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http://www.cadvision.com/ringhamm/mark%205.htm
Even the French, usually resistant to outside influences, were not immune...
http://www.clydenc.org/newwave/cars/dauphine/front1.jpg
The Renault??? What can you say, it's French!
LOL!
Hal
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I think the best looking domestic cars from '59 are the DeSoto (I know, I'm probably too predictable ;-), Mercury, Pontiac, Olds, and Chrysler (not in any particular order). The '59 Ford's not too bad either, but kinda blocky and bulky looking. While the Merc's every bit as bulky, it at least looks better-proportioned thanks to its longer length.
Yes, the sedans are "below horrible" as Smokey would say.
The Ford is a very conservative design--maybe that's a blessing, considering the "advanced thinking" going on at the time.
My friend owned one, with all original equipment on it, rented as a movie car (I have a picture of me dressed as SFPD, pretty funny, I'll post it sometime), and she couldn't even let the wheels TOUCH the ground on public streets. It had to be trailered everywhere. Once she did drive it, as the trailer broke down, and even with "MOVIE CAR" written all over it she was stopped, the car was impounded, and she was fined. Being an older cop car, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
Another funny thing, being a Marin cop car, it had a little sticker on the back cage that said "Thank you for not smoking".
Last thing, and this kind of weird but I'll just put it out there. Every ex-cop car I was ever in had weird vibes--maybe all the bizarre stuff that went on in there, I dunno. Just a creepy feeling, like in a jail cell if you've even been.
Once in awhile, he would switch it on. MAN, was it loud!! Of course, all of the cars would pull to the side.
And, then, he got busted for it by a REAL cop.
I don't remember now what they did to him but it wasn't good. I do remember he had to give them the siren.
Well, Syl never let piddly little details like legality ever stop him from having fun ;-) Seriously, I have no doubt they could throw the book at him, but he had a good time scaring the living daylights out of his friends.
I would think that you could tape over all the lights and signs and drive it on the street. Maybe hang a big sign on it saying "NOT IN SERVICE" or something like that. I guess not, though.
Related, when I was a kid, my father was a fire chief (volunteer), and had a roof rack on the family Volvo 144 (now, that was a sight). My older sister was in high school at the time, and supposedly broke up a party one night with the lights/siren. My father would have killed her if he found out at the time.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
http://www.checkercabs.org/pics/1950/1956_A8_fay1.jpg
I guess it was '59 or '60 that they finally got around to grafting on the simpler lattice grille and quad headlights that make it more recognizable as a Checker. I think '60 was also the first year it was available for sale to the general public...prior to that they were only available for purchase by taxi companies.
Oh yeah, in 1960, they came standard with an 80 hp engine. 122 hp optional. Around the same time, most full-size Fords, Chevies, and Plymouths were getting about 135-145 hp out of their base 6-cyl engines.
I like to describe cars like this as having "pre-human erognomics", more comfortable for lesser primates to drive. If I had really long chimp-like arms, and could easily jump on the front set with my hind legs while driving, and be able to screech to pass the time, I might have enjoyed the car more.
Mine had a really peculiar engine. It was a flathead six that had obviously had an ohv head bolted onto it due to a later redesign.
Sometime in the late 60s I guess they went to all Chevrolet power (Chevy 230-6 or 283-V8). That was okay but I missed the 300 rpm idle speed of the old wood stove Six, which I think was a Continental engine.
In a sense Checker was the last of a long, long American tradition of "the assembled car", meaning a car that was built by buying parts from other well known manufacturers, from engine to brakes to radiator, etc.
Many of the old marques you read about were in fact assembled cars, using Continental or Lycoming power and any variety of transmissions and differentials.
So Shifty, do you remember if the front seat had any fore/aft travel?
My friend's Checker has the 283. He's converted the three speed to a floor shift with what looks like UPS truck hardware.
I remember being in a Rambler showroom in 1966 (very formal and hushed and the salesmen dressed like undertakers) and seeing a Checker limo. My father said they didn't seem interested in selling him a car. Maybe he had to be introduced.
This raised some questions in my mind, and since they're all about old cars, thought I'd bring them up here. Also, trying to keep this forum going! Where is everyone?
Anyway-Speedshift-you posted some interesting figures about actual/net horespower of a bunch of old engines over in that topic. I was wondering if you, or anyone else, might have that info about all the Chevy 283 engines of the 57-59 years.
For example, there was a 283 4barrel motor rated 220-later upgraded to 230. There were two 2x4barrel engines-one 245, the other 270 with solid lifters. Then there were two fuelly motors-one 250, one 283 with solid lifters. In 1960, that 283 horse fuelly motor was bumped clear to 315 HP. Always wondered how close that jump was to actual, and how close the others were to actual.
Also, the 348 came in a 250horse rating from 58-61. In 1962, it was replaced by the 250 horse 327. How did these two compare in actual output? Speedshift? Anybody?
I realize some was marketing, as the Thunderbird had to have it's own engines.
The nice thing is now that most of these cars are not daily drivers, one can choose to build for horsepower over drivability today, so fairly easy to increase.
'61 Chevy 409/360 (first year, single AFB four barrel): about 290 net.
'55 Corvette 265/195 single WCFB 4 barrel with first Duntov cam: about 170 net. Not the Power Pack 265 available in sedans.
'56 Corvette 265/225 dual WCFB four barrels: 210 net. Also not available in sedans but probably the basis for the '57 283/245 (standard hydro cam) and 283/270 Duntov cam.
'57 283/283-290 fuelie with second ("early Duntov") cam: about 240 net.
'61 283/315 as above but with bigger ports and valves: about 280 net.
'65 327/375 fuelie with late Duntov: about 300 net. This engine was also available with a Holley (360 hp?).
'55 T-Bird 292/198 standard engine with Ford-O: 150 net.
'56 T-Bird 312/225 standard Ford-O engine: 190 net hp. Also showed up in lots of Fairlanes.
'57 T-Bird supercharged F(?) engine 312/300: 250 net.
Note how close most of the small blocks are to their advertised rating. That's why early Chevies were seriously quick.
Thanks speedshift for your numbers info.
Still, the 348 was a tough, rugged engine that was no slouch in it's time.
The problem with the 250, aside from being a boat anchor, is that it used a WCFB four barrel (the first four barrel, along with the first Holley 4150 IIRC) about as big as your fist.
The hi-perf 348s used either an AFB or three Rochester two barrels. They also used some very aggressive sold lifter cams that got hotter every year. Compression ratios were around 11:1. And from what I can tell they had better heads and exhaust manifolds.
0-60 8.3 seconds
1/4-mile 15.8 @ 88 mph
Not bad for a car that probably weighed close to 4000 lbs. depending on how it was optioned.