Laurence Jones 1960's, Down In Daly City, Ford, Ford Motor Division

(Found In) Westlake (Daly City, California): 1961 Ford Falcon Deluxe Tudor Sedan

12348518_10153171487722201_1228274483_nThe Ford Falcon walked away with the sales crown in the compact car race in 1960. Proving to be a splendid combination of thrift and simplicity, the Falcon set all rivals scrambling for a more simplified piece of the pie.

Where was the Falcon to go for its sophomore year? A little more glitz, a little more muscle of course. It was a Motor City Machine after all. Once the basic needs of American consumers are met, they always want more. It was a lesson Ford learned early on, and quite painfully with the Model T, and there was no time to waste when it came to keeping the Falcon up with the times.
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Laurence Jones 1960's, Ford Motor Division, Lincoln, Outside in Oakland

(Found In) Cleveland Cascade (Oakland, California): 1968 Lincoln Continental Hardtop Coupe

12357984_10153180981312201_1785917170_nAlthough a styling revolutionary, the 1961 Lincoln Continental wasn’t exactly a sales champion. The infinite varieties available for consumption in Cadillac showrooms allowed the Standard of The World to consistently outplace its Dearborn bred rival throughout the 1960’s.

By 1966, Lincoln was through with making due with a two model system of a basic 4 door Sedan and the ultra-rare and unique on the American market 4 door convertible. The standard bearer of post-war automotive affluence, the Two Door Hardtop Coupe, returned that year, and grew ever more distinctive each model year.
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Laurence Jones 1960's, Ford Motor Division, Mercury

(Found In) Lower Haight (San Francisco, California): 1964 Mercury Montclair Breezeway 4 Door Sedan

9319740544_48560d26f0_zFor the life of the brand, the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company struggled to figure out its image within the American Automotive marketplace.

Initially perched as the up-market solution to the vast gap between Ford and Lincoln, Mercury found that pound remarkably deep and wide, full of competition not only from General Motors and Chrysler, but some well-regarded independents as well. Matters weren’t helped much by which season the Mercurial brand was aligned with being a “Fancy Ford” or a “Cut-Rate Lincoln.”
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Laurence Jones 1960s, Ford Motor Division

(Found at) Fort Mason (San Francisco, California): 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible

12233406_10153136886362201_131286300_nImitation is considered the finest form of flattery. The stylists at Pontiac had the biggest confidence booster in the form of imitations from multiple brands for Model Year 1965. From cars as diverse as the Mercury Comet to Fraternal Luxury brand Cadillac, brands adopted Pontiac’s signature stacked headlamps. Some also adopted the fullness at the ‘hips.’

No brand got flack for it more than Ford. Their mostly revamped under the skin Full Sized Models were derisively called “The Box the 1963 Pontiac came in.” Burned by that assertion, Ford massaged the look to mesmerize buyers and critics the following seasons on sale. From hips sprouting pubescent curves and a bit more rake to the headlamps, The 1966 full sized Ford strived for a unique identity all it’s own.

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Laurence Jones 1960s, Ford Motor Division, Station Wagon

(Found In) Bayview (San Francisco): 1967 Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon

11846368_10152984186537201_439502704_nFord Motor Company was not the leader in complete volume sales that General Motors was during the 1960s. They were the “Wagon Masters” however. When people wanted to haul more than just their kids; perhaps gear, perhaps a boat or trailer, they sought Dearborn designed delights more often than not.

In the afterglow of the heyday of Ford Station Wagon dominance some 50 years later, folks forget that not all that came down the line were Di-Noc wood paneled Country Squires for upper middle class WASP families in tree lined suburbs.

Indeed, there were slightly more thrifty modes of moving the family around in the Ford Showroom throughout the Sixties, and this beautiful Country Sedan is a Radio Flyer Red perfect example that you didn’t have to blow the budget to get the family to Yellowstone.

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Laurence Jones 1960s, Ford, Ford Motor Division, Thunderbird

(Found In) Alberta Arts District (Portland): 1962 Ford Thunderbird Landau Two Door Hardtop

11830178_10152970839432201_804884135_nThe truth of the matter is, even if the Ford Thunderbird wasn’t the absolute best choice in its field, it definitely found itself being a trend setter. Although I don’t consider it the first and foremost Personal Luxury Coupe it did carry the sales torch in that genre for more than a decade.

Glittering gadgets, glamour and unique styling were one way that the Thunderbird stayed ahead of the rest of the personal nests from the best of the manufacturing world. In 1962, Ford tested two distinct oceans of taste. One of those was an homage to the baby bird stages of the Thunderbird’s life, and another that would see it through many years of middle aged bloat before it became a fit senior citizen.

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Laurence Jones 1960s, Ford Motor Division, Lincoln

(Found In) Bayview (San Francisco): 1966 Lincoln Continental Convertible

11853886_10152968638602201_1167306201_nDuring 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.

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Laurence Jones 1950's, Ford Motor Division, Lincoln

(Found In) The Bayview (San Francisco) – 1954 Lincoln Capri 4 Door Sedan

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Once upon a time in the early 1950’s, all the major American Luxury Brands retreated from reaching for the highly bespoke luxury stratosphere. Informed by World War II solidarity and Korean War rationing, long gone were the days of custom bodied cruisers for the rich and famous.

All Luxury cars proved much more of their worth in terms of tangible features and performance. Notably, Lincoln, like Packard moved slightly down-market, to be considered in choices alongside Oldsmobile Ninety Eights and Chrysler New Yorkers alongside their traditional Cadillac and Imperial contemporaries.

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Laurence Jones 1950's, Ford Motor Division, Outside in Oakland

(Found In) Lower Bottoms (West Oakland) – 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Club Victoria 2 Door Hardtop

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Only in 1959 would this be considered the most conservative mainstream automotive choice. But in a field that offered the last of the Suddenly, It’s 1960! Plymouths and the Batwing Chevrolet, the Full sized Fords found themselves in a similar position to the 1957 Chevrolet.

They came to the market upright, with most of the teething problems from previous seasons mostly filtered out. In the year reeling from a decade of even more debaucherous vehicular access (some of them still in the Ford Extended Family showrooms), the 1959 Ford was an automotive Alka-seltzer that would wind up walking away with the ultimate sales prize by the end of the year.

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Laurence Jones 1960s, Ford Motor Division, Mercury

(Found In) Inner Richmond (San Francisco) – 1962 Mercury Monterey 2 Door Hardtop Coupe

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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.

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