Something slightly different for this week's Neon Friday. I took this at a classic car auction, which had a nice selection of automobilia going at the same time. This included quite a few excellent, restored signs, all working perfectly.
This one's for Bear Wheel Alignment, which was (and is) a major company specializing in wheel alignment equipment. A sign such as this would have been at a service station that used Bear equipment. I've seen quite a few metal and plastic Bear signs, but this is the only neon one I've seen.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Neon Friday!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
TtV Tuesday!
A rusty old Kaiser Manhattan we've seen once before. I think the "found in a shoebox in the closet" look is appropriate here.
It also occurs to me that I've been showing off photos of old cars with my TtV rig, which means I need to get out with it again.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Conti
Formed in 1915 by Henry Leland (one of the founders of Cadillac), Lincoln was purchased by Ford in 1922 to give it something to fight Cadillac.
The Continental was introduced in 1939 as Lincoln's top-line model. Initially developed as Edsel Ford's personal vehicle, the car proved so popular with his friends that it was decided to put the car into production. These first 1940 Contis were essentially hand built cars, with the body panels all hand-formed, as the dies for producing sheet metal forms hadn't been delivered. The attack on Pearl Harbor put a halt to production, which was picked up again postwar and lasted until 1948. Besides being exclusive and rare, these were also the last V-12 cars produced in America.
This sad car is, I think, a postwar example (about 400 coupes and convertibles were built in 1939-40). It was in really sad shape-rusty, with bits of trim and interior from newer cars, the wrong hubcaps, and terribly dull chrome. Still, it looked pretty dignified, as it sat in front of a garage somewhere in the northwest suburbs. It disappeared soon after.
The Continental was introduced in 1939 as Lincoln's top-line model. Initially developed as Edsel Ford's personal vehicle, the car proved so popular with his friends that it was decided to put the car into production. These first 1940 Contis were essentially hand built cars, with the body panels all hand-formed, as the dies for producing sheet metal forms hadn't been delivered. The attack on Pearl Harbor put a halt to production, which was picked up again postwar and lasted until 1948. Besides being exclusive and rare, these were also the last V-12 cars produced in America.
This sad car is, I think, a postwar example (about 400 coupes and convertibles were built in 1939-40). It was in really sad shape-rusty, with bits of trim and interior from newer cars, the wrong hubcaps, and terribly dull chrome. Still, it looked pretty dignified, as it sat in front of a garage somewhere in the northwest suburbs. It disappeared soon after.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Neon Friday!
Must be Friday! This week we're in Crystal Lake, Illinois, for a fantastic bit of retro neon goodness.
The Metro Bowl's sign is pretty old, and it's been modified too-I bet the part where it says "billiards" said something else when this sign emerged from the Nu-Lite shop in Waukegan.
That's actually a detail I like about this sign-the shop's name neatly lettered on it. Most old neon signs have this detail-it's how you can tell if it's been restored or not. In Chicago, and the surrounding suburbs, they all seem to come from one or two shops in the city. Crystal Lake is quite a ways north and west of the city, though-I wouldn't be surprised if Nu-Lite was the closest shop, in Waukegan, 40 miles north of Chicago along the lake shore. The company's still in business, as well.
The Metro Bowl's sign is pretty old, and it's been modified too-I bet the part where it says "billiards" said something else when this sign emerged from the Nu-Lite shop in Waukegan.
That's actually a detail I like about this sign-the shop's name neatly lettered on it. Most old neon signs have this detail-it's how you can tell if it's been restored or not. In Chicago, and the surrounding suburbs, they all seem to come from one or two shops in the city. Crystal Lake is quite a ways north and west of the city, though-I wouldn't be surprised if Nu-Lite was the closest shop, in Waukegan, 40 miles north of Chicago along the lake shore. The company's still in business, as well.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Oscar Mayer
While not the most common rail cars (especially now), box cars are probably the most versatile, with the ability to carry just about anything that can be loaded into it. Originally they were hand loaded, but of course forklifts and other devices have sped up the process. However, box cars are still a good deal slower to load and unload than other types of car, which helps to explain the decline in their use since World War II. They've been largely supplanted by intermodal containers, which can be loaded once at the factory and unloaded once at their final destination.
