I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)

ab348

uplanderguy said:

Too lazy to check, but I'm pretty sure he was Elizabeth Montgomery's father. I always thought she was a beautiful woman, and that "I Dream of Jeannie" was a cheap knock-off of "Bewitched", LOL. When I was a kid, all those Chevy commercials on "Bewitched" helped too.

That's right, she was his daughter. I also thought she was one of the most beautiful women of the era.

Born in 1933 according to Wiki, so right around the time of that pic I presume.

fintail

I recall Pontiac must have been a sponsor of I Dream of Jeannie - always a Pontiac to be seen. Carmakers were really into sponsoring shows then. That material was still in syndication when I was kid in the 80s/90s, and I remember the links. Leave it to Beaver and Beverly Hillbillies were Mopar, Dennis the Menace and Lassie were Ford, I think Brady Bunch was Mopar and later GM, and Donna Reed might have been Ford.

uplanderguy

Wasn't Agnes Moorehead great in "Bewitched", even though she supposedly felt it was beneath her work on stage and screen? One of my favorite movies, "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" had her playing the haggard white-trash maid of Bette Davis, and she was an Oscar nominee for it, and it was made while she was doing "Bewitched"! Totally different looks in each.

I just read that Moorehead's mother lived til 1990!

kyfdx

If someone had asked me, I would have guessed that I Dream of Jeannie came first..

I liked both of those shows, when I was a kid.

uplanderguy

I watched both as a kid too, but as a discerning adult (LOL), in hindsight I think "Bewitched" was better.

My favorite show as a kid was "My Three Sons", but I've grown to appreciate "The Andy Griffith Show", even the color episodes which most folks dislike, more now than I did then. I see things in it that remind me of my hometown in that time period.

uplanderguy

There were Pontiacs all over "...Jeannie". Chevys were in "Bewitched", and what I remember, Pontiac wagons were in "My Three Sons". I remember Mopars in "...Brady" except for maybe the last season, and I remember Chevys then.

Back to "Bewitched"--that first Mrs. Kravitz was a hoot...."Abner, Mrs. Stevens is levitating again!". Of course, when Abner got to the window, she was not levitating. I call my wife "Gladys Kravitz" if she's looking out the window to figure out what's going on outside, LOL.

fintail

And of course Mr. Ed had Studebaker. Andy Griffith must have been Ford, too. I seem to recall a Corvair in My Three Sons, but I am not certain, I wasn't as into that one. Should pay a visit to imcdb.

I preferred Jeannie when I was a kid, maybe as it was easier to follow. As an adult, I actually like Dennis the Menace more, Joseph Kerns really made the show. These shows were good for car spotting when I was younger.

uplanderguy

Mr. Ed is a rather lame show, but I did like seeing the Studebakers, even then. It must've been set outside South Bend as every car was a Stude, LOL! There's one episode where Mr. Ed is driving a delivery van and pulls up alongside incredulous folks in a '64 Daytona Hardtop and passes a parked '64 Gran Turismo Hawk--probably my top two favorite models and year of Studebakers.

Joseph Kearns was great as Mr. Wilson...so believable...every neighborhood had someone like him. Gale Gordon was great opposite Lucy ("Mrs. Carmichael!!!!!"), but he was no Joseph Kearns in "...Dennis".

kyfdx

Too bad the comic strip has turned Dennis into a sarcastic smart-alec.. The old strips and the TV show were much better.

uplanderguy

Never noticed 'til I was an adult, but Joseph Kearns really looked nothing like the Mr. Wilson in the comic strip, LOL. Dennis always thought he and Mr. Wilson were best buds.

fintail

Joseph Kearns had some real talent in the role too, as you say, believable. I didn't notice it so much as a kid, but he played the role so well.

When multiple cars of the same maker are shown at once, you know there's some product placement. IMCDB is a goldmine:





And a shot relevant to recent discussion:



The last one no doubt had Mr. Wilson needing some "nerve medicine".

uplanderguy

I still really like those '57 Fairlanes--outsold Chevy that year, although largely lost in most folks' minds. They seem to be behind '56 Fords in the collector world now--in my mind.

