Todays old cars that were your daily driver yrs past

[Merc63]

Originally Posted by The Continental

Nice Falcon, what color is it? What's the story on when you sold it?

It was a matte tangerine with a pearl white roof. Before I moved from Seattle to Baltimore, a friend decided he realy wanted teh Falcon, so I traded for his '92 Toyota minitruck (I only had about $700 total into the Falcon including purchase price), which I put a custom paint job on and traded in on (and got $5k in trade for) a '99 SVT Contour for the move to Baltimore.

Originally Posted by Nick99

Perhaps, but I think the coolest cars then are much cooler than the coolest of today, and the average ones then cooler than today's average ones.

The problem is we feel that way about them NOW, simply because the old cars are old. When they were new or 10-15 years old, they weren't very cool at all, and that was reflected in their selling prices used. My '62 Comet was a 16 year old car when I got it in high school, and while it could be considered cool NOW, it was just an old economy car and not even slightly cool then. So we have to watch the rose colored glasses when looking back at the "cool" factor of older cars.

Personally, I think most cars today look alike. It takes a long hard look to distinguish between many models.

This is a common theme, and I've heard it every decade since the '80s. Unfortunately for the person saying it, they forget that cars of each era looked nealy identical to every other car of their era and role. Even if you don't know what an actual model is, you could easily tell a car is from, say, the '50s due to shared styling cues of that era. Same for the'60, and '40s, and '30s. There's literally more differences between two Ford models today than between competing BRANDS in the '30s. And if you don't know the cars of the era, you're simply not going to be able to tell them apart. I like to use the example of a 1931 Ford and 1931 Chevy. I mean, the differences come down to the number of louvers on the side of the hood, the tip top of the radiator grille shell, and slightly different cowl lines.

Fords:





Chevys:





Even if you don't know what this following car is, you can tell WHEN it's from by the shared styling cues, and the fact that in every era, cars of similar roles looked alike.



How well you distinguish between different makes in each era, calssic to modern is determined by how interested you are IN that era. But not by the actual differentation within the era itself.



(BTW, the car in the last picture is of a Whippet that I took a picture of in South Dakota).

[Steve Bagu]

Love the spokes on the Whippet. Early day cookie cutters compared to the 911 Porsches and some of the other makes now days.

Do know/remember that early cars had wire spoked wheels. Now days new after mkt wheels are reintroducing the spokes...saw that on Barretts Auction last nights resto cars.

Trend always is bringing back old ideas for the new younger generation.

[wit-nit]

1929 Model-A Ford
1939 Ford Sedan
1941 Pontiac Sedan
1948 Dodge Coupe
1950 Ford Custom 2dr
1960 Ford Starliner 2dr
1961 Renault
1962 Triumph Spitfire
1962 Ford T-Bird
1963 Ford Lil' Red Wagon Pickup
1968 Ford Sedan
1970 Plymouth Fury
1971 Plymouth Fury
1972 Plymouth Duster
1973 Dodge Charger
1974 Ford DeTomaso Pantera

[Nick99]

merc, your pics are of really old cars. I never said any cars of that era were cool or distinctive in their styling. I said the 50s, 60s and 70s. Anyway, agree to disagree. But I will say this, I don't know many people nowadays who are passionate about their cars, unless we're talking real luxury or unique cars like Audis. I know many older people who cannot by any stretch be called nostalgics, who have a special gleam in their eye when they talk about cars they owned back in the day. Not just their first car either, for which every car-owner holds a special place in their heart. Nor were cars a novelty back then.

[The Continental]

50s-70s cars certainly had more styling to them. Plus cars were a bigger part of American culture back then as well. Drivers were more in tune to the cars with less gauges, computers, dash icons, etc. Those era of cars are much more distinguishable than today's standards. That era also had more vivid colors. In the 80s more cars started having smaller engines and fwd as well which just isn't the same as older cars.

[Merc63]

Originally Posted by Nick99

merc, your pics are of really old cars. I never said any cars of that era were cool or distinctive in their styling. I said the 50s, 60s and 70s.

