Text by Patrick Bell.
In addition to the arriving and leaving, we have a few stops along the way in today’s gallery. Most of these were vacationers, while some were moving and some were hard to tell. So let’s take a look at how they did it back then.
The first image was a family traveling in a ’71 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan with a loaded roof top carrier. They were from Oregon and the car was purchased at Lyman Slack Chevrolet in Portland, who was a long time and legendary local dealer. Perhaps they were moving to this new upscale housing development where they parked. In the background was a seventies earthy green house with an all Ford driveway; a custom painted ’65 or ’66 Mustang and a tan ’65 or ’66 F-250 with a cabover camper partially behind the house.
A close to new ’51 Cadillac Series Sixty Special from Rhode Island parked in a small parking lot off the main road. It was a mostly sunny early fall day and it looked like they were on a short, overnight type of trip. I am sure the Cadillac was a fine road car and would have been a nice way to travel.
Here was a load of new looking luggage in a new looking ’56 Plymouth Custom Suburban 4 door wagon with a luggage rack. The cute girl with the stylish hat may be the supervisor of this project. It was a nice and sunny, a good day for traveling.
It was a head scratcher for two of these ladies watching the gentleman changing a tire on a ’53 Plymouth Cranbrook from Illinois. There was a snow tire in the trunk along with the luggage, and the rear body panel has some rust bubbling up to the left of the gas cap. That, I’m sure, was not unusual for a seven year old Plymouth in the winter country.
A pair of wagons in a dirt motel parking lot. On the left a V8 powered ’57 Chevrolet Two-Ten Townsman or Beauville from Oregon, and to the right a ’59 Ford Country Sedan likely from California. They both have a small trailer hitch and a good size load, and the lady in the center has a large bottle of a clear liquid.
This ’58 Ford Fairlane 500 Town Victoria from California doesn’t appear to have the standard fare for traveling luggage in the trunk. The car was purchased from Bacon Ford, a Hermosa Beach dealer from ’49-’63 with a reputation for showmanship. It has dual exhaust, which indicates it was equipped with the new Interceptor 352 V8.
Now we are camping, possibly in Connecticut judging by the boy’s t-shirt that said “Stratford YMCA Conn”. The family car was a ’65 Ford LTD 4 door hardtop with some of their gear on top. In the left background was another Ford, a ’67 Galaxie 500 4 door hardtop equipped with one of the big block motors.
And another Ford LTD, this one a ’66 2 door hardtop, also equipped with one of the big block motors and a vinyl roof. The children were anxious to hit the road so they were loading the car themselves. The neighborhood looks solid middle class, likely built in the fifties with a variety of home styles, with the one on the right edge possibly vacant and for sale.
A young lady about to load the trunk of a ’67 Mercury Cougar. Its license plate looks like a California issue, and given the trees and terrain, that is likely the location as well.
The original photo had a date stamped on the back of August, 1976, and a note that said “Vacation 1976 Crater Lake”. That was an 800 mile trip (presuming they lived in Compton area) in a ’72 Dodge Polara or Polara Custom 4 door hardtop that was sold at Compton Dodge in Compton, California. It had a vinyl roof along with a roof rack that had a well protected and secured load.
Another head scratcher, “How am I going to fit all that stuff in this car?”. He was working with a ’78 Dodge Charger SE from Texas with an aftermarket (probably dealer installed) vinyl roof. Across the street was a tired and rusty ’69 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu convertible with a 307 V8 and the standard hub caps. The top is torn and it has a yellow license plate, perhaps New York? One of them was a foreigner and I am going to say the Charger.
I can’t tell if this gentleman was loading or unloading but he certainly has attracted some onlookers. Either way it looks like it should all fit into this ’74 AMC Hornet Sportabout from New Jersey with probably a parking decal on the bumper. In the driveway was the right rear corner of a ’74-’76 full size Cadillac.
Thanks for traveling with us and have a great day!
Top Photo:
I would imagine the subdivision in the background is completely full. That small tree in the background has a 3 foot circumference today. Several of these houses have turned over multiple times and worth 6 to 8 times the original listing, especially along the west coast.
Eric will likely find this location.
On a bet, the woman on the left, is doing an impromptu roadside jig.
Ha! I’m having trouble pinning this one down, though I did find a development with identical-looking houses in Simi Valley, California. A comparison picture is below, but I haven’t found this particular house. It seems to be either on a cul-de-sac or on a street that’s curving, and I haven’t had luck finding it’s location. Also, I haven’t come across any of these particular houses with a three-car garage like the top photo’s house seems to have.
I’ll look more later on, but for now, this is the closest I’ve come!
Good memories, I hope the all American road trip never dies .
-Nate
In the shot, of the fellow jacking up the car, the first thing I noticed was the pack of possibly Winston cigarettes in his pants and the lit one in his left hand while jacking. That, if nothing else, is so 50s to early 60s along with his cuffed jeans.
The bag perched on the edge of the Plymouth’s trunk will have cigarette burns before that tire change is done.
I was thinking Marlboros, today it would be his cellphone.
The lady leaning on the car being jacked up is a hoot. (and the man clutching his smoke)
Bet it took a bit to complete that project.
Hope that “Chev” in the first pic wasn’t anyplace at high speed.
Torn between wanting the “Cougar” and/or the “Hornet”! “66, LTD, tudor” is a spiffy ride!
A snowstorm at Crater Lake in August? I guess that’s possible; more likely in the pre-global warming era. I can’t readily see it nowadays.
A 4-door ’65 LTD without a vinyl top; that was a rarity. And the ’66 LTD 2-door is handsome, but there were always relatively few of the LTD coupes.
Maybe August was when it was developed, and the photo was shot in spring.
That occurred to me about 5 seconds after I posted that comment. 🙂
There were 4 door hardtops produced that were not LTD.
Yes, I know. But the one in the photo is actually an LTD, which has unique trim on the C pillar that the Galaxie 500 didn’t have.
Ah, yes. Good eye…
My vote is that it’s a Galaxie 500. All of the 4 door hardtops (Galaxie and LTD) had the subtle crease pressed into the sheet metal of the C pillar, but the LTD added the thin stainless trim piece that highlighted it. In the non-LTD 4 door hardtops with no vinyl, the character crease’s visibility depended on lighting and the car’s angle, but it was definitely there on all of them.
I think you’re right. Normally I would not expect that to show up so well, but given the angle of the sun and the shadows in this shot, it apparently does.
The 2nd image of the RI Caddy is a Spring photo. A forsythia bush is in full bloom and the light green color to the new leaves is another indicator. The scenery certainly is not coastal RI. Looks to me more like the hills of CT or western NY. If it is in RI then it has to be away from Narragansett Bay as in the northwest corner like “Fostah/Glostah” or maybe Hope Valley.
In that next-to-last shot: No wonder the guy is scratching his head. “Why did I buy a Charger when I could have had a Cordoba instead?”
And the 72 Polara still reminds me of Sam the Eagle from the Muppets every time I see one.
Great photo of the kids in front of the Polara. You know that the kid looking into the camera is gathering up a hand full of snow that is about to be tossed at the photographer. The outfits on both of those kids are just so 1976. Also in the so-70s category is that the photo is either a Polaroid or (I think more likely) a Kodak instant photo. Those always had a kind of slight green-ish tint, as this one does.
The tire-changer photo…my guess is that the 3 girls are sisters, and the photographer is Mom. Dad is the guy at the jack; and he’s cursing himself for not checking those tires before leaving home.