During these dog days of Summer before life files into the rigor of Fall activities and education, one might daydream about one final cruise under the warm Summer sun.
The more elegant the beast we bask in the better, right? Nothing says luxuriant sunbathing like a Camelot Continental. Ironically we meet up with the penultimate version of this breed of fun machine under foggy San Francisco Summer skies.
Continue reading “(Found In) Bayview (San Francisco): 1966 Lincoln Continental Convertible”
The personal coupe/personal luxury market took many a year to mature into the market definition it would become in the early 1970’s. As strides were made by individual brands in the early 1960s, there was a question of which tactics would be the most successful.
The key elements to this style of automobile were the perfect ratio of luxury, performance, style and accessible price. The 1953 Studebaker Coupes pointed in the initial direction, as did the 1958 Thunderbird. The initial response from all other brands ran a full gamut of responses. Pontiac had a special way of dealing with the dilemma as well.
Continue reading “(Found In) Portola District (San Francisco) – 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix 2 Door Hardtop Coupe”
From the era of General Motors sitting at the top of the world we have what is one of their most solid citizen efforts from 1966. Perhaps this ordinary Buick is the zenith of the American Sedan. Undeniably charming, exquisitely detailed and pretty well assembled are qualities that were part and parcel of any 1966 Buick Skylark.
Credible cushiness and competence helped make the most luxurious of junior Buicks something to pay attention to as the Senior Buicks continued to pack on pounds and even more padding as the 1960’s drew to a close.
Although the least popular of its corporate relatives, the attention these Buicks generated compared to rivals outside of the GM family was genuinely envy endorsing.
Mercury, true to the body in the sky it is named for, never got too far away from the orbit of the (Ford) sun. Sometimes it danced towards being Junior Lincolns, but a majority of the time they spent their existence being nothing but fancy Fords. The one glaring moment counter to that would be the 1957-60 models that did share their body structure with senior Edsels for one year.
Appropriate as we go into Mercury Retrograde, we find one of the finest examples of Mercury appearing barely disguised in its role of “Fancy Ford.” With a smattering of mascara and a burst of blush, make-up was applied to the basic senior Ford body in an attempt to make something special for suburban buyers. Whether that was convincing or not could be summed up by how popular Mercury was compared to its contemporaries.
One would look at this swanky “all new” for 1968 mid-sized Dodge and not see an older “full sized” Dodge underneath.
However, Mopar middle children for nearly 2 decades before they were re-visioned 20 years later back to full sized sedan status can all trace their roots back to the infamous shrunken sales failures of 1962.
Each year more and more sheetmetal distance was put between that failed start and a semblance of success. Underneath however, were the main basic goodies that had long proved these to be rather wonderful choices in the intermediate field.
Continue reading “(Found in) Islais Creek (San Francisco) – 1968 Dodge Coronet 440 4 Door Sedan”
Forward thinking while referencing the past, that’s what the Oldsmobile Toronado wished to do as a new concept in motoring for 1966.
Whether it was fully successful is a question left up to interpretation. As it stands it was a technological tour-de-force, and tempting dead end. Stylish, Suave and Sexy, it was a surprise image leader for Oldsmobile’s Where The Action Is years of the mid 1960’s.
Continue reading “(Found In) The Bayview (San Francisco) – 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado”
American Motors most likely wished that the sun was shining down on their 1965 line of automobiles like it was on this Classic a few weeks ago.
In a booming automotive market during the 1960’s, American Motors decided to diversify away from being the choice of spinster librarians and penny pinchers. They decided to broaden the scope of their offerings away from mere economy champs that racked up multiple wins at the MobilGas Economy run and high resale values based on stout construction.
The goal became to take on the Big 3 manufacturers on their own individual turfs. All 3 low priced brands would begin to offer Compact, Intermediate and Full Sized offerings and AMC was determined to go to war with equivalent models in each size segment.
Continue reading “(Found In) East Oakland – 1965 AMC Rambler Classic 770 2 Door Hardtop Coupe”
Pontiac was decidedly sitting pretty in a number of ways by 1964. When it came to standard American Cars, Pontiac was setting the standard most aspired to. The stacked headlamps and voluptuous hips adoring the rear fenders would be features copied either in part or in whole by brands throughout the automotive spectrum starting in 1965.
In a rosy automotive market Pontiac found itself sitting pretty in the #3 Spot, having dispensed with Rambler and Plymouth and closing in on the three quarters of a million mark of Arrowhead Army members shuttling down American Interstates during the 1964 model year.
Continue reading “(Found In) West Oakland – 1964 Pontiac Bonneville 2 Door Hardtop Coupe”
There’s something always a bit sinister about a car with flat black paint and “Baby Moon” hubcaps. Who knows what’s going on as the driver of this 1963 Dodge 330 Sedan pulled over on West Grand Boulevard to take a phone call? Will his mission report self destruct?
In a lot of ways, the 1963 offerings from Highland Park, Michigan reflected an attempt to make it back from the brink of disaster that their 1962 models had caused. The metaphor for pulling over and rethinking the strategy for success is clearly laid out in the styling morph these almost-Full Sized cars did in one model season.
Continue reading “(Found In) West Oakland – 1963 Dodge 330 Four Door Sedan”
50+ years later and The 1961-64 Impala (and the Full Sized Chevrolet cars in general) loom large in the collector car field. There’s a number of factors at hand that make them so omnipresent so many years later.They’re also a staple of low rider customization. Plentiful examples, plentiful parts and the aspirational nature of the top-tier Standard Chevrolet made it a badge of honor for many consumers of all backgrounds.
Continue reading “(Found In) West Berkeley, California – 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 2 Door Hardtop”
Dynamic Drive 