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

explorerx4

It looks like the used car office is a repurposed trolley car.

benjaminh

These next photos are from 1942. In three of them men are heading off to war on Greyhound buses....

benjaminh

1942....

sda

Keep posting, really enjoy these. They give a good look back and perspective of the time period my grand parents were young adults and my parents were kids.

andre1969

bhill2 said:

berri said:

There was also a slight upward trend in the 60's, but we're talking 5.06 in 1960, up to 5.50 in 1966
Oh, that had to be attributable to the Corvair

I had exactly the same reaction, at least as far as how Nader would have attributed it.

There might actually be a grain of truth to that. The Corvair, specifically, wasn't to blame, but one thing that was vastly different as the 60's wore on, was a great mix of vehicle sizes on the road. While the biggest cars...Cadillac, Lincoln, Imperial, really didn't get significantly bigger, a lot of lower-end cars certainly did...standard-sized Chevy, Ford, Plymouth, etc. Meanwhile, compacts, subcompacts, and intermediates were flooding the market.

I wonder if prosperity might have even been a culprit. The economy was doing well, the population expanding, and I have a feeling a lot more high school kids had a license and their own car by 1966, than they did in 1960. There was also a major move to the suburbs, which made people more car-dependent, and had them traveling longer distances.

Fatality rates did start dropping again in 1967, and continued to taper off. I think increased seatbelt usage, collapsible steering columns, better interior padding, etc probably had a major role. And by the 70's, the automakers were making greater strides with regards to controlled folding, crumple zones, etc. It's probably not particularly safe by today's standards, especially in hardtop form, but I've heard that GM actually did put some effort into designing its '71 B/C bodies, with crash protection in mind.

By the time airbags and ABS became really common, the fatality rate was already so low, they couldn't go much lower. In 1991, the rate dropped to 1.91 per 100M miles traveled. Airbags and ABS were available then, but still relatively uncommon, except for on more expensive cars. And, there were still plenty of older cars on the road, not to mention trucks in those days had looser standards applied to them.

fintail

The cabover trucks like that Chevy moving truck are quite desirable today, I think - sought after canvas for customs.

Regarding Corvair, do all swing axle cars have some inherent danger, or is it a weight distribution issue or something? Fintails have a swing axle too.

andre1969

I've heard that the biggest issue with the Corvair is that owners would slack off on maintenance, and not pay attention to things like tire pressure. IIRC, the car called for 15 psi up front, and 26 in the rear, but usually people would simply put them up to around 30 psi all around. They'd be okay for the most part, but then if you had to do an emergency maneuver, that's where you got into trouble. Most regular cars in those days could be fairly forgiving if the tire pressures got too far out of spec, but apparently not the Corvair.

ab348

I think I mentioned this before, but when I was a kid in the mid-1960s we went on a trip to visit Dad's family in rural Quebec. All 2 lane roads then. Somewhere in Quebec we encountered an accident scene with a Corvair on its roof in the ditch, with a turn signal still blinking. That image always stayed with me. Could only guess that he was trying to pass on the 2-lane, misjudged, jerked the wheel trying to get back into his lane quickly, and the thing jacked, causing the rollover.

xwesx

benjaminh said:

1942....

ugh. That tanker truck had a tough life! It is not particularly old in that photo, yet look at that body damage. Maybe not a roll-over, but possibly driven by Ray Charles?

benjaminh

1942...."Buy War Bonds" for V(ictory)

texases

1942 - I'd guess that piston is an aircraft engine piston. They did lots of testing to improve the engines, increase HP.

benjaminh

1942....

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

The cabover trucks like that Chevy moving truck are quite desirable today, I think - sought after canvas for customs.

Regarding Corvair, do all swing axle cars have some inherent danger, or is it a weight distribution issue or something? Fintails have a swing axle too.

The early swing axle designs of the past didn't control the motion of the axle as well as they do now.

Yeah, under the right circumstances (low tire pressure, inept driver, sharp decreasing radius curve), a Corvair is dangerous. Someone mentioned they saw one flip---I did, too, back in the early 80s in Colorado, coming off I-70.

