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

berri

Been on the road for awhile. Really enjoyed all the pictures. You can find a lot of old automotive pix on the old motor website. Fin, glad you had a good Midwestern tour. The Gilmore appears to have done some new additions since I was last there. Up, you really should take a drive up north to see the Gilmore - whether Ohio State or Michigan wins While you are there, since you noted you like Presidential museums, you should shoot up a short ways from the Gilmore and see the Gerald Ford museum in Grand Rapids. I've been to some of them as well, but found the Gerald Ford Museum quite underrated, as well as having a lot of stuff our generation can relate too. May have been my favorite one so far believe it or not.

uplanderguy

That sounds great, berri. I'd probably have a hard time talking my Stude buddies into the Gerald Ford museum but I could probably talk my wife into that. I always get cabin fever in the winter and a nice three-day weekend somewhere would do me good for sure. My goal eventually is to visit every presidential home but with only Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, Hayes, B. Harrison, and Harding down, got a lot to go. Hayes' is the most amazing of the ones I've seen, in Fremont, Ohio, towards Toledo.

berri

You know, Democrat or Republican, they all shared that era. I think they might be pleasantly surprised by the Gerald Ford Museum. I'm thinking your wife will also like it like mine did. Presidential museums really tend to supersede politics and focus more on the era. I always thought Gerald Ford took office in a difficult time, with some difficult decisions. He was a good man and I don't have leanings toward either party really. He really deserves more credit and support than he gets IMHO.

uplanderguy

This goes against my usual avoidance of enormous cars, but to me, these were the height of '70's Cadillacs, at least in the pre-downsizing era.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Cadillac-Fleetwood-The-best-you-will-ever-see-or-drive/233010919294?hash=item364088777e:g:4EIAAOSwX6Rb8ZbF:rk:17:pf:0&vxp=mtr

I think that's pretty clearly a reproduction door label as the date of manufacture is nowhere to be found on it. That's a bit weird IMHO.

I like that they still had individual "FLEETWOOD" lettering on the front fenders. Always thought it was a bit cheap when in '75 or '76, they spelled it in block letters but on a separate piece or 'block' which was attached to the fender in one piece.

berri

60 and 70's Cadillac, I've always leaned toward the 62. Simple, elegant lines to my eyes. Probably liked the Fleetwood 60 truncated sedan the best that year.

fintail

Lacking big bumpers does something to it, too. I see the camera is still on oversaturation mode for that Caddy.

Here's a fine exotic from the Henry Ford:

uplanderguy

On that '72 Fleetwood, a throwback feature was the separation in the body visible between the front and rear doors. In later iterations of the car they got rid of that feature.

RE.: That Omni; I'm reminded of two things. One was the Consumer Reports magazine cover that showed one and said "Car of the Year? NOT RECOMMENDED!". The other is an acquaintance I knew who worked at a Mopar dealer and said they would get Omnis in with Horizon nameplates. They called them "Plodge Homnis" at the dealership, LOL.

Although--growing up hanging around a Chevy dealer, I remember seeing a '76 Nova Concours with the thin side molding on one side and the optional wide molding on the other side; a '77 Impala with a Caprice rear seat, and my friends' parents' '77 Caprice Classic with cloth inserts on three of the interior door panels but all-vinyl on the fourth.

berri

Omnirizon - hey, the VW Rabbit was more than a little problematic as well. I think Mopar offered a VW engine option on those for awhile as well.

uplanderguy

I like the '62 Cadillac too. In fact, there's a new movie out tomorrow that features one in the ads. I'll probably see it. The name escapes me right now.

For a long time, the '65 Cadillac was my favorite. I still like them, and in Fleetwood or Eldorado form they are especially beautiful. The '66 Fleetwood and Eldorados were the last grand Cadillacs IMHO....wonderful instrument panels, before the era of everything padded, energy absorbing columns, etc.

