Text by Patrick Bell.
Let’s go out in the snow and find some MoPar’s. They have always been favorites of mine, especially from this era. As for the photos, they’re mostly from the ’50s and ’60s, though a few around the edges have been included.
Today’s first photo is a ’57 Plymouth 4 door sedan from California whose owner collects bumper stickers. It has extended trailer mirrors and is towing a Shasta camp trailer. Bringing up the rear is a ’62 Rambler Classic Cross Country wagon.
It must not be as cold as it looks going by this lady’s attire. She may have a snowball in her hand ready to fire on a moments notice and is leaning on a ’46-’48 Dodge Custom Six-Passenger Coupe nicely equipped with at least one fog lamp, bumper overrider, spot lamp, outside mirror, and a fuzzy steering wheel cover. It is registered in King County, Washington with a plate used from ’54-’57. This photo is likely in one of the mountain passes in the Cascades. The truck in the background may be a ’50-’52 International L-190 with a dumpbody.
Now we are heading east to this middle class neighborhood in Dixon, Illinois to see this ’53 Plymouth Cranbrook 4 door sedan with a ’60 Illinois plate. The car is a bit dirty but overall looks in good shape for a seven year old car.
There is not much to go on to ID the location of this shot, but it does have the look of a military installation. The gentleman on the left warmed up enough digging out the mailbox to take off his coat. The car is a ’56 Chrysler Windsor Six-Passenger Sedan. A little more warming is going to bring down a chunk of snow off the roof of the green building.
I can’t make out the sign on the door of this ’59 Plymouth Patroller 2 door sedan police car, so this one is difficult to ID the location as well. It could be a military installation entrance/exit gate, or perhaps a border crossing.
It’s off to perhaps a Michigan ski facility where we have another ’59 Plymouth, this one a Belvedere 4 door sedan with a Michigan plate used from ’62-’64 and issued in Muskegon County. To the left a ’63 Chevrolet, and to the right a sweet looking ’55 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 door sedan registered in Kent County where the seat is Grand Rapids. Further to the right a ’62 Buick Special or Special Deluxe convertible, and the black car has the look of a ’63 or ’64 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe.
Let’s slide on over to Maryland where we have a ’57 Chrysler Saratoga 4 door sedan that is ready to go whenever the driveway is clear enough. The snow is melting but the driveway may become a downhill ice rink when the sun goes down.
The results of a fun looking storm with the drifted snow. In the foreground a ’57 Dodge Coronet 4 door sedan, and in keeping with the Dodge theme a ’62 Dart 330 or 440 wagon in the background. The houses are for large families.
We are likely in New Jersey now with perhaps a father and son posing with a ’61 Plymouth Belvedere 4 door sedan. In the background may be a ’60-’63 Chevrolet or GMC Panel truck.
Possibly Mom and son posing with a ’65 Plymouth Barracuda in an apartment complex parking lot. In front of the Barracuda is a white ’64 full size Mercury, and next to it is a white convertible with a ski rack. That tells me this may be a ski resort town or close to one.
One down and one to go. It appears like a long driveway to clear that leads to this not so private backyard in Missouri where a ’73 Dodge Polara or Polara Custom wagon and a ’66 Pontiac Tempest are parked. They both have Missouri plates used in ’73/’74.
A ’70 Plymouth Barracuda that looks like a ‘Cuda AAR knockoff. It has the AAR hood, rear spoiler and upper panel black out. The fog lamps may be correct as well, but the stripe is not. Plus there are other bits missing. And not a place you would expect whitewall tires. Nevertheless, it is still worth a mint today if it survived. In the background a ’78 or ’79 Honda Civic.
Thanks for riding along and good day to all!
Based on the bumper stickers, the Plymouth in the lead shot has traveled up Highway 101 a bit since Sea Lion Caves is in Florence Oregon about 100 miles North of Port Orford.
Personally I prefer 60s cars so my favorites are the two Barracudas. I don’t mind the idea of an AAR replica as long as it has some power to back it up.
And they’re now somewhere in Central Oregon as that’s Mt. Washington in the background.
The housing is most likely Air Force Wherry housing in the early days. Could be at a “Northern Tier” base, which in the 1950s we had about 10 SAC bases along US 2 from NY State all the way to Fairchild AFB near Spokane. The man most certainly sports a military style haircut.
The Plymouth Patroller is a Michigan State Police vehicle as it has the “Shark Fin” “Stop State Police” sign affixed to the hood, and the door decal design is still in use today.