I don't think I'd ride in an early Corvair unless it was in a parade.

andys120

A couple of interesting oldsters today, the first was a Lead Sled (1949-52) Mercury with the same tu-door bodywork it left the factory with. It hadn't been chopped, channeled, lowered, raised, raked or anything and it was painted a standard factory color. Even the wheels looked stock but the wheel covers were not OEM, it had-period correct aftermarket Moon hubcaps with trim rings.

The second was a Chevy 3100 short-bed Stepside pickup with faded, mottled paint looking kinda shabby. I noticed it had a single-piece curved windshield. Is that OEM stock on late model 3100s? I've never seen one before that didn't have a split V windshield.

benjaminh

1942....

benjaminh

I'm guessing that the bus of 1942 was safer than the bus from c.1932 that had its side ripped off in an accident.

benjaminh

1942....

Mr_Shiftright

So THAT'S what men's clothing looked like before anyone under 30 starting dressing like a toddler?

fintail

I just wish we could be forced, by stuffy convention and thoughtless tradition, to wear heavy jackets and ties and hats everywhere.

One thing they did get right way back when - fonts.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

So THAT'S what men's clothing looked like before anyone under 30 starting dressing like a toddler?

When they legalized weed here last month someone printed side by side pictures of the lineups on the first day waiting for the stores to open both then and back in the '30s when Prohibition was repealed.

The 1930s picture showed a large crowd, all male, pretty much all in jackets and ties with a significant number wearing hats, almost all appearing well-groomed. The 2018 pic showed a mixed-gender crowd though still largely male. Most all of the males had unkempt hair and lots of them had scruffy untrimmed beards. Virtually everyone was wearing hoodies and jeans.

Progress? I am dubious.

fintail

Definitely none of the best hardest working definitely not luckiest generation who imbibed in wacky tobacky in the 60s and 70s had ugly beards and messy clothes. Sadly, it's a fad now, awkward 20-30s guy with unfortunate facial hair is almost a norm here now. The pendulum moved back.

berri

Always has been what's old is new again - fashion, movies, design - whatever.

fintail

In terms of automotive design, I think we are in around 1958. In terms of the economy, I hope not 1928 (but it seems as hot). Some socio-economic issues look like 1898.

benjaminh

A few non-car pix from 1942....The one in the classroom is of new naval recruits at Morehead College being trained. I'm not sure what that huge office machine is for. Billing probably.

kyfdx

MMMMMmmmm... Schlitz!! (j/k)

ab348

I gather Schlitz wasn't bad back in those days. They changed the formula in the '70s which started the downhill slide.

That tabulating machine is labeled "International" so it is a very early IBM machine. They did well thanks to WWII and the need for the military to automate to the extent possible all the records relating to service personnel.

texases

Those office machines look like punch card readers, something like that. IBM was punching out millions of cards before the war. I wonder if it's an IBM machine, I'd think it's be labeled IBM, not International.

benjaminh

1942....The first photo shows the first women taxi drivers in Lexington. Beer fans note—Pabst Blue Ribbon! The second image is of one of the offices of the War Production Board. The third image is a piston test for what is I think an aircraft engine.

benjaminh

1943....

benjaminh

1943...."Knock Hitler's Block Off"

xwesx

The nighttime exposure length creates a neat "ghost people" effect there. I think it would be neat to see one of these games (not necessarily this particular design) in person.

fintail

I wonder if the "M333" plate on the 41 Cadillac in that garage has any significance.

benjaminh

fintail said:

I wonder if the "M333" plate on the 41 Cadillac in that garage has any significance.

Cadillacs were sometimes used by high up military and gov't officials, and so perhaps so....

benjaminh

1943....The top photo is of "Air Force Group E". There are lots of pics like this one, and obviously a lot of these young men didn't make it back. The building is a brand new parachute factory in Lexington.

benjaminh

1943....Well, this is transportation in a sense—the parachute. Inside this new parachute factory hundreds of women sew and assemble parachutes. The middle pic is of the "wiring assembly" area.

benjaminh

1944....Tests of airplane engine parts.

texases

What became "A&P"...

thebean

Are you asking? The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, as in that sign. I thought they were pretty good in the limited exposure I had to them in Texas in the 60's

xwesx

benjaminh said:

1943....The top photo is of "Air Force Group E". There are lots of pics like this one, and obviously a lot of these young men didn't make it back. The building is a brand new parachute factory in Lexington.

