Cars….Lots of Old Cars

Dad and His Cars

My Dad was a car enthusiast. As an auto mechanic, he not only worked on them but enjoyed everything about them and as I was growing up, I recall several great automobiles he owned. I never saw my Dad’s first car since he owned it long before my time. But family lore has it as a young man he bought it as a pile of parts and brought it home piece by piece in a basket then he and his father assembled the car together. The car was a Stutz Bearcat.

1912 Stutz Bearcat

The original Stutz Bearcat was manufactured in the first two decades of the twentieth century. It was an expensive sports car in its time and had an impressive racing history. I don’t know exactly what year my Dad’s car was, but I believe he was born in 1901 and so he was probably in his early twenties when he acquired the parts for the car. The car was second hand, so it was most likely around a 1912 vintage. Estimated value in 2016 is $800,000 to $1,200,000. Too bad he didn’t hang on to that one.

The first family car I remember was his 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan. I was about six years old when he purchased this vehicle. He always bought second-hand cars, usually about two years old, and kept them for several years before selling them and getting something newer. This car in 1949 was $3,238 and is valued today at about $25,900.

1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan

The Lincoln Cosmopolitan was the car he drove to Miami, Florida to visit my mom’s sisters when I was about 6 or 7 years old. He kept this one for quite a few years until 1957 when he purchased his first brand new car, a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser

Cruiser skirts over the back wheels, air intake vents at the top of the windshield, reverse tilted back window and push button drive. Genuine Detroit Iron. Original price in 1957 was $4,103, today $38,800. Our second family road trip to Florida when I was twelve years old was in this Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.

1959 Cadillac Eldorado

He bought this Cadillac second hand in the early sixties. Now these are some serious tail fins! This car was a real classic Cadillac and long after my Dad sold it eventually became a highly prized collector car. It’s ironic, for all my dad knew about automobiles he had a knack for buying some incredible classics, like this one in particular, hanging on to them for a few years, and selling them at their rock bottom price just before they escalated in value. He had a great eye for classic automobiles, but his timing was a little off. Original price $7,401 now $65,700.

1964 Lincoln 4-Door

Another classic car, even in its time. This was one of the last great Lincolns. It was one of the few four door convertibles ever made and it had the unique so called “suicide doors” where the front door was hinged at the front of the car and the rear door was hinged at the rear. Originally $6,295.00. Today the value is $20,600.

1967 Oldsmobile Toronado – Front Wheel Drive

Originally created as a design painting by David North in 1962, the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was nicknamed the “Flame Red Car.” Although the design was never intended for production, it became the first American car in thirty years with front-wheel drive. It had a muscular styling that paired well with its 425 cubic inch V8 engine with 385 horsepower. Even though it weighed over four thousand pounds, it could reach top speeds of 120 mph.

My mom called this “the sports car” or the “little car”. This one was the end of the line. It was definitely a unique automobile. One of the first front wheel drive American cars. An article on the internet recently claimed this 67 Tornado was rated as one of America’s 50 best cars of all time. Cost in 1967 was $4,810, today $28,800.

It’s ironic, my Dad always obsessed over money and coveted the good fortune of others most often focused on expensive cars. He would see a new Cadillac Eldorado or Lincoln Continental on the road, and he would lament, “Look at that. I don’t get it!  Where do these guys get the money for a car like that?” He also played the lottery religiously, every week and never won more than a few dollars. He would often complain that this week he ‘almost won’, he was only one number off from the winning ticket. He didn’t get it. One number off or nine numbers off, it didn’t matter. The irony was if he only would have kept any of those classic cars he had for a few more years he would have made a small fortune.

Mom’s Cars

This 1936 Ford coupe was the car my Mom had when I started kindergarten. It didn’t have a back seat, just an open space back there. She used to drive me to school in this car, not in the front seat but standing in the back, for safety. If she would have had an accident I wouldn’t have smashed into the windshield, just bounced around there in the back. When we moved from Walker Avenue to Tyler Street, she still had this vehicle that she nicknamed “Bessie”.

1955 Pontiac Two-Door Sedan

Her next vehicle was a second hand 1955 Pontiac two-door sedan. The paint on the car was badly deteriorated so the first thing my Dad did after buying it was take it to an outfit called “Earl Sheib” for a paint job.  He had the car painted all white and this included part of the chrome trim and bumpers and even a little on the windows at the edges. What do you expect for a $19.95 paint job completed in one day? Earl Sheib was already infamous at that time and an “Earl Sheib job” became a euphemism for any half-assed piece of work. This was the car I learned to drive and used until I bought my own first car, a 1954 Lincoln convertible.

Modern Cars – The Pizzazz is gone

Something I’ve noticed in the last few years is all of the cars I see on the road are predominantly one of four colors; black, white, silver or grey. Every so often you will notice a red, green and occasionally a yellow but never a pink, turquoise or other outlandish color unless it’s an antique fifties or sixties vintage. It appears we have gone full circle since the days of Henry Ford and his model T. 

“You can Have Any Color as Long as It’s Black,” Henry Ford

The post WWII economic boom spawned a fascination with the automobile and American companies arose to the challenge to produce affordable automobiles for the eager car buying public. Safety and economy weren’t priorities, but styling and affordability ruled the day.

I notice that black, white, grey and silver make up about ninety percent of the cars seen on the road today. Every once in a while, a red, dark green or blue stands out from the crowd. And very seldom do you see a bright yellow one but when you do it is usually a sports car and often a convertible sports car.  But they are rare as hound’s teeth. By and large the majority are most often black, white and grey. Here’s how it looked in the fifties.

Cars of Cuba

Or this, the USA in the Fifties?

1957 Lincoln  

 2017 Lincoln

Shapes. The body shapes have changed drastically as well.

I think one guy somewhere in Japan designs all the new cars now. They all look almost the same, kind of frumpy. The trend today seems to be luxurious interiors and all sorts of electronic gizmos.

So long, good luck and have a nice day….