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I always thought the Gen 2 dash was a really nice design.
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Here is a picture taken in 1987 of my 85 Renault Alliance DL convertible. It had the 'big' 1.7L, 5sp, all power including, top cruise, pw, pl, ps,six speaker cassette stereo, ac.
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A house not too far from me has 2 of these. One is a hardtop in rough shape and the other is a pristine drop top. The hard top even has a pretty good crunch on the rear but still sees pretty regular use.
On the Avalon note, I know I posted it before, the interior of the ~5500 mile 00 XLS a friend bought earlier this year. They replaced the original tires and took it on a couple road trips (so they are maybe at 7000-7500 miles now) and remain thrilled with it, it's effectively a new car for less money than a Mirage:
RE.: Ionia-built GM full-size wagon bodies, '61-64--who knows, Ionia might've been the overflow provider for those Pontiac, Buick and Olds wagons that weren't all that seen. This I know, the bodies (well, rooves and rooflines) across all divisions look identical. FIsher Body apparently built the Chevy wagon bodies.
Honestly, even as a kid, I thought the way those cars' rear door glass and sheetmetal was done, looked dorky. Completely straight up-and-down. Everybody else's had some rake at the rear of the door and glass. My grandparents had a '63 Bel Air wagon they bought new, and when the rear doors were open, I'd think, "That looks ugly". LOL
My friend who went to the Olds show not far from here Sunday, said attendance was down due to threat of rain. He said most cars there were Cutlasses, very few full-sizes, but said there was a '56 four-door (good-looking year for Olds IMHO) and a '58 with a removable radio he said was an option (I don't know). He said someone brought an Alero.
To condense the story, my hometown had a rolling cruise last Saturday. I didn't go but I was reading about it on FB. A youngish guy who said he owns a shop said he went and got inspiration to get his car into the cruise next year. He then said he inherited it from a fellow who I was friends with in younger years--in fact, he was my best man. He never married and we subsequently drifted apart. Anyway, I mentioned that I knew that car well and he posted this pic:
My friend's Dad was a Chev-Buick service manager in a town about 25 miles from ours. He brought this Monza home for my friend sometime in '75. It's a V8 (262), AT, PS, PB, Am radio. Sandalwood vinyl interior. Ironically, another school friend of mine got a new '75 V8 2+2 in orange. At the time, I loved these cars. The 262 is a dog overall, but I loved hearing V8 sounds from a car that was a subcompact.
I rode in this red car my senior year in HS and many other times.
Current owner said it had sat in the owner's parents' garage since 1992, not driven since then. I didn't ask, but I remember it having about 40K miles when he put it away.
This I know, my old friend was extremely meticulous and I have not seen one of these in this shape in a long time.
All the '75 cars like this, including the Skyhawk and Starfire, were built in the smallish plant in Ste. Therese, Quebec. Not long after, Lordstown, OH started building them.
I have not seen a Monza or one of its variants in many years.
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UPDATE: It looks like Pontiac wagons had the same wheelbase as Chevy, odd since the coupes, sedans, and convertible Pontiac had a one-inch longer wheelbase than the wagons.
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I think Ford did the same thing, for the '59-60 Edsel and '61-64 Mercury wagons, compared to the '59-64 Fords...119" vs 120". At least, I can't imagine they'd do any major structural modifications just for one inch.
But with the big '61-64 Olds/Buick wagons, those were on a 123" wb, and I don't know where they put the extra length. It looks to me like the rear wheel opening cuts a little more into the rear door on the 119" wb cars, but I don't know if that accounts for the entire 4 inches.
It’s pretty low mileage, but then it lived in salty NW PA. Original paint.
In the mid ‘80’s he worked for Chrysler and had company cars, and also had a ‘78 Malibu Classic coupe he drove so I think the Monza probably didn’t see more than ten years of regular use.
I miss the blue tint band on the windshield. Wish cars still had this.
Those cars had a distinctly V8 sound, and smooth idle. I do wonder how many shops never ever replaced that one plug! Over the years I’ve seen some guys say they didn’t need to raise the engine—small hands, cut a hole in an inner fender, some kind of tool, etc.
Also on the way home, I ended up behind this...
I don't mind the 'pod' headlights, as I think (accent on 'think') Mercury and Dodge may have done something remotely similar....but I DETEST the fin-on-top-of-a-fin at the rear of the '58 Packard!
I do like the glassy roofline on hardtop coupes.
On a different subject, my local donut shop has had color episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" on lately.
Today, there was a striking light green metallic '67 Imperial convertible that pulled away from the Clampett mansion, upon which Miss Hathaway's often-seen bright red '65 Dodge Coronet 500 convertible pulls up.
I know that show was a very big hit in its day, and as a kid I liked it, but sheesh, it hasn't aged well. I have a hard time thinking of a dumber sitcom, when I watch it today.
"Green Acres" was dumb, but it was dumb almost with a wink and a nod!
To me, it looks like it's inspired by the 126" wb DeSotos and Chryslers of that year, although the Dagmars give it a slight sprinkle of Cadillac. But, from this angle, you can't see that fin-on-a-fin so much, and with the color and lighting, the tacked on headlights aren't so obvious. However, it would look worse in person, because you would be seeing it in 3D (unless you're Columbo, I guess!) so those bulging headlight clusters would be more noticeable than in a 2D picture on a monitor.