Nice '62 Merc in the second pic, and nice '60 Country Sedan in the lower pic. Pretty sure that's a '56 Studebaker peeking out behind the wagon.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, yes, when Cadillac was CADILLAC!

fintail

I think the frog-eyed look might not help the 57 Ford, even though it was a more modern design.

The Stude appears to be this car, seen in a couple episodes:

berri

I think that like Plymouth, the 57 Ford had a reputation for not the best quality and tin worm. The 57 Chevy may have looked a bit old at it's debut, but I believe they were built better and survived longer on the used car lots - hence their popularity today. Many Boomers owned a used one during their youth.

berri

Re: 55-58 Ford, I've heard car people at Ford shows claim the 55 was the most reliable of the lot. But I don't really have any idea whether that is actually the case.

uplanderguy

I have heard that the Chevys lasted longer than the Fords, and that the '57 Chevy in particular became popular as a used car due to quantity and condition of survivors. But I'll take a '57 Ford over it, any old day (in red over black please!). And....obviously, I grew up in a Chevy family!

uplanderguy

The designer of the '56 Studebaker sedans, Vince Gardner, committed suicide in his sixties, outside of Auburn, IN in the early '70's. He was an outside designer. The '56 was the last year any non-Hawk Studebaker still had the fender vents. I think he did a good job in doing what President Nance of S-P wanted, and that was a more Big-Three-looking Studebaker sedan for '56.

I did always like the low beltline of those cars.

roadburner

The old sitcom Hazel was sponsored by Ford; the boy Harold had a cool gas powered Thunderbird. I always wanted one; you can see it in this YouTube video at around the 5:08 mark.

ab348

Dad was a Ford man early on. A '55 Ford 4-door Mainline sedan was his first brand new car. Two-tone, white roof over black body. Must have liked being mistaken for a police car.

He traded that a couple of years later for a '56 Crown Victoria (not with glass roof though), yellow and black. I have a vague memory of that car from when I was 3 years old. Then a '59 Ford sedan, also black with white roof. Then a '61 Mercury Meteor (Canadian model based on a Ford), all white. I seem to recall he didn't like that ne much, and he moved to a '62 Pontiac not very long thereafter to start a decade-long run with GM.

ab348

The ABC series "The F.B.I." with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was a Ford series and was sponsored by Ford as well, at least in the first few seasons. Not only did all the FBI characters drive new Fords, but other characters, even the bad guys, drove Fords of various vintages, in the early shows sometimes using models well back into the 1950s. Fords were also used in most of the various backgrounds as well. It was very unusual to see another brand even in that sort of use. They must have had a large fleet of cars supplied by Ford on location. And of course Insp. Lewis Erskine drove a new model Ford in the closing credits each season. My favorite of those was his '72 Gran Torino GT, though he had some sweet Mustangs in the '60s.

uplanderguy

As a kid, I enjoyed "Hazel". I'm almost certain it was on Sunday nights. I remember being jealous of Harold's kiddie Thunderbird, LOL. 'Hazel' was funny, giving 'Mr. B' business advice at dinnertime with guests over, LOL.

PF_Flyer

Another Ford-sponsored show. The agents, the citizens, even the bad guys drove Fords

berri

The original Hawaii 5-0 featured Ford and the lead guys Mercury. The first year of Leave It To Beaver had the Cleaver's in a 57 Ford before transitioning to Mopars. Many of the old Highway Patrol series used a 57 Ford as either their plain wrapper or the bad guy's car even though Broderick Crawford seemed to like Buick's. It is a great show to see many mid to late 50's cars from all of the D3.

fintail

Looking at imcdb, My Three Sons definitely had GM placement. And there was a Corvair or two - they showed cars, I assume those of the characters, in the closing credits. I knew I remembered it from somewhere:

fintail

My dad had choices similar to yours. IIRC his first new car, when he was young and in the Air Force, was a 56 Crown Victoria, replaced by another one, then he went to Pontiacs for several years, then bought a new Galaxie convertible in 67, then had a 70 Mustang. He still had the Mustang when I was born, keeping it until the very early 80s, then having the Horizon.

ab348 said:

Dad was a Ford man early on. A '55 Ford 4-door Mainline sedan was his first brand new car. Two-tone, white roof over black body. Must have liked being mistaken for a police car.

