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

kyfdx

When I was in grade school, we had an annual field trip to Henry Clay's home, Ashland.

Also, I was the 1970 Soap Box Derby champion from Lexington! lol

fintail

Wrecked 1938 car is a 37 Ford trunkback Fordor. The Packard on the field is also a 37, maybe not part of the giveaway.

The plane vs car pic is a Cord, would have been a new car at the time. I think those cars can do ~100 mph, I bet it could keep up with some planes of the era, in the right conditions.

fintail

Speaking of the 58 Edsel from before, here's the one at Gilmore, in an unusual and quite sharp color combo:

Mr_Shiftright

That bridal couple carry expressions on their faces as if they're about to be executed.

ab348

From back in the days when the car dealer ads in newspapers were required reading for gear heads, these are a couple of period local ads for the ‘68 Hurst/Olds. Wouldn’t see the latter one these days:

berri

Remember when Edmunds was a paperback with car and option prices? I recall it back in 68.

stickguy

I remember buying it in the mid-late 80's, I think there were separate books for new and used.

fintail

Hohman, that was the fictional city name where "A Christmas Story" was set, I think the author was from Hammond.

I wonder what lease terms were like in 1970. I have seen lease offers in 80s publications, and they were pretty awful.

stickguy

daily and monthly leases. A few people around here would get into that.

benjaminh

Shall I continue on with some pix from Lexington from 1939? It's also obviously fine to just stop....

ab348

There seems to be a growing cottage industry turning survivor 50 year-old Chrysler C-bodies into faux police cars. Here's one in Florida done up as an Adam-12 extra:

1971 Plymouth Fury police car

This line in the listing gets me:

"...it's never been hacked-up..."

Well, at least not until you did it, you schlub.

Surprised at the money its bringing. The BIN price is insanity.

andre1969

Notice that nowhere in that auction does it say which engine that Fury has. All it says is "The bulletproof V-8 engine." Well, from looking at the pics, it's a smallblock (and the heads should be red, as I recall...at least they were on my '68 Dart), and according to the "G" (5th character) of the VIN, it's just the 318-2bbl.

And, in 1971, a 120 mph speedometer was just your typical standard equipment, whether the car could actually do it or not. I don't know how high a copcar speedo would have gone back then...maybe 140-160? My '89 Gran Fury, which was a copcar, went to 125, but by that time 85 was the norm for a civilian car.

So yeah, if you're going to try and clone a police car, at least put a little more effort into it than that! Plus, wasn't ADAM-12 LAPD? They always used midsized cars back in those days, IIRC. The CHP would've used a full-sizer. At one time they also had a requirement that a CHP car had to be on at least a 121" wheelbase, which would have normally excluded the Fury, which was on a 119". From pics I've seen, the CHP used the Dodge Polara in 1971.

Interestingly, while Mopar usually got the bulk of police orders, apparently in 1970, the CHP used the Mercury Monterey!

kyfdx

Our local PD had early ‘70s Mopars, when I was in high school. They were definitely not small blocks. IIRC, speedos went to 160.

ab348

andre1969 said:

And, in 1971, a 120 mph speedometer was just your typical standard equipment, whether the car could actually do it or not. I don't know how high a copcar speedo would have gone back then...maybe 140-160? My '89 Gran Fury, which was a copcar, went to 125, but by that time 85 was the norm for a civilian car.

Here's the speedometer it should have had - note the "CERTIFIED" legend above the shift quadrant:

berri

Friend's dad bought a new Chrysler Newport of that era. It was beige and apparently was going to be an Illinois Tollway cop car originally, but the order got cancelled. It was a typical interior, so I surmise the factory changed that, but had a more rugged suspension and a 440 wedge. It was quick for its size.

stickguy

At one point Adam-12 drove a full sized AMC of that vintage. I assume a matador.

andre1969

Yeah, they did use Matadors toward the end, in Adam 12. The Matador was kind of an odd beast. It was marketed as a midsize, but shared its architecture with the "full sized" Ambassador, which was only longer by virtue of a longer front clip. They were the same size inside.

The same design was still in production when GM downsized their big cars for 1977, and surprisingly, the Matador sedan had about the same interior volume! I just found the numbers at the EPA website, and for '78, which would be the same, the Matador had 110 cubic feet of passenger volume and 20 cubic feet of trunk space.

For comparison, the Caprice and other B-bodies were rated at 111/21. Oddly, the larger C-body Electra/98 sedans were rated at 111/20, while the Sedan DeVille was only 109/20. I'd think the C-bodies would be bigger, especially since they had a lot more legroom in back. But, they also had plusher interiors, so maybe that cut down on shoulder room?

