on newsprint paper so not many have survived.
Great time capsule, not only of oks Chevys, but also of regular people and their attire back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.