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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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My maternal grandfather was in the war (Navy, Aleutians), but never talked about it, even when asked. However, my dad was from the interwar generation, and via him I met some guys who had experience - I remember one who was at Pearl Harbor, and one at Normandy. They were characters. Funny thing, too - my grandfather eventually had both a VW and Toyota, Pearl Harbor guy drove an Accord, Normandy guy loved 50s-60s era Renaults and MBs (got a kick out of me driving the fintail when I was a student, as they were rare even by the mid 90s).
A coworker told me just yesterday there are in the millions left--American soldiers.
According the Dept of Veteran Affairs, there are appx 1.6 million WW II vets alive. They are dying at the rate of about 700 a day meaning the last one will die in less than 6 years.
I imagine there's a share of those guys who wouldn't drive anything German or Japanese.
Well their median age is 92 so I don't think many of them are driving anything....but if they are, I would presume most of them drive domestic brands. My FIL who turned 18 the year WW II ended (and was in the Navy during the Korean war), has driven nothing but Fords for the past 50 years and might have had a Chrysler before then.
I have one Grandfather who's still alive. He got out of the service before WWII even started! He got out of the Marines in 1939. He's going to be 99 this October. He gave up driving, voluntarily, when he turned 90 back in 2004, and his last car was a 1994 Taurus.
My other Granddad, on my Mom's side, served in WWII, as a Marine, working as a mechanic and driving an ammunition truck. He was pretty much a GM man and hated Ford, but at one point he bought a used 1972 LUV from a friend of my Mom's, and replaced it with a 1981 Dodge Ram D50. I always wondered if Granddad knew those things were Japanese, or not?
That'd be 'on average'.
Remember, Frank Buckles, the last surviving U.S. WWI vet, only died two years ago. I remember a good number of them riding in the Memorial Day parade in my small hometown when I was a kid.
And although few WWII vets may be driving now, I guess my point was that in the sixty-plus years interim, a share of those guys probably didn't drive anything but domestic.
andre--my guess is that your grandfather knew, but was hoping that others didn't know when they saw "Chevy" and "Dodge" on the tailgates!
Frankly, I'm surprised at this when one could enlist at 17 and I assume be drafted at 18. That'd be a fair number of guys in their mid-to-late-eighties.
I'd say we have another good 15+ years of surviving WW2 vets left.
In the town where I lived as a kid, I know a WW1 vet died in 2000, my dad had at least met him, and he lived nearby. I went to the estate sale, just to see the house which had been in the family for about 90 years.
We were still coming out of the Depression, so I think a lot of older men signed up to join the military for some financial stability, in addition to the young 17-18 year old pups that were joining/getting drafted.
My Granddad who got out in 1939 said that jobs were really hard to come by back then. He lived in Tennessee, and there wasn't much work. I think he worked at his father's general store for a bit, but then came up here to DC and started working for the railroad.
My Dad was from a broken family and actually enlisted in 1944 at age 16, which I'm told was not uncommon back then (lied about his age). He was born in Dec. 1928 and would have been 84 if he were still here. He was discharged and rejoined when he was able. By then, the fighting in Europe and Japan was over.
I would think a lot more 18 year olds would have enlisted/been drafted than 30+ year olds, but who knows?
I think that's true and more the latter than the former (maybe a bit of ethnicity there). But I also think some of them were upset that initially Japan was manipulating currency and affecting their jobs here in the states. OTOH, I actually knew more than just a few WWII and Korean War vets that got sick and tired enough of Detroit's antics starting a few decades ago that they eventually switched over to Asian makes. Today, if Detroit keeps improving and meets or exceeds import and transplant makes, I think D3 has a good shot a latching on to younger buyers over the coming decade and maybe turning the tables. I think Detroit's potential nemesis in all of this now is the Wall Streeter's and their focus on short term profits. The CEO's need to muster the courage to tell Wall Street to shove it and focus instead on strategy over tactics. Long term, product and service trumps quarterly financials. The latter just plays to the advantage of the stock and bond traders while undercutting every one else over the longer term.
My Studebaker-Packard-Mercedes dealer friend said they never sold many Benzes in our little, non-suburb hometown, as he thought the memory of WWII was still close in a lot of people's minds. His Dad had a 220 (I had thought a 180; fintail corrected me, thanks!) which he very much enjoyed. Our high school nurse drove a 190 convertible of late '50's or early '60's vintage, but I can't recall any other M-B's in town (not to say I'd know them all). I was surprised to see in the Studebaker National Museum archives, a couple or three M-B's traded in on late-year Studes at our dealer. Back then, I do think, especially in a small town, folks bought the dealer as much as the car.