He traded that a couple of years later for a '56 Crown Victoria (not with glass roof though), yellow and black. I have a vague memory of that car from when I was 3 years old. Then a '59 Ford sedan, also black with white roof. Then a '61 Mercury Meteor (Canadian model based on a Ford), all white. I seem to recall he didn't like that ne much, and he moved to a '62 Pontiac not very long thereafter to start a decade-long run with GM.

berri

Re: those 30's cars we were talking about the other day. I was looking at the Wall Street Journal today. It had a picture of a 37 MG SA Saloon that someone has owned for years in Hollywood. I don't have any way to post the picture since it is a protected website, but it was maybe the neatest looking 30's sedan I've seen. You can look them up on Google images. Most were convertibles, but there are some sedans mixed in. Hard for me to imagine that since I was only familiar with postwar MG sports cars.

ab348

berri said:

Re: those 30's cars we were talking about the other day. I was looking at the Wall Street Journal today. It had a picture of a 37 MG SA Saloon that someone has owned for years in Hollywood. I don't have any way to post the picture since it is a protected website, but it was maybe the neatest looking 30's sedan I've seen. You can look them up on Google images. Most were convertibles, but there are some sedans mixed in. Hard for me to imagine that since I was only familiar with postwar MG sports cars.

Here's one. Good-looking car.

berri

Yep, one dapper dude! Thanks ab

ab348

PF_Flyer said:

Another Ford-sponsored show. The agents, the citizens, even the bad guys drove Fords

Echo in here.

fintail

I wonder if "Bullitt" had any Ford ties - good guy drives a Mustang, lots of Ford police cars, bad guys drive a Dodge.

kyfdx

Dirty Harry had mostly Mopars, right?

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

Looking at imcdb, My Three Sons definitely had GM placement. And there was a Corvair or two - they showed cars, I assume those of the characters, in the closing credits. I knew I remembered it from somewhere:

Glen Glenn's parents were pretty lazy when it came to baby names.

texases

You mean Glenda Glenn and Glen Glenn Sr.?

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, the Glenns over on Glen Drive.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yes, the Glenns over on Glen Drive.

Is that the Glen drive in Glensprings?

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, you know those people? I think he's still in the car business:

http://www.glensautosales.com/

Michaell

And wouldn't their favorite movie be Glengarry Glen Ross?

Mr_Shiftright

What was the car they were competing for, as a prize, in that movie? I can't remember.

Man, that was a depressing film.

explorerx4

I started watching that Glengarry movie a couple of weeks ago, but like Shifty says, it was too depressing.

Mr_Shiftright

explorerx4 said:

I started watching that Glengarry movie a couple of weeks ago, but like Shifty says, it was too depressing.

I think they get to win a Cadillac--that's what I remember anyway.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

explorerx4 said:

I started watching that Glengarry movie a couple of weeks ago, but like Shifty says, it was too depressing.

I think they get to win a Cadillac--that's what I remember anyway.

I think so, too..

2nd place was a set of steak knives (I think).. 3rd place: You're fired.

explorerx4

@kyfdx,
I was going to post the same thing. I got that far.

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

@kyfdx,
I was going to post the same thing. I got that far.

They did a great skit on SNL where they brought Alec Baldwin in to the North Pole to intimidate the elves. Same set-up as GGR.

explorerx4

Going back to the Dirty Harry movies, they were Fords.

fintail

On the dirty sanded maybe salted roads here (hey, we got a half inch of snow!) I saw the older guy driving an early 70s 911 as an apparent commuter car, I see him regularly.

Mr_Shiftright

Bless his heart.

berri

Nah, legalized Mary Jane

kyfdx

A 911 is pretty good in the snow. A lot of weight over the drive wheels. Older ones have relatively skinny tires, too

fintail

I also see him in the rain a bit, the kind of old fashioned wiper action always catches my eye. The car is silver, Fuchs wheels (I think), with the old fashioned nose.