Color. A topic that comes quite often in vintage car circles; the many that used to be offered, and the few currently available across the board. Indeed, we know that in regards to colors, choices were ample and wide in the past. And if we include two or even three-tone treatments, that past fills up with more bright hues and mixes.
So, to add a bit of colorful joy to the present, here’s a gallery with a good collection of two-tones from the 1950s. Brands and models are varied, and well, the colors as well.
I love the station Wagon, it a great looking auto.
Even the Nash can sedan looks good!
Okay, Albert, I’ll pose for the picture, but you know I don’t approve of Beach Bums!
Remember tri tones? One of my favorites is 55 DeSoto Coronado in white, turquoise and black. Today’s color choices and few and monochromatic. Just as boring as the vehicles!
Ditto. I think there should be a follow-up post, “Cars of the 1950s in Tri-Tones”.
Certainly! Once I have enough tri-tone car photos, such a gallery deserves to be done.
The Blue and White Plymouth is a twin to my Grandmother’s car. The one she kept for years and insisted on driving instead of my Grandfather’s Lincolns. She would ride in them, but never drove. She liked the more upright, higher seating of the Plymouth. Referred to it as her “Machine”.
Image #7, Brown Olds on the beach with Massachusetts plates, low tide. When I first looked at the overall image, I was struck by how familiar it appeared. The upper right landmass looks a lot like Gurnet Point, the end of Duxbury Beach. I wonder if it is… Spent a lot of time in my youth there in the 50’s and 60’s.
It’s very interesting how a probably not too expensive option like a different top color in the 54 Chevrolet SW, which is a 150 series, thus the lowest priced, makes up for a really nicer car.
The light blue over white 55 Fordor V8 was a typical car of its age.
Sprinkled in with all the other pics, the “Nash” looks like a “experimental car”.
Yes, an experiment gone horribly wrong.
Picture #4 is me, if I’d been around to buy a new 1955 Ford. 😉
I’m liking the one in pic #9 – anyone know its year and model
That’s a Nash Statesman, either a ’52 or ’53.
Wow, what a beautiful set of photos. I assume they were taken with Kodachrome because they are so sharp and the cars were relatively new.
Cars in those days had wonderful style compared to today’s motor vehicles.
When I started driving (legally) in 1980, the oldest car in my extended family was my brother’s 1967 Biscayne, a thirteen year old car. Contrast that to today: my buddy is still diving his 2001 Acura TL and it show no signs of wear anywhere. The body and interior are still like new after 23 years. I see 30 year old cars all over the place. Even 40 year old specimens are not rare.
We have come a long way.
I learned to drive in our 1956 Mercury Medalist that my Dad bought new. All ‘56 Mercs had the 312 ci engine breathing through a 4 bbl carb. With automatic transmissions, they were rated at 225 hp. Fortunately, ours had the Carter carb with the progressive linkage instead of the troublesome Holly unit. It was a very peppy car in its day, with 0-60 times around 10 seconds.
I love a good two-tone paint job – on the right car, that is. There are lots of good examples, but I think Ford particularly hit it well of the cars above. It’s very well integrated with the trim and body lines. Too many recent attempts are just the rocker panel, and often done to disguise things like a high belt-line. Two-tone seemed to fade away in the 60s, but then saw a resurgence during the Brougham era – usually to less, or even negative effect.
I’ve got a couple late-80s Mercedes, and a lot of them followed the basic two-tone trend (rocker cladding and bumpers) – usually to uninspiring or worse effect. They’re good-looking cars, but just don’t gain anything from two-tone. And it was similar with most contemporaries. Then, in the 90s, it got even more rare, but when seen, was often accompanied by a vinyl top (on a Town Car or DeVille). I can’t blame my grandparents generation for buying the closest thing to cars they aspired to own when they hit the job force, it’s just sad that slapping affectations from classic luxury cars (like two-tone paint and white walls) on almost any car since 1985 (give or take) produced such a dowdy, unappealing result.
Unfortunately, we’d need a styling revolution (and some sacrifice in aerodynamics, most likely) to make two-tones cars look right and pop again. And it’s too bad: I grew up at a time when those jaw-dropping cool cars of the 50s were only seen at parades, but in some ways it explains why “kids these days” aren’t interested in cars. You think they’ll remember anything short of an exotic? Hard to believe that Teslas seem to generate the most interest – aesthetically, there’s just no comparison to even a mid-level family sedan of the 50s. All the draw is the tech baked in, and while the styling is already stale, in ten years the touch screens and electronic toys will be even more stale. And probably no longer functional.