We had a military base in WWII only about four miles south of town and it incorporated German prisoners of war. That might have had some effect in our town later, who knows.
Pretty amazing to my eyes.
As someone I know pointed out, with OSHA and everything else, can you imagine this happening today?!
IIRC, they were accepting men up to the age of 35. That probably drove the average age up.
I wouldn't want the hoods that were being painted while the gals were dancing through, distracting the workers, on my car.
On the other hand, that video says a lot about the attitudes and values of those days.
Thanks for posting.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
On ancestry.com, I saw my great-grandfather's registration papers for the draft--in 1942! He was born in 1884! Apparently in case things got way beyond as horrible as they did!
My paternal grandfather was in his 30s when war erupted, but he had 5 kids and a farm, so I doubt he was asked. He was a pilot though, even had a plane on lease at the time, so I am surprised he didn't do anything, or maybe he did and I don't know.
Paint booth with no mask, sounds fine.
That's okay. It was oil-based paint.
I recall touring the S-10 plant in Moraine (OH) when it was new and had been operating a while. They had latex based paint by that time. We saw the paint area without the area operating. They had to spray paint and draw the contaminated air through a waterfall like area that caught the paint overspray.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Looks like fintail painters didn't use masks either
I worked one summer in a job where they also had a cabinet-making shop. I helped on a few days in the stain and spray room. Wow. Stuff made you dizzy.
I know my auto repair guy has had nerve damage of some kind from working with the paints and chemicals that have been involved in later model cars since those 1966 Mustangs. He does not do any of the paint work at all in the shop now. Just manages. His health has improved over the last 5 years, but he's still noticeably affected in his muscle movements.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I have noticed during my time in the hobby that a lot of long-time body and paint guys have problems. Some of them are obviously physical in nature, like lung trouble, often exacerbated by smoking, but it seems an inordinate number have either major or more subtle mental issues. I always figured it was due to long-term exposure to solvents.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
This gentleman doesn't have mental issues, but it's as if he has to grip hard to hold a pen to write an estimate. There is some kind of nerve damage to smaller muscle control. He commented on it one time when I was back for a repair.
His work has always been 110% and I'd take my next car that's damaged to him and his shop.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
I thought the Toronado struck a good balance between the overt luxury (i.e., pimpiness) of the Eldorado, and the more sporty stance of the Riviera. I guess to the modern eye, they're all pretty pimpy today though!
One little detail I liked about the Toronado, versus the Eldorado, is that in 1971-74 at least, it was still a true hardtop with roll-down rear windows. I know that by that era, the attitude was turning more towards "who cares if the windows roll down, it has air conditioning!" But, I still appreciate a roll-down window in back.
In comparing Toronados and Eldorados at car shows (at Hershey for example, sometimes you can see them side by side), I've noticed the build quality on the Toro actually looks better. At the rear, especially, and I think one reason is that the Toro seems like it has fewer individual pieces that have to fit together than the Eldo.
It also seems like fewer Toronados have survived over the years, compared to the Eldorado and Riviera, so I also like the comparative rarity.
One collector from North Carolina brought at least four cars that I noted...
Porsche 959 (a real one)
Porsche Carrera 2.7 RS (early '70s with the ducktail)
Porsche 550 Spider (again.. a real one)
Porsche 356 Continental
Amazing stuff... Probably 3 dozen Porsches besides those, including a Carrera GT, and quite a few race cars..
Other cars of note..
1990 Corvette ZR-1... under 200 miles on the clock..
Ferrari 365/Daytona coupe
My friend also took Best in Class with his 1908 Locomobile, that he just finished getting ready at 0400 this morning...
Pretty cool show, and to top it off, someone gave me free tickets as I was preparing to buy them at the booth...
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Regards:
Oldbearcat
no clue what year or model. Was painted tan, so I assume it was a CJ, but it was a really old style that looked very much like a WWII model.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Porsche 550 Spider (again.. a real one)
It would be a great show with either one of those at the top but having both of them together is pretty special--and free tickets to boot!
Ferrari Daytona makes me think of Dan Gurney winning the first Cannonball Run and quoted as saying, "At no time did we exceed 175 mph." :shades:
Here is a Slide Show
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I feel fairly certain that the 550 and the 959 are the same ones from Cincinnati, especially since the exhibitor was from NC.
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There are some very clever 550 re-makes out there, too.
a real 550/550a should be worth a couple million bucks, so not likely to be driven around town very much.
Couldn't swing a cat without hitting a 1/2 million dollar car....
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay around for the award ceremony.... seems that while they were lining up, a Maserati rear-ended a McLaren... would have liked to have seen the aftermath...
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If that's a type 35 from 1924, it's way more valuable than that.
They are wonderful cars by the way, but cable brakes? No thanks.