On the '65, I liked the looks of the separate front cornering lights, but they always sagged when the car was older. The '66 had those built into the front fenders which took care of that problem, but seemed cheaper to me, as did the painted headlight bezels on '66's as opposed to chrome on '65's.

stickguy

that looks just like my parent's Omni. They got an early car. White over tan vinyl. 4 speed stick, no AC, manual windows. A real stipper. I think that was the 1.6l engine. They got that when I was in HS, but after I got my license (learning to drive on the 1969 Volvo). I guess the Omni was about a 1979. Not a good car. I think the bottom end had issues, and might have needed a short block? But after a few years, they traded it in, and for some reason, got another Omni. A better version. still a 4 speed, but blue. And I think cloth seats. They had updated the engine though, to IIRC a 1.7l. Nicer car overall.

before we got married, my GF had a 1984 (or 85) Horizon, but the 2.2l version with an AT. A veritable hot rod, especially compared to my anemic Colt. Still the best snow car I ever drove.

uplanderguy

In the early and mid-eighties I travelled constantly with my job and drove rentals. I much-preferred later Omnis and Horizons to K-cars as rentals. They didn't seem to scream "Grandpa!" nearly as much.

I seem to remember decent acceleration in the later ones, as noted above.

Rental car models I hated the worst--Renault Alliance and Encore. "The One To Watch", indeed.

ab348

I got an ‘84 Horizon as a rental in the summer of ‘84 when I toured Michigan, Illinois and Ohio for a week. With the 2.2 engine it was pretty zippy. All in all I liked it fine.

fintail

As I've mentioned many times, my dad had a Horizon when I was a little kid. He loved it, and I don't think it was troublesome. He also claimed it was the best snow car he ever owned.

sda

I had an '84 Horizon SE. It had the 2.2. 5sp, ps, pb, ac. It ran circles around the '79 Rabbit that it replaced, though the Rabbit had that Germanic feel, the Horizon a bit softer, quieter, better ac and acceleration.

sda

Sorry for the duplicate pics, here is the only pic that I have of my '79 Rabbit C.

sda

Speaking of Renaults, in my infinite wisdom (not), I traded the Horizon for an '85 Alliance convertible. In comparison to the Horizon it was a slug, yet fun in its own way, especially with the top down.

thebean

benjaminh said:

thebean said:

@benjaminh, those are great photos. Where did you get them? I've been looking for some black and white old car photos to frame and hang up? Anyone have a source?

University of Kentucky photo archives.....

Thanks for the info. Really love all those photos.

boomchek

Nice photos! There was a few Renaults around Vancouver in the late 80s when we immigrated here from Poland. A good numbers of Polish immigrants purchased them when they arrived here as Western European cars were hard to obtain and/or expensive in Poland (and a dream for some) during the communist times and it was sort of a status symbol to friends and relatives back home. "Hey look at me I came to Canada and I'm driving a Renault!"

andre1969

The '62 Caddy, and to a lesser degree the '61, are one of my favorites as well. My main preference for the '62 is that I prefer the rooflines of the hardtop coupe and the 4W hardtop sedan. I just think the thicker, more formal C-pillar works better with the body style.

I just saw a '71 or '72 Sedan DeVille on tv last night. It was driven by Joan Crawford, in an episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. Beautiful shade of a light greenish/blue color (hard to tell, as it was at night).

Just found a clip, if anyone wants to see. It was actually one of those old "Sixth Sense" episodes that they rolled into the Night Gallery for syndication. The establishing shot actually looks like stock footage of a '71-72 Ford. The Caddy does make its appearance pretty early on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXUKawRC7cs

benjaminh

thebean said:

....Really love all those photos.