Cars like those above were hopelessly outdated compared to a car ten years newer, but so much thought and energy went into making the car look and even feel distinctive that both people who originally bought them and [then] future generations worked hard to restore and/or preserve them. By comparison, new cars look like appliances, and are increasingly designed to be used up, recycled, and promptly forgotten. That’s sad commentary on our culture, I’d say. On the other hand, some in the latest generation are already forming a counter-culture, and my hope is that somebody in the auto industry will take notice and convince the Bobs to take a chance on something that breaks from the trend. There’s a burning desire for things we use every day to be aesthetically expressive, pleasing, and timeless – rather than utilitarian and disposable. I drive rental cars on a regular basis for work, and I can’t think of one of the dozens I’ve driven that I’d want. To me at least, they scream “utilitarian and disposable.” That’s why I’m into older cars, but I cling to hope that some automaker will break out of this mindless utilitarian slog.
Right On! Brother as we exclaimed in 1960s.The artistic,colorful,elegant & bizarre beauty autos of 1950s were Moving Art Works: fun,expressive,array of majestic mosaic gems gleaming ,floating down highways.My bros. and I,neighbor kids relished auto showrooms new arrivals in autumn.We knew make,model,color,year,designs,features inside & out,and white walls,hubcaps,hood ornaments etc.
Dodge Royal custom, my favorite car
Lead photo could be a painting by American fine artist Robert Vickrey. He was a master of applying light and shadows.
Wow-great pictures! My parents had several two-tone cars in the ’50’s; I vaguely remember a two tone blue Chevrolet ( a ’52 or ’53 I think) followed by a series of Chevies-a ’54(green and white), a ’56(blue and white) and a ’58(yellow and white). The two-tone paint schemes were really in the vogue in that period and then it virtually disappeared in the ’60s. I keep wondering if the emergence of the vinyl roof had something to do with it.
The colors were really vibrant in that period, sadly today virtually all the vehicles I see are either white, grey, silver or black. Boring.
Most vinyl roofs were in a contrasting color, so I consider those car two tones. Paint two toning had a brief re-appearance in the ‘80’s, then disappeared again. I see some new vehicles now with a contrasting color roof, so maybe we’re ready for a re-emergence. The standard color pallet of greys, white and black are so boring.
Pic 9 is a Chrysler Winsor.
I think it’s a 56, not sure of year.
To: Twalton:
The car on the beach is a 57 Pontiac. NOT
AN OLDS
To; M, that is either a 53 or 54 Nash Ambassador.
To the fellow. Who inquired about the Chrysler, that is a 55.
I hope this was of help.
Twalton here…. Ha! Pontiac of course. My dumb.
Beautiful, crisp color photos. Most must be Kodachrome 25 film.
Does this site ever feature vintage cars with black owners? I don’t believe I’ve come across any. Thanks.
These vintage photos are found in various collections that folks bought at flea markets or such and have posted on various sites made for that purpose. As such, they do not have a copyright attached and are available to us. They have included a small number of Blacks, but clearly disproportionately few of them.
There’s no easy way to find more of them, at least not from these sources. But perhaps there are others, and I’m sure Rich, who curates these, would be happy to try to do so. I would very much like to see that too.
I have posted a book review of “Driving While Black”:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/book-blog/book-review-driving-while-black-not-a-jet-smooth-ride/
Thanx Paul ;
I see I missed that the first time around, I’ll try to find a copy on Amazon .
Driving while black can be very dangerous in California as in other areas, a thing I have to teach our foster boys about .
-Nate
Hello Jerry,
As Paul mentioned, these vintage galleries feature photos freely available online, shared by users who buy them at flea markets and estate sales. They do show Black owners and other groups but in disproportionately low numbers. However, I’ve posted a few such images at CC and my favorites are here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-snapshots-and-photography/vintage-snapshots-1954-oldsmobile-holiday-one-proud-oldsmobile-family/
I’ll just add that after months of looking online, I’ve gathered enough images to create a couple of car galleries with Black drivers and I expect to post them in the next few days.
I hope that in the future, more sources can be found for such material. And I’m happy to look into any that I’m not aware of.
Hi Mike Carroll! I have a very small Mopar Facebook group. Would you be kind enough to identify any in this article please?
Thank you!
Troy
1954 Olds 88
1956 Mercury
1954 Chevy wagon and 1955 Dodge
1955 Ford
1957 Dodge
1956 Ford
1957 Pontiac
1955 Plymouth
1952 Nash
1955 Chrysler
1953 Pontiac
Hmmmm….. Taken in the early 1960s or 2023?
My Mom had a 55 Ford Fairlane, mint green and white. Loved that car. We were t- boned, totalled! Bought a 56 Black and white, not near as nice. She hated it. Not fast enough for her. Then she bought a 58 Green and white. Big V-8, loud duel exhaust, she drove it like a nascar driver. Miss my Mom everyday.