I think the Packard looks better than that year's Studebaker, though:
The headlight treatment on the Studebakers makes me think of the '58 Edsel, because it also had protruding headlights, and a recessed grille (well, except for the center section). Somehow, the front-end of the Studebaker manages to make me think of a '57 Chrysler, '57 Cadillac, '58 Edsel, and a dash of Checker cab, all at the same time!
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I just saw that, pretty good one, fortunately the driver apparently has experience with old machinery. That video made me want to try one out - as Leno mentions, these cars have remained static in price for 30 (I suspect 40+) years, which means they are depreciating at the rate of inflation. I used to see a late brass one putting around my prior neighborhood now and then.
Model T takes the award for huge sales and near zero influence on how cars ended up being designed.
I can't find a good pic of it online.
It has a crank although after listening to the guy who knows the car the best, I couldn't get it cranked no matter what I did. I've yet to ride in it, but there's a front-end shimmy that a couple guys there are perplexed as to what exactly is doing it. We actually have a second Empire for parts.
The one guy who works on the car the most, has a Model T.
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I like the trim size (not a selling point then of course) and glassy roofline though.
And I agree that with "Green Acres," it could often come off as stupid. Yet at the same time, there was still a sort of comic genius behind that stupidity, that managed to make it work. I think most tv shows lose their charm over time, so that by the time they're canceled, it's almost like a mercy killing. But I think "Green Acres" degraded less from start to finish than "The Beverly Hillbillies" did.
I think "Leave it to Beaver" has stood the test of time, though. But I think that's because, for the most part, it didn't try too hard to be trendy or preachy. There was very little slapstick. It was mostly just childhood stories about growing up, and learning lessons along the way. Most of the story lines could be re-used today, although there would just be more cussing and sexual innuendo.
Now Madge Blake was born in 1899! While Rusty Stevens was born in 1948. So, Larry does sound like he was a risky pregnancy! Madge Blake also played Joey Bishop's mother in the first season of "The Joey Bishop Show." That was probably a bit more realistic!
I think she was also one of the co-founders of the Pasadena chapter of Jack Benny's fan club!
Twilight Zone has aged better than probably anything else of the era, points in it are still relevant today.
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There was also a silver '00-04 era Avalon in the parking lot, but I couldn't get a good pic of it. It had a sunroof. The paint was also getting thin on the roof, similar to this Regal, although the hood still looked good.
I thought those were nice looking and especially liked the GS.
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2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I actually prefer the cars without A/C (this car doesn't have it), as the dash is cleaner and lacks the vent 'lump' at the top in the center.
I think the '66 exterior is cleaned up, but I like the Iris Mist color and instrument panel design exclusive to the '65 to probably pick it over a '66.
The '66 stopped using what I call the big 'spaceship' emblem on the sides....thankfully!
You could get these Bonnevilles with buckets and console, a la Grand Prix, but they're hardly ever seen it seems. While I have goofed on the Bonneville's longer wheelbase, I gotta say I like the fastback roof and 'regular' taillights of the '65 Bonne better than the Grand Prix.
We've discussed this here, but with a few exceptions, I actually prefer the color episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" to the earlier B&W versions. Can't stand the stupidity of Ernest T. Bass, the Darlings, and even Gomer and Otis could get on my nerves. The laughs became fewer later, but the stories were better IMHO. My favorite episode of the whole series was when Barney came back to town for vacation and a movie starlet from town was back at the same time to debut her new movie in her hometown. Barney dated her in school and of course he felt there were still sparks between them. It was actually poignant, and Knotts won an Emmy for that episode. The epilogue on the front porch was terrific. Season seven I think.
Anyway, if you look at Andy in like the '65-67 color episodes, his face looks like an old catcher's mitt! And he was very early forties.
Parked outside my donut place this morning. '64 El Camino. Very stock and original inside and out, other than wheels and what he did to the inside of the bed. Passed OCD me about all emblems and nameplates and locations, and seat trim and door panels inside.
Getting ready to leave for our Ohio Region Studebaker club's annual Summit Racing Studebaker and Other Orphan Cars show today. It's about seven miles away. I never get all three of our cars in one pic. 225K miles among all three.
I think a lot of what aged them though, is the hairstyles, and the way they dressed. Ward Cleaver would dress up more nicely to cut the grass or rotate his tires, than I would when I went into the office!
Some of those actors too, just ALWAYS seemed old, like William Frawley and Burt Mustin. And, Jack Benny looked awfully old for 39!
With regards to the Catalina vs the longer Pontiacs, I think the hardtop coupe and convertible models pull off that extra length the best, but it looks a bit awkward on 4-door sedans and hardtops. I think as the 60s wore on though, the proportioning of the cars got better. I think part of it might have been those thicker C-pillars and more rakish rear windows.
My '67 Catalina is 215.6" long, while a Bonneville is 222.6". All that extra is in the rear deck. Personally, I think the proportioning of my Catalina looks fine, but then when I see a Bonneville, and then look back at my Catalina, damn it looks stubby!
I looked up Frawley, he was well into his mid 60s during the Lucy heyday, not bad for that era when people sometimes aged rapidly.