I’ll be a nitpicker and say that those aren’t actually bumper STICKERS. They are attached to the bumper with wire. Not sure the history of those, perhaps cheaper, or easier to stick onto the curved chrome bumpers of the day (not to mention easier to remove). I remember we had the Sea Lion Caves bumper thingy attached to our Volvo 544 after visiting there in 1963. It may have been included with the admission as I don’t think my Mom like bumper advertising and I don’t recall it being on the car very long. Trees of Mystery and Sea Lion Caves are still big (?) tourist draws on Hwy 101 but I’m not sure about Shipwreck, though there are certainly many of those all along the West Coast.
Those tie-on stickers were a specialty of tourist attractions. Politics is hard to scrape off, but tourism is just a vacation.
The 59 Plymouth police car is almost certainly from Michigan based on the vehicle color and the emblem on the door, but more importantly the lighted “Stop” sign on the hood which they still use to this day.
The one with the bumper “stickers” were probably not put there by the owner. Sea Lion Caves was notorious for putting those on cars in the parking lot as cheap advertising. I’m guessing it started with one of the attractions along the coastal route and when other attractions saw a number of cars with those stickers from other places they adopted the strategy as well.
Oops, I didn’t notice your second paragraph before I commented above about the “stickers”. That may explain the provenance of our short-lived Sea Lion Caves advertising.
The police car is from Michigan State Police-it has their signature STOP placard on the hood.. Im guessing its one of the Great Lakes crossings
I’ll take the red 1st. generation Barracuda please .
I bet the guy with the ’61 Plymouth was shickled titless with his snazzy looking new car .
-Nate
I’m trying to not think the ’61 Plymouth is over designed but then I think of the ’61 Chevrolet.
Great job, Rich. I would never have figured out that smothered in snow Tempest.
That ’57 Saratoga could use four headlights.
+1… I guess my home state was one of those that wouldn’t allow the dual headlights until the 1958 model year.
Timely article!
The 4th picture is definitely a scene from military family housing from long ago. I couldn’t help but notice the captain in the parka supervising snow removal from government assets (mail boxes). LOL.
The 8th photo reminds me of the Dr. Zhivago movie.
Is it possible the young boy in the ’61 Plymouth Belvedere photo (#9) is now the young adult in the ’65 Plymouth Barracuda photo (#10)??
The ’65 Barracuda in the snowy apartment parking lot looks pretty good for an at least 10-11 year old car in snow and salt country…
A few spaces (maybe 3) down from the ’64 Merc is a 1975 to 1978 LTD in an aqua marine looking color. That appears to be the newest car I can see in the pic, unless I am misidentifying it. It does seem like an outlier as the only car from the seventies, unless someone can make out another.
Real or not, I’d like to take that ’70 Cuda out on donut patrol. 😉 In that pic, it looks like it’s poised for departure for some fun & frivolity like that!
Many parts of Canada and the US, used to routinely get blizzards during this era. With heavy snowfall, powerful wind, frigid temperatures, and high snow drifting. As most of these cars, seem so ill-equipped for those conditions.
The drift on the ’57 Dodge shows streamlines as clearly as a wind tunnel!
My dad and his 39 Chrysler in upstate ny after his return back to normal life after coming home from ww2…
Prior to around 1980, practically everyone in the snow belt switched over to dedicated snow tires in the winter. Those that had must drive situations all had chains. With the popularity of front wheel drive starting in 1980 or so, more started to go with year round “all season” radials, a trend that accelerated with AWD and the four wheel drive SUV craze. Today, few vehicles here in the Mid-Atlantic have dedicated snow tires in the winter and I don’t know the last time I saw chains.
I grew up in Michigan along the shore of Lake Michigan in the ’50’s and ’60’s. We had LOTS of lake effect snowfall, and most people did NOT have dedicated snow tires. They had regular tires and seldom had positraction. I spent lots of hours and miles driving in the snow without dedicated snow tires. In the ’70’s I did finally put dedicated snow tires (on the rear only, never on the front) on my ’75 Lincoln Town Car, and as long as I didn’t want turn it was great in the snow. At almost 5,400 pounds, smashing thru a snow drift across the road was no problem at all.
As posted above, that ’59 Plymouth is definitely Michigan State Police, and I suspect we are looking south from the Mackinac Bridge Toll Plaza in St Ignace. The bridge itself would be just out of the frame to the right.
The black & white photo below that one is probably early in 1963. The two cars have the same white 1962 plates, but note that only the ’55 Chevy has a dark tag in the upper right corner that updated them for the next 2 years.