Image 7 is a Pontiac not an Oldsmobile. Image 9 is a Nash
I agree that today’s vehicles are as boring as all get out. I am so tired of white, black, silver and gray. My friend’s dad had a ‘55 Buick Roadmaster Riviera 2 door hardtop that was black on the bottom, gray in the middle and white top. Now that was immagination. The two toning changed every year and we looked forward to the changes.
Paul, could that Olds be a ‘54? I believe the ‘55 had more of a dip at the rear of the side chrome strip separating the colors. The lady is sort of blocking that part.
Your right. I’ll edit that.
I’m struck that of all the two tones there is usually a color and then the other tone is virtually always only white, black, or a gray/silver. I know I’ve seen brown and gold or brown and tan two tones, but realize that it’s quite rare to see for example red and blue or yellow and green together anywhere outside of a sports stadium. The current (well, last half-decade or so) trend of the roof or greenhouse being a contrasting color goes back to this again with white or black being the main “contrast” hues.
Well, it took me a sweet while to reply to this. I was also surprised by the amount of white and black in these two-tones. Then, I eventually remembered that it’s well-known that the easiest way to do color matching is against white or black; which pretty much explains the preference to use those as a base or for contrast.
Not that I’m calling the folks who cobbled these as slackers, but it’s certainly easier to color match against any of those two.
I like two tone cars and I still have one from 66, The problem here is on most local assembly cars two tone was a dealer installed option at extra cost and it was hard enough to secure a new car needing overseas funds and exchange restrictions without adding extras you had to wait for to be installed, A lot of them were added by subsequent owners or used car dealers to add some value/hide the rust and made some worn out heap sell or hide its previous life, one local dealer was buying ex ministry of transport highway patrol cars and leaving the white top and changing the black bottom half of 3.3 Vauxhalls, he did quite a few. My two tone estate was imported fully built up new it hasnt got a CKD chassis number and though its very thin the paint on the roof is still factory applied
My family only had two, 2-tone autos. Bought new, his & hers 1955 Olds ’98’ 2-door Holiday hardtop and Starfire convertible. Both were turquoise & white. We even had a new house in California over looking a canyon, of course the house was turquoise & white. My only 2-tone car was a new 1996 Sebring LXI coupe. White with silver lower panels. That combination really worked well on that body style.
When I was 6, my grandparents bought a’57 Buick Caballero (4 door hardtop station wagon) in what was then called ox blood and white. Roof rack, air conditioning. Huge car but oh, so good looking in the two tone.
The previous year my folks bought a new ‘56 Ford Fairlane two door hardtop in light green and white. My parents first brand new car.
My ‘65 Thunderbird landau is two tone, Rangoon red body with a Palomino white vinyl top.
These pictures are great and what I remember of the late 1950s through the 1960’s .
Are any of these colorized from black & white ? .
I had a ’57 Ford Ranchero in the 1980’s that had the 312CID engine, a 4 pot carby and a Mallory dual points distributor, it was a fun driver and when the original two speed Ford-O-Matic failed I pulled a $75 three speed (?Cruise-O-Matic C4 ?) tranny out of a nice clean ’59 and slapped it in, this made the blue ’57 Ranchero into a rocket ~ my late father in law was maybe 5’2″ and he drove it everywhere flat out =8-) .
-Nate
That blue and white ’55 Ford is just like the one I had in high school in the mid sixties. And of course it belonged to a little old lady before me. It was a really good car and I wish I had kept it instead of buying my’62 six banger Fairlane to commute to college in. I blew that one up 3 times in the two years I owned it. The ’55 was a lot tougher and had a sweet sounding set of dual exhaust. I learned the finer points of maintaining a Y block. Of course it was the only one I have owned.
35 years from now will we be waxing nostalgic about the glut of boring SUVS in white and grey of today?
35 years from now I’ll be taking a dirt nap.
It was great to see all these images. As a kid, I was becoming car-aware just as these were gradually disappearing from streets and driveways in my world.
Tonight I was browsing 1956 LIFE magazines, and this Pontiac ad jumped out at me (sorry for the low-res)—-*every* car in two-tone!
The Nash is the only rational looking car here.
Most of the others, if looked at objectively, seem to be designed to fulfill some strange, adolescent fantasy.
On top of that, Nash cars of that era were very good road cars, capable of long distances without tiring out passengers.
Great Pictures of The 50s Cars 🚗 and 🏚 Homes.
My first car was a 58 Chrysler Saratoga. It was a two-tone, mostly white with a powder blue roof and strips running from the front doors to the ends of the tail fins the strips getting wider as they went back.. It had lots of oomph and rode like a dream.
For some reason, Chrysler used the Saratoga name for just a few years.
We who love cars of the 50s and 60s should be grateful to tbe designers and decision makers who made it all possible. Do we have a hall of fame somewhere to leaen more and express our thanks ?
Wish I was back in time.