For comparison, the old mastodon-class LTD was rated at 106/23, while the Marquis was 108/23. I always thought the two were identical, with the wheelbase of the Marquis going to wasted space, but maybe it did go into the interior?

The Newport/New Yorker were rated at 107/22 that year.

berri

GM always seemed roomier than Fomoco back then to me at least. Conversely, Fomoco often seemed to have more comfortable and supportive seats. As they say - you can't have it all.

andre1969

GM's '71-76 big cars had something like 64-65" of shoulder room, which I believe was about as wide as a car ever got. IIRC, the '91-96 Caprice was actually close to that, although in this case it was like they made the car wider, but kept the seat the same size and he steering wheel in the same location, so all it did was make the armrest on the door too far away to be comfortable.

It's been ages since I've sat in one of those GM mastodons, and the one I sat in was a '75 or '76 Caprice 4-door hardtop. It had big windows, and a lot of glass area, and that, coupled with the shoulder room, helped make it feel pretty roomy. It seemed to come up a bit short in front seat legroom, to me at least. And the steering wheel was a bit close for comfort. But it had a good, high seating position.

I seem to remember Fords of that era being more low-slung. Seats lower to the floor, lower roofs, smaller windows, etc, and that made them feel a bit claustrophobic. Legroom felt a bit better to me, but in published specs I think the GM cars actually came out ahead, because the way they measure legroom is a combination of how far back from the gas pedal, and how high up the seat is.

Going only by comfort, I actually prefer the '74-78 Mopar C-bodies. Last time I sat in one was a few years ago, a '77 Gran Fury hardtop coupe...real hardtop too with roll-down rear windows, not one of the more common landau roof models. That sucker fit me like a glove...seating position not as high as GM, but not Ford-low, either, and great legroom...far enough back from the steering wheel and pedals, so I didn't feel cramped. The seat felt pretty ample, too...well padded, good size, etc. Not much in the way of contouring or bolstering to keep you in place if you wanted to re-enact a "CHiPs" episode, but still comfy, in a living room couch sort of way.

jwm40517

Benjaminh, I really enjoy the lexington pictures. Finished school here in 1971 and have lived here since 1994. I bought a lot of 11 Lexington and East Ky books at Bluegrass auction a few weeks ago. Already had most of the old Winston Coleman books about lexington. John

sda

andre1969 said:

GM's '71-76 big cars had something like 64-" of shoulder room, which I believe was about as wide as a car ever got. IIRC, the '91-96 Caprice was actually close to that, although in this case it was like they made the car wider, but kept the seat the same size and he steering wheel in the same location, so all it did was make the armrest on the door too far away to be comfortable.

It's been ages since I've sat in one of those GM mastodons, and the one I sat in was a '75 or '76 Caprice 4-door.

You are correct in the sense that the arm rest was too far away to be comfortable. Worse yet, at least on the 2dr, the door windows curved in so severely that they would wack your head if not careful. That’s what I remember of dad’s 71 Catalina.

fintail

Something else at Volo - is it a good idea to park a car of this origin outside in that weather near a pool of water?:

Mr_Shiftright

In an MGA, it might actually be drier outside the car than inside! The color doesn't look quite right but at least they didn't chrome the wire wheels.

benjaminh

jwm40517 said:

Benjaminh, I really enjoy the lexington pictures. Finished school here in 1971 and have lived here since 1994. I bought a lot of 11 Lexington and East Ky books at Bluegrass auction a few weeks ago. Already had most of the old Winston Coleman books about lexington. John

Since we have at least once person interested in these old Lexington pix, and we haven't had a post in this thread today, here are a few more. Maybe I'll space them out to just a few a day so that the page loads faster. These three are from 1939. I can't even tell what the wrecked car is. Anyone else? Is the middle one a Mercury? I'm lost again with the last one even though it's brand new and unwrecked. Does the hubcab say LaSalle?

ab348

Pretty sure the middle car is a Buick.

texases

I'm guessing that crash is a 1940-ish Chevy, looks like the 'stovebolt 6' in the engine bay.

fintail

Middle car is indeed a 39 Buick, a rare car in that bodystyle. Car below it is a 37 DeSoto. For the crashed car, hood vents/louvers look right for a 39 Chevy, too.

benjaminh

Thanks for the IDs of the Chevy, Buick, and DeSoto. Here are some more pix from 1939....I'm a bit lost for cars of this era, and I'm not sure about the taxi (Oldsmobile?) or that wagon that's been opened as if with a can opener. Were wagons more fragile that regular cars of that time, because more of them were still made out of wood rather than steel?

