Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Car Show

I mentioned yesterday that there was a car show in Kokomo, so on our way home from the display of aerial military machinery, Kent, Rick, and I stopped to view some autos which were built in the day of auto design, a day in which each vehicle was unique and easily identifiable.


A pretty little 1956 Ford in black and what I call "tomato red."  I acquired my first car, a 1950 Ford, when Dad bought a new 1956 Ford.  His was four-door, and blue-and-white.

 The 1966 Charger in black caught my eye.  This one is powered by the Mopar 383.

 A contemporary of the Charger was this Imperial Crown, also by the Chrysler Corporation.

 Imperial was introduced as an independent line in 1955 and continued production through 1975.  It appeared again from '81 to '83.

This three-ton behemoth was powered by a 440 cubic inch V-8 (7.2L)  I always had a soft spot in my head for big iron, and I drove a Lincoln Continental for several years.  This marque was aimed at the Lincoln/Cadillac market.  Fewer than 14,000 were produced during this final year of the platform created in 1957.  The next year saw the introduction of unibody construction.

Kent was delighted with the '54 Chevrolet, for that was the car he drove during his years at Ball State.

My Mustang was a '65, predecessor to this model.

I sometimes imagine that I would enjoy owning an old car once again, but it is an expensive hobby.  Perhaps I'll stick with blogging.

7 comments:

Jim said...

Nice iron. I feel the same way - I'd like to own an old car one day, but then I think of the upkeep and availability of parts and ... well, maybe I'll just stick to old cameras.

Shelly said...

A fellow teacher just sold his '65 Mustang, the car he'd been driving since he bought it new from the dealer in '65. He made a tidy sum on it, too.

Although I know nothing of the inner workings of cars, I do have an appreciation for how they look, and these are beauties~

Secondary Roads said...

Materials, engineering and manufacturing have made giant strides since those days. When I see some of those "classics" it is obvious that it is, as you called it, an expensive hobby.

Anonymous said...

I do like the old cars - they had style - now cars all look the same. I can look out my window right now and see 4 cars that look exactly alike - one of them is ours...Borrring!

vanilla said...

Jim, cameras a good choice. And you can "capture" the old cars with them, thereby collecting both cameras and cars!

Shelly, mechanics and functionality are key, of course, but aesthetics should not be ignored!

Chuck, "collectible" cars are expensive to own. But I have almost always driven "old" cars. Current auto is 14, not yet an antique, but definitely old.

Grace, you are too right. Can't tell one car from another by style, though size differs somewhat from one to another.

Sharkbytes said...

You big guys fit in the big iron better

vanilla said...

Shark, I guess that's it!