This happens to be an old Oscar Mayer car. That's right, the hot dog and baloney people. A lot of companies had their own fleets of box cars, which sped up the shipping process a bit and also provided a nice rolling billboard.
This happens to be an old Oscar Mayer car. That's right, the hot dog and baloney people. A lot of companies had their own fleets of box cars, which sped up the shipping process a bit and also provided a nice rolling billboard.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
New Century Adjustable
This is a vintage railroad switch mechanism, which I shot at a railway museum not too long ago. A switch, at it's simplest, is just a way to get a train or railcar from one track onto another-lining the points to send it on the main line or onto an adjacent track. Of course, things get more complicated when you have multiple tracks, different directions, and things like storage tracks, sidings, and plenty of other things I can't think of at the moment. Many switches are operated by powered mechanisms, but at one time they were all manually operated by mechanisms similar to this one. Plenty of them are still in use, too.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Luxury in Miniature
The Nash Metropolitan is a tiny, little two seater coupe or convertible, famed for it's cutesy looks, almost fully enclosed wheels, vivid two toned paint jobs, and it's cartoony proportions.
While most American manufacturers in the fifties were going with a "bigger is better" philosophy, bit player Nash was looking for ways to provide American drivers with more economical transportation. Based on an earlier design study, the Metropolitan was positioned to take advantage of the emerging market for "personal use" cars-second cars for shopping or commuting for shorter distances. Some of the Met's design cues are also directly targeted at another emerging market-of the emerging number of women choosing their own cars. The Nash was the first car marketed directly to women (the Dodge LaFemme came a year or so later)-the first spokesperson for the car was the reigning Miss America, and Nash took out ads in Women's Wear Daily, among other women's magazines.
Built by Austin in England, the little Metropolitan sought to provide a big car feel in a tiny package. To further this, it included such things as leather interiors, standard radio and cigarette lighters, those snazzy two tone paint jobs, whitewall tires, and jaunty little continental spares. It also included this almost comically oversized hood ornament-it almost seems too big for the car!
Finally hitting showrooms in 1954, the Metropolitan received mixed reviews. Testers found the car to be solidly built and nippy around town, but rather slow and noisy at faster speeds. Despite this, the little car sold respectably, garnering about 95,000 sales over a ten year lifespan. The final nail in the Met's coffin was the introduction of cheaper Ramblers within the AMC stable. The Met was always an expensive proposition, what with being built overseas and shipped to the States, and by 1960 you could get a much bigger, more powerful Rambler for only about $200 more.
While most American manufacturers in the fifties were going with a "bigger is better" philosophy, bit player Nash was looking for ways to provide American drivers with more economical transportation. Based on an earlier design study, the Metropolitan was positioned to take advantage of the emerging market for "personal use" cars-second cars for shopping or commuting for shorter distances. Some of the Met's design cues are also directly targeted at another emerging market-of the emerging number of women choosing their own cars. The Nash was the first car marketed directly to women (the Dodge LaFemme came a year or so later)-the first spokesperson for the car was the reigning Miss America, and Nash took out ads in Women's Wear Daily, among other women's magazines.
Built by Austin in England, the little Metropolitan sought to provide a big car feel in a tiny package. To further this, it included such things as leather interiors, standard radio and cigarette lighters, those snazzy two tone paint jobs, whitewall tires, and jaunty little continental spares. It also included this almost comically oversized hood ornament-it almost seems too big for the car!
Finally hitting showrooms in 1954, the Metropolitan received mixed reviews. Testers found the car to be solidly built and nippy around town, but rather slow and noisy at faster speeds. Despite this, the little car sold respectably, garnering about 95,000 sales over a ten year lifespan. The final nail in the Met's coffin was the introduction of cheaper Ramblers within the AMC stable. The Met was always an expensive proposition, what with being built overseas and shipped to the States, and by 1960 you could get a much bigger, more powerful Rambler for only about $200 more.
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