Photo by Fratguy, 9/6/11
One of the things about living in Colorado that stills thrills me is the number of vintage and classic cars on the road here–it’s almost like California. Although I grew up near Detroit, I never see old cars on the road like the ones we have out here. (They don’t call it the Rust Belt for nothing.) The rest of the nation thinks that we have snow and wintry weather throughout the state ten months of the year, but it’s actually arid and sunny at least 300 days of the year here on the High Plains Desert–hence the cherries we see on the road like this one. And the drivers of these babies are the nicest–I always make a point of waving and giving a thumbs-up so people driving these things, and they always wave back with a smile.
Fratguy sent this to me via e-mail yesterday afternoon–he snapped it in the parking lot of his clinic. Maybe next birthday?
Historiann 
At least you can polish the fender, as Billy Joel once sang. Thanks for that–seldom was a bit o’ fluff more needful. The place to see these babies all over the road (maybe more Nash-Ramblers than Cadillacs, though) as I understand it, is Havana, Matanzas, and places like that. My aging-boomer reverie is to buy the Tampa Bay Rays, move them to halfway between Hav-Mat, rename them the “Maulers,” play in the National League, and now, thanks to this post, buy one of the above, fill the glove box with unsmoked segars, and have a little fun for a change. Probably not, though… Great post!!
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p.s. Oh yeah, and not only close down the Guantanamo “facility,” but return it to the island to which it rightfully belongs.
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Sorry, I don’t dream of cars no matter how sexy they look. The picture is a beauty as are many such old car starting with Model A. Used to see many of them in Southern Maryland a place 60 miles from Washington very few know. They have their own accent.
Survival of the fittest seems to apply to objects too. Old cars, old buildings, old bridges, etc. all look great many years later. The ugly objects just die away.
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I like that application of Darwin to the material world, koshem bos. I think you’re right–good design tends to survive more than bad design, in part because it’s better design.
I also think it’s key that old things survive the decade/s (or more) in which they’re out of fashion. The “50s apartment house, bleak in the 1970s sun” was probably most vulnerable in the 1970s and 80s to demolition, but if it has survived to the present, it might be around for another 150 years.
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I know some folks who do a nice business in moving engines South and West and car bodies North and East. That western dust can be hell on engines. Meanwhile, the snow may rust an exterior, but it has to be pretty extreme freeze to crack an engine block. You tend not to see the older cars on the road in the East, because they are garaged more to protect them from the elements. But driving South on 95 recently, we hit a parade of classics heading to or from a rally. I drove Photo gal crazy with “what was that?, what was that?” as we drove by.
The parade tied up traffic on 95. The cars were doing about 55/60 in the right lane, which is fine and they were pretty well spaced out. But everybody who passed them would slow to get a look which just jammed things up awful for miles behind it.
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Wednesday night at the Big Boy in town, all summer long. We usually try to make it up there to see these beauties. I always lusted after the ’57 Chevy and the ’65 Mustang. Doubt I’ll ever get one. Oh, well! It’s always good to have a dream.
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Wayne Carini, host of the TV show Chasing Classic Cars, was a high school friend. His restored cars are gorgeous! I particularly like the bright blue 1937 Bugatti, though I wouldn’t want to own it, even if price were not an issue; these gems can cost more than new luxury cars: http://www.f40.com/
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My high school boyfriend had a red ’57 Chevy…it was his Mom’s first car and she’d kept it in mint condition and passed it on to him. Great car!
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I ride by this place on the bus every day. Had I a license to drive, I might go for the 1956 Ford Fire Truck with functional siren, lights, etc., but where would I get the water?
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A Fantastic Car. A buddy of mine in high school had an unrestored 50s Chevy with the pink and grey paint scheme. It looked awesome in its faded glory. (I went to HS in Southern California).
Good design does last, but so does quality manufacturing. I have a 1978 BMW R100S, last of the 1970s superbikes. It totally outlasted the Harley Davidson and Triumph motorcycles of the same era in terms of reliability and durability. Happily, both Harley and the reborn Triumph have gotten their manufacturing acts together.
I really want a 1960s Porsche 911.
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I am a sucker for classic cars even thought I don’t like to drive. Go figure.
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Matt L: Fratguy and I each had rides in a friend’s 1967 Porsche this summer–I’ll see if I’ve got a decent photo of it. It was sweet!
GayProf: Ever since you drew my attention to the Dodge Charger I’ve shared your lust for muscle cars. But like you, I wonder what role a car like that would play in my RL.
And pedestrian: you wouldn’t want to pump water through a 1940s vintage truck. (Water + 02 = . . . )
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I would totally give my left fucken nutte for that beauty!! Literally!!
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The car is beautiful! We purchased a 1972 Chevelle convertible about a year ago. It was something my husband had wanted to do for some time and wanted it to be something for he and my father to enjoy together. Admittedly, when we bought it, I was somewhat indifferent to it. Well, guess who now LOVES the car? That’s right…me! Little compares to cruising in a classic car – espeically a covertible!
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I’m with you H-Ann, I grew up loving old cars. I passed my driver’s test when a 57 chevy went past as I was taking the test and I stopped to watch. The guy testing me proceeded to tell me all about his first chevy. It was a bonding moment for us, which I was thankful for because I’d already failed the test once. Now my dad collects vintage cars. After losing money in the stock market in the 90s he figured he might as well lose his money on something he enjoyed. He has the yellow studebaker used in the movie Chinatown (the actual car from the movie). It’s an interesting collection of quirky old cars – I love them.
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