Laurence Jones 1950's, Basking in Berkeley, Buick, General Motors

(Found In) Northbrae (Berkeley, California) : 1954 Buick Century Series 60 Riviera Hardtop Coupe

24491960910_e9746b5df3_kOnce Buick engineered their Nailhead V8, they weren’t happy with letting their competitors in-house and beyond have the performance crown. Buicks were once known as Banker’s Hot Rods. Returning for 1954 was the quicksilver Century, ready to snatch trophies from in house cousin the Oldsmobile 88, among others.

Along with accessible performance came a new beefier body, and a desire to capture even more sales. On the backs of the B-Body Special and Century, Buick wanted more than the delinquents in suits, it wanted to rob the whole medium price sales bank. In a number of ways they did.
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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, Cadillac, General Motors

(Found In) Visitacion Valley (San Francisco) – 1954 Cadillac Series 62 4 Door Sedan

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Perhaps a Solid Gold Cadillac is a bit of a cliché. But by 1954, Cadillac was pretty much the solid gold standard in American Luxury cars. Their value outweighed and outlasted previous prestige players. Lincoln had migrated into being the darling of road races and Ed Sullivan but no necessarily showroom sales.

Packard found itself in a marriage of desperation to Studebaker and the desired feast for more finned beasts that soon would eventually take their Clippers and other confections to an untimely grave. All the while, Imperials were still technically top rung Chryslers, more image aligned with Buick Roadmasters and Limiteds than Cadillacs.
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