Yeah photos like these can be wonderful windows on the past. It happens that I've come down with a bad cold, and so since I yesterday I've mostly been sitting in bed drinking herbal tea, and I've had hours to search through this particular long-defunct company's collections. The photos that were eventually donated to UK date from c.1930 to c. 1950. If it's ok I'll post some more. Since that menu one was of interest to some people, here's another. This first two are the outside and inside of a small restaurant from 1947. Then rewinding back to 1930 we have a fleet of buses. These images are high enough rez that by clicking on them you can make them a bit larger.

benjaminh

Some more from 1930....

benjaminh

And more from 1930. The strange vehicles in the third photo are Lexington's street sweepers.

benjaminh

1930. The first image is of a mini railroad in a park for kids to ride. The second is of trucks being loaded with salt for the roads. The third is a movie theater decorated up for John Wayne's first starring role in The Big Trail from 1930.

ab348

Malted milks were a thing back in those days. I always loved a good chocolate malt when I was a kid but even then it was hard to find a place that made them. I assume they must still be available somewhere but since I don't go for that kind of stuff any more I haven't heard of or seen one in many years.

benjaminh

1930 to 1931. The last one is an advertising billboard for the buses we saw earlier.

uplanderguy

That is a nice '72 Sedan deVille in that clip with Joan Crawford.

The '71 brochure had a photo of a Coupe deVille in that aqua color, no vinyl top, and I liked the looks, particularly how the instrument panel and doors had a brushed metal look instead of fake woodgrain. I don't think the public agreed as I think they switched to fake woodgrain in deVilles even before the end of the '71 model year.

It's easy to bash Joan Crawford, but no matter what she was in, she gave it her all! LOL I think she was very good in "....Baby Jane", although I'm glad she was replaced with Olivia deHavilland in "Hush..Hush, Sweet Charlotte", my favorite movie for fifty years.

Remember ABC's "Movie of the Week"? You guys are younger than me, mostly, but "Duel" was one of those movies. Some great stuff for TV productions. Joan C. reminds me of one called "The Screaming Woman", about Olivia deHavilland coming home from a mental hospital and hearing a woman's moans on her property. Of course no one in the family believes her, but at some point a woman kept alive with an air pocket was indeed buried alive on the property and subsequently rescued. It was written by Ray Bradbury.

benjaminh

uplanderguy said:

....It's easy to bash Joan Crawford, but no matter what she was in, she gave it her all! LOL I think she was very good in "....Baby Jane", although I'm glad she was replaced with Olivia deHavilland in "Hush..Hush, Sweet Charlotte", my favorite movie for fifty years. ....

+1
Yes, those are both really good movies.

sda

benjaminh--I'm eating up these cool pics. sorry for the pun, couldn't resist, as I hope you feel better pronto, and have a nice Thanksgiving!

andre1969

Joan Crawford actually pulled off a good performance in that "Sixth Sense/Night Gallery" episode. From what I read, it was her final tv performance. It was a bit hammy, as acting often was in those days, but still pretty enjoyable. One thing that always gets me though, is how back in those days, it was so common to see drivers exiting from the passenger side of a vehicle. I can remember the private detective in the original "Psycho" even doing that, parking at the Bates Motel and then sliding over and getting out of the passenger side of the '59 Mercury he was driving. With regards to Joan Crawford though, I'm sure she'll always be remembered for that "NO WIRE HANGERS EVER!" scene, but I always got the feeling that she was a tortured soul, a victim of her own success, and over-dramatized by Hollywood. I remember seeing an old 50's movie with her in it; can't remember its name, but I remember someone smashing her hands with a typewriter. I know it was just a movie, but it really made me feel for her.

As for "Duel", my first exposure to it was actually by way of "The Incredible Hulk", as a kid. A lot of the footage from "Duel" was recycled into the early episode "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break". The first time I saw "Duel", proper, was in a video store, around 1984. By that time, the slasher movie genre was really big, so they tried to brand it as something similar. The cover showed the truck with the tagline "The Most Bizarre Murder Weapon Ever Used!"