kyfdx

I saw a lot of movies at The Strand in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

fintail

Yep, taxi is a 39 Olds, interesting in that it is a 2 door model. Wrecked woody looks like a 36 Plymouth, another really rare bodystyle for the car, and no doubt the wood hastened the damage. In the parade pic at bottom, the 39 Ford convertible sticks out, and I think there's a Packard behind the truck behind the Ford. I also think I see a Lincoln Zephyr parked on the street at left.

xwesx

Wow; that's some serious damage on that first pic (on this page); that did you all say it was.. a '39 Chevrolet? Looking at the windshield, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if someone went through that. More than likely there was at least one casualty as a result of that crash!

In contrast, a vehicle today banged up like that wouldn't even elicit the question of whether someone was injured (they wouldn't be).

benjaminh

1939 Auto service special for batteries $4.95 (although apparently that equals almost $90 in today's dollars).....

benjaminh

A huge 50-minute collection of TV commercials for Oldsmobiles, dating from 1963 to 1966. NASA announcer John "Shorty" Powers is your star for some of these, while a beauty queen I'm not familiar with is the star of some of the others. Around the 9-minute mark there's a c.5-minute promotional film about making rocket engines that has some interesting views of how this was done in 1964.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lHwEdEbGNw

Mr_Shiftright

Jacqueline Mayer, Miss America 1963.

Weird thing--- a few years later, she had a serious stroke. She did survive, though.

Well, I really brought things down, didn't I?

fintail

Along the lines of those commercials, here's a fun one - Cadillacs as prizes on 'Let's Make a Deal':

https://youtu.be/QPhdsqZlpEw

benjaminh

When I was in grade school in the early to mid 1970s I sometimes watched those car giveaways on those game shows. I'm pretty sure I saw at least of couple of those back in the day. It did give me the idea that the Cadillac was a peak of a certain kind of car.

benjaminh

1939....

sda

Not classic, but obscure. Within 5 minutes I saw two almost identical Murano convertibles. One I see from time to time, it has various stickers plastered on the back, both are black. An awkward looking beast.

fintail

When I was in Chicago a few weeks ago, I saw a CrossCabrio and Evoque cabrio in the same day. I needed a palate cleansing.

Trailer towing car is a 35 Chevy, smashed car is a 39 Plymouth. I believe a few of the delivery vans are Chevy, with an International in the mix.

imidazol97

fintail said:

Yep, taxi is a 39 Olds, interesting in that it is a 2 door model. Wrecked woody looks like a 36 Plymouth, another really rare bodystyle for the car, and no doubt the wood hastened the damage. In the parade pic at bottom, the 39 Ford convertible sticks out, and I think there's a Packard behind the truck behind the Ford. I also think I see a Lincoln Zephyr parked on the street at left.

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

Along the lines of those commercials, here's a fun one - Cadillacs as prizes on 'Let's Make a Deal':

https://youtu.be/QPhdsqZlpEw

Wow. Don't drink and dress.

benjaminh

1940....The last photo records the funeral gathering for a beloved horse.

xwesx

That box van is neat! It would be fun to get ahold of one of those.

berri

Even in he 50's and 60's there seemed to be a huge variation of those things delivering bread, milk, snacks etc. to grocery stores and the like.

sda

I enjoyed the video of the ‘63-66 Olds. My parents had a 63 Dynamic 88 Holiday coupe that was replaced in 71 with a 69 98LS. In the meantime dad almost bought a 66 fully loaded red on red 442. He had a mechanic inspect it and discovered it suffered at some point from an under hood fire. Bummer, I really liked that car. Our family has owned many Olds and I have a fondness for them. My last Olds and my favorite was an 01 Aurora 4.0.

benjaminh

1940....The second and third photos give us a look at a tire factory of the time.

fintail

Funny thing, in the funeral pic, the boxy old timey cars in the pic were likely no more than 10 years old. Design changed fast constantly from around 1930-70.

kyfdx

I’d say a retread shop, rather than a tire factory.

benjaminh

1941....The dry cleaning store's address is right near the University of Kentucky, which is a place I sometimes go to since our son is a student there. The dry cleaning shop is long gone, and in its place is a nondescript building without the curved glass bricks.

benjaminh

I like old planes too. Here's the Boeing Stratocruiser in a picture with cars, featured in an advertisement, and in a promotional video from United Airlines, all from about 1950 or so. The Stratocruiser was the biggest passenger airplane of the time.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDgWUf36Buw&t=248s