“Hope Laurence is doing well. Miss his photography & writing.”
I get sincerely really annoyed when I see things like this on Curbside Classic each time some old musty content I wrote is unearthed. It’s pretty easy to see that I’m doing well if effort were made to seek out where I’ve been or what I’ve done. I absolutely loathe being dragged back into a graveyard as a ghost. continue reading
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”
If there’s anything to be said about the Mercury brand of the Ford Motor company is that it seemingly was always the Bridesmaid, never the Bride of the medium price market. Routinely batted around by Dodge, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and even Ford at various stages in their history, they never garnered much in the way of big hits.
The one of possibly two times they stood up on their own two legs and offered a semi-unique product everyone wanted was this swanky coupe to the left. Indeed, the 1967 Mercury Cougar was a surprise out of the ballpark smash that Mercury was very rarely able to repeat again.
Continue reading “(Found in) South of Market (San Francisco) – 1967 Mercury Cougar Coupe”
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”
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”
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”
Well Hello.
You might know me as Laurence Jones of Curbside Classic. It’s just appropriate time that I took a leap, and posted my own musings about Automobiles on the internet with my own control, my own pace, and my own style.
Sometimes when you write at a site geared towards straight white men, primarily baby boomers, you might not get a chance to really spread your wings and make those socio-critical connections you might hold dear when analyzing American Consumerism, and one of the proper spoils of it, the American Automobile.
So I find myself, finally, having faith that my own take on the world of automobilia with my own critical lens. I hope that you’ll enjoy coming along for the ride as well.
Dynamic Drive 