I remember my grandparents renting it for me, and watching it, and while it had nothing to do with slashings, mass murders, etc., I really enjoyed it. I think I was hoping for something with a higher body count, like "The Car" or "Christine", but "Duel" was a lot more psychological. More cat-and-mouse, messing with your mind, type of suspense.
I went to California a few times in the 90's, and found where they filmed a lot of "Duel". I put my rental car in some of the same spots and took pics. When I was there in 1992, the area looked like it hadn't changed much at all. But, by 1999, it had grown up a lot. And that railroad crossing was gone, replaced by a road tunnel that goes under the tracks. One day, I'll try to find those pics and scan them in.

benjaminh

sda said:

benjaminh--I'm eating up these cool pics. sorry for the pun, couldn't resist, as I hope you feel better pronto, and have a nice Thanksgiving!

Thanks. You might like these too—all from 1931. Happy Thanksgiving!

benjaminh

1931....(Are the cars Auburns?)

benjaminh

1931. During the Great Depression horror movies like Dracula were very popular. One idea about that is that many people felt in real life like they were having the economic blood sucked out of them, making it relevant in a strange way. Who knows? The photo with the boy is with the "Lexington Police Pistol Squad."

benjaminh

1931. The second photo is of movie theater ushers. The third photo is of a "tire rolling contest."

benjaminh

I wasn't sure if I should post the menu of the Winchester restaurant, but here goes. If you zoom in a little you should see it.

ab348

I think I'll pass on The Winchester, thanks.

I like the truck with the "Eat More Cheese" messaging. Nothing like getting straight to the point.

kyfdx

benjaminh said:

1930. The first image is of a mini railroad in a park for kids to ride. The second is of trucks being loaded with salt for the roads. The third is a movie theater decorated up for John Wayne's first starring role in The Big Trail from 1930.

Taylor Tire was still a full service filling station in the late '60s. My mother always filled up there. It was just a block away from church. It's no longer a gas station, but I drove past it this morning.

kyfdx

Asked my 90 year old uncle (who lives in Lexington) about olive & nut sandwiches. He doesn't remember them (born in 1928)

berri

When i see these very old pictures I keep looking for Moe, Larry and Curly (or Shemp)

benjaminh

1932....

benjaminh

1932....

benjaminh

1932....The second photo is of the interior of a Lexington restaurant of the time. The last one is of a truck accident on this highway, and this photo (as with the other pictures of wrecks) was for insurance purposes.

benjaminh

1932....

benjaminh

As we all know, 1932 was this is the depth of the Great Depression, and I did see some pix in the archives of empty stores for rent, one of a line at a soup kitchen, etc. But even in 1932 some economic activity went on. Some of these photos of stores at night remind of the famous American painter Edward Hopper.

thebean

Mmmm, delicious brains and lambfries. Superb pics, @benjaminh.

"Duel", as you probably know, was the directorial debut of one Steven Spielberg.

kyfdx

thebean said:

Mmmm, delicious brains and lambfries. Superb pics, @benjaminh.

"Duel", as you probably know, was the directorial debut of one Steven Spielberg.

There are still a few restaurants in Central KY that serve lamb fries.
I can still remember the day my mother told me what they were. After serving them to me for six years. It was three years before I'd eat them again.

benjaminh

thebean said:

Mmmm, delicious brains and lambfries. Superb pics, @benjaminh.

"Duel", as you probably know, was the directorial debut of one Steven Spielberg.

Thanks for the positive thoughts on the photos. Might post some more later today. Almost a window into another time....

Yes--Duel is pretty good, esp. considering how young Spielberg was when he directed it. He's one of my favorite directors, although I'm in the minority in that I think all of his best films were made after 1980.

tjc78

That was an expensive refrigerator! $3300 in today’s money.

fintail

At NATMUS, an answer to a question perhaps asked by nobody:

benjaminh

1933....Am I the only one that still regrets that GM killed LaSalle? The move toward self service supermarkets was going on as the 1930s progressed, but here we see what shopping looked like an an A & P market a few years before that change. The third pic of the men is labeled "Bank robbers. Photograph ordered by the Chief of Police."

benjaminh

1933....The second photo is of a chef at a country club, who apparently is about to make some turtle soup. Yikes. The man sampling some free Canada Dry looks like maybe he hasn't been dry for that long? I wonder how that orchestra of kids sounded?