I used those becaeu it's easy. But the exact same can be said for the '50s, '60s, and '70s, as I mentioned in that post (had you bothered to read it). Ask anyone who isn't into '50s cars to identify one, and you may not get the actual model or make, but they WILL know that the car is from the '50s simply becaeu cars from the '50s ahve a distinct style for their era. They shared those cues:





Move forward 5 years:

[img]hhttp://assets.speedtv.com/images/easy_gallery/963221/1956mercurymedalist_m.jpg[/img]



In both cases, you and I KNOW the cars, so we can tell what they are. But you notice that each pair shares a lot of similar styling cues. Side window forms, windsheild shapes, headlight surrounds, rear quarter panel bulges. the trim lines are slightly differnt, and the grilles are slightly differnt, but overall very similar. As similar as any two MODERN cars. And easily identified as cars from their era: you can tell they are from the '50s at a glance even without knowing what actual cars they are.

Same with cars of the '60s and '70s (and '80s).





It's easy to see exactly what era both these cars came from, as they share the era styling cues, from bumpers to side window trim widths, etc. If you dont' know the cars of that era, you wont' know which they are, but you WILL kow what era they are from, due to those shared styling cues.

Cars from similar eras and similar roles always shared styling cues, and have from the beginning of time. Saying they are "now starting to look alike" simply means that you aren't interested in telling the differnce between modern cars. *I* can tell the difference between them at a glance, just as easily as I could the cars from the '50s and 30s.

I don't know many people nowadays who are passionate about their cars, unless we're talking real luxury or unique cars like Audis.

Wow. Then you don't know many modern Mustang, VW, Honda, Subaru, Miata, etc fans, do you? Owners clubs abound for new cars, with huge numbers of passionate owners. You should have seen the members of the PT Cruiser club I belinged to. And VW fan websites are HUGE, with guys very passionate about their GTIs and Jettas. Same for the Honda crowd. I'm a member of a Lexus website (lextreme) were peoel are fanatical and passionate about their Lexus models, and hot rodding/customizing them (I'm a member there because I've been working on installing a Lexus LS400 DOHC V8 in my '63 Mercury Comet).

Simply put, YOU aren't interested in newer cars, so YOU haven't bothered to talk to or meet anyone who IS. But that lack of interest in you does NOT corespond to a lack of interest, period.

[SpeedyAZ]

After attending the Barrett-Jackson auto auction this past week, I'm thoroughly interested in learning more about some of these vehicles. It's amazing how some cars that may have cost $2000-$3000 new in the 1960's now are worth upwards of $100K (and sometimes MUCH more). Unfortunately, I'm too young to have been able to own a classic or muscle car 50 years ago but my dad has had some amazing vehicles ranging from the big boats from Lincoln and Cadillac to muscle cars. I wish I knew all the vehicles he has owned from when he first started driving, I'll have to ask sometime if he has them written down.

[Steve Bagu]

In 1946 after the end of WW11 my dad placed a $100 deposit on the future delivery of a 1947 model Chevy.

One yr and one day later the dlr calls and says they have a Fleetline in and to come and pick it up or it would be sold to the next person on their list. Dad did pick it up.

Going ahead to the 48 model yr. Can anyone recall a distinct minor easily missed change GM made on the 48 model over the 47 model?

[SeaG]

Originally Posted by nitram

1929 Model-A Ford
1939 Ford Sedan
1941 Pontiac Sedan
1948 Dodge Coupe
1950 Ford Custom 2dr
1960 Ford Starliner 2dr
1961 Renault
1962 Triumph Spitfire
1962 Ford T-Bird
1963 Ford Lil' Red Wagon Pickup
1968 Ford Sedan
1970 Plymouth Fury
1971 Plymouth Fury
1972 Plymouth Duster
1973 Dodge Charger
1974 Ford DeTomaso Pantera

Your list is like a collectors dream! Well done.

Mine is eclectic, although not as interesting(Listed in ascending order of ownership):

1960 DKW Sport MT, looked like a scaled down 57 T-Bird
1960 Frontenac MT, Canadian version of Falcon
1960 Riley, British sedan with MG motor
1964 Acadian Canso MT, Canadian Pontiac model
1970.5 Camaro MT, My first new car 400+ HP after I was done with it
1975 Buick Skyhawk AT, got married!
1972 Ford E300 Van AT, camper van - have kids
1978 Westphalia AT, more camping with the kids
1980 Datsun 510 MT, sold to help pay mortgage
1967 Lincoln Continental, dad gave me this one from his collection of 5 (62-67)

And I agree with Merc63, it all depends on how you look at it - I think my current car is as good or better than my favorite (the Camaro).

SeaG