I get the feeling that at least one of them did.... I shuddered a little bit when I saw the man standing third row up, three from the right. He strongly reminds me of my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Windham. Man, that guy was something else!

xwesx

Regarding A&P, interesting (from Wikipedia):

"The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that ceased supermarket operations in November 2015, after 156 years in business.[1] From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and until 1965, the largest U.S. retailer of any kind).[2] A&P was considered an American icon that, according to The Wall Street Journal, "was as well known as McDonald's or Google is today", and was "the Walmart before Walmart".[3][4] Known for innovation, A&P and the supermarkets that followed its lead significantly improved nutritional habits by making available a vast assortment of food products at much lower costs.[5] Until 1982, A&P also was a large food manufacturer."

I cannot recall ever hearing of them before.

Mr_Shiftright

They were big in NYC in the 60s.

benjaminh

1944....During the war you needed a ration coupon even to buy a pair of shoes. Note the "Freedom of Speech" poster by Norman Rockwell, part of his famous "four freedoms" series:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms_(Norman_Rockwell)

fintail

There was a fascinating and in-depth exhibit about the "Four Freedoms" at the Henry Ford when I was there a few weeks ago.

Ambulance looks like a 37 Packard.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

They were big in NYC in the 60s.

Big in KY, where these pictures were taken, too.

The other "local" chain was Winn-Dixie. My mother said the poor people shopped there, so we went to the A&P. You know, a single mother, school teacher, with two kids.

benjaminh

1944....And then there's Kroger, where this tea display is from. I skipped but also have pix of Kroger displays of Ritz crackers, Wheaties, etc.

ab348

xwesx said:

I cannot recall ever hearing of them before.

When I was a kid in the '60s and we would take our annual motor trip vacation to New England, buying stuff at an A&P was always something we did. It was interesting for Mom to compare US prices with what she paid at home (usually far cheaper in the US) and for me to see brands and products we didn't get. A&P stores in the northeast were usually of a Colonial "early American" design like this one, and they seemed everywhere.



There were also A&P stores in Ontario when we visited relatives there. But they never expanded into Eastern Canada.

Their heyday seemed to be up until the '60s when they were overtaken by chains with bigger stores and better prices. But in the first half of the 20th century they were #1 in the US. Here are a couple of their SoCal stores from the 1930s, which were no doubt quite impressive to consumers at the time.




The last picture is of their store at Sunset and Fairfax in LA and which appears to still stand in modernized form as a Rite-Aid pharmacy (the successor to Thrifty Drug I believe).

explorerx4

Fintail,
I'm sure your dream car is somewhere in this collection.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a25396822/rm-sothebys-2019-youngtimers-80s-1990s-cars-for-sale/

fintail

Wow. I want a lot of that. I'll take everything in this pic:



Two widebody AMG SEC, three AMG C140, couple of R129 (maybe SL73), some kind of W140, and then the cool 123 wagon and 116, crazy.

And a ton of stuff here:



Starting from the back I see a MB W108/09, 90s Bentley Continental, Ferrari 400 series, UR Quattro; moving forward a couple of Lagondas, 928s, AMG SEC, couple of R5 turbos, more Ferrari 400 series, Alpina E28s, beautiful blue Ferrari 400 series, LWB W126, LWB Spur, what looks like a white Corniche,and that's just scratching the surface. 70s-90s dream assortment.

explorerx4 said:

Fintail,
I'm sure your dream car is somewhere in this collection.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a25396822/rm-sothebys-2019-youngtimers-80s-1990s-cars-for-sale/

benjaminh

1945....

explorerx4

I'm thinking those 9 pistons are from a P&W Wasp engine.