RT

RT, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Back in ye olden days, you could buy your family sedan in a number of configurations, from mild to wild. Usually the manufacturer had a special designation for the top and bottom of the lines - the base models would have some sort of fancy name (if anything), and the racy ones would get something...er, racy. GM had it's SS models, Ford the GT, AMC liked to use SST, and Plymouth used R/T, which meant, of course, Road and Track. This one's a '67 or so Belvedere.

Porsche

Porsche, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I have no story about this photo. I just think it turned out well. Taken on the Porsche stand at the Chicago Auto Show.

Abarth

Abarth, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Formed in 1949, Abarth is best known for it's hot Fiat 500-based racing cars. However, the company also ran a racing team featuring Porsche, Ferrari, and Simca automobiles along with their own products. Aside from racing cars the company also produced performance exhausts for a number of manufacturers, and eventually grew to dominate the Italian tuning parts market.

Abarth was sold to Fiat in 1971, and became the racing department for the company. Many cars built by Fiat's different brands, such as Lancia and Autobianchi, were co-branded as Abarths, and the company also built and ran Fiat's rally team.

Gradually, the Abarth name devolved to a sporty trim level on Fiats, and was all but forgotten until recently. Fiat has since relaunched the name, most notably with the hot Fiat 500 Abarth, of which this is one.

AMX/3

AMX, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The perennial small fry in the US auto market, the American Motors Corporation was always trying new things to garner attention. From unusual styling cues to wild paint jobs, AMC usually marched to a different drum, often out of necessity. The last of the independent American auto manufacturers, AMC was often underfunded and kept models in production far longer than the Big Three did. But, when they splurged, they did it right as evidenced at the '70 Chicago Auto Show.

The AMX was AMC's sports model, a two seater muscle car with lean good looks and big block power. But a lesser-known car was the AMX/3 show car, a mid-engined exotic that clearly aimed higher than AMC's usual competition. Originally an engineless fiberglass show car, American Motors placed an order for 30 runners, contracting with Italian sports car manufacturer Bizzarrini. Using AMC's 390 V-8 and an OTO/Melara four speed transaxle, the running AMX/3's featured steel bodywork and a few detail changes to the styling, but remained true to the show car's Italianesque exotic looks. Road testing was done by none other than BMW, which declared the 3's platform to be one of the stiffest they'd tested, with neutral handling and plenty of power.

Sadly, costs escalated and the 30 car run was ended after a mere five examples left the Bizzarrini factory. They are rare, highly prized, and absolutely gorgeous.

Valiant

Plymouth Valiant #1, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally it's own make within Chrysler, the Plymouth Valiant was the company's entry level range, and had a full range of models. Originally available only with a six cylinder engine, the Valiant was Chrysler's first unit-construction car since the pre-war Airflow.

I spotted this one on a side street in Chicago a few years ago. It was clearly still in regular use-I only saw it the one time in my neighborhood-and I never did get a decent shot of the whole car.

Sawicki Chevrolet

Sawicki Chevrolet, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The logo on an old Chevrolet work truck, a late fifties Viking that's been left to the elements.

And, Sawicki Chevrolet is still a going concern.

The Great One

GTO, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Considered to be the first real muscle car, Pontiac's GTO started out as an option package on the midsized Tempest, and was available in coupe, hardtop, and convertibles. But, instead of a fancy stereo or two tone paint, the GTO delivered a 389 cubic inch mill and a stick shift, and a useful bump in performance. Further options included a Hurst shifter, a three-carb induction system, and a heavy duty ride and handling package.

The big engine/smaller car recipe is a classic one, but one that almost didn't get made. Since the fifties, there had been a "gentlemen's agreement" among the big three to not formally go automobile racing, and to further this, General Motors had a corporate policy limiting engine sizes in their mid-sized cars. Shoehorning the big 389 into the Tempest was against this policy, but Pontiac executives okayed a limited run of cars, fearing it wouldn't find a market.

They were wrong-the GTO went on to sell 10,000 units in it's introductory year, and went on further success on the sales floor as well as on the drag strip.

Ford

Ford, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Return Of TtV Tuesday! This is a 1950 Ford coupe, the famous "shoebox". The '49 got this nickname almost as soon as it hit showrooms, because it was FoMoCo's first properly modern-styled car. The '48, a fine looking car in it's own right, was basically a pre-war model with some styling upgrades. The new car, along with the new '49 Mercury, had smooth, all-enveloping bodywork. More importantly, the Shoebox was still a simple design, and practically begged to be chopped, channeled, lowered, hopped up, and metal-flaked. Truly a classic design.

Naturally, I've shown you the very front of a standard Shoebox!

Parkwood

Parkwood, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Another one from the "Great Chrome Badges Of The World" collection. This old Chevy Parkwood was well seasoned, but had great chrome, pinstripes, a set of Astros, and a big block under the hood.

Doc Hudson

Doc Hudson, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A nicely presented Hudson Hornet sedan. I couldn't tell if it was original or a mellowed older restoration-either way it really popped on the show field.

A surprising number of kids shouted "DOC!" when they saw this car. He won the Piston Cup, after all!

Skylark

Skylark, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally part of the Roadmaster range, the Buick Skylark was introduced in 1953, along with two other special convertibles, the Oldsmobile 98 Fiesta Convertible and the Cadillac Eldorado Series 62. The 'Lark was by far the most successful with about 1600 examples produced that year.

Essentially handmade, the Skylark differed from the Roadmaster in a number of ways. Most noticeably was the lowered windshield and seating, accomplished by the tried and true method of chopping the frame and lowering the seat frames. Between that and the new fenders and doors, the Skylark was basically a factory built custom car.

This one's a '53.

Chevrolet

Chevrolet, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

My first post of the new year, from one of my last photos of the old. This Chevy truck sits disused and abandoned, surrounded by old trucks and tractors in various states of disrepair. Many of them, like this one-tonnner complete with shelling apparatus on the flatbed, look like they were parked when the owner retired. Others look like they suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure and were towed to a far corner and left for dead. All of them are classics, the newest being a mid sixties pickup.

The Fabulous Hudson Hornet

Doc Hudson #2, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Hudson's Hornet was a revolutionary design in the early postwar years, featuring a "step down" design wherein the floorpans were dropped, allowing for the lower roof line that was the car's hallmark. It also allowed a lower center of gravity, which proved to be a bonus on the racetrack, and the Fabulous Hudson Hornet became a force to be reckoned with on the stock car circuit.

Unfortunately, this unique feature would also prove to be the car's downfall. When Hudson became part of American Motors Corporation, the step-down design proved to be difficult to update, and by the mid fifties the Hornet was definitely looking a bit old fashioned. After 1955, Hornets would be based on senior Nash models.

This one's about a '52, and features the Twin-H Power dual-carb engine, the one that made the Hornet's name on the tracks.

Ramble On

Rambler American, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Famous for being a car that goes very fast in second gear*, the Nash Rambler was a popular car in the compact segment. Sold under both the Nash and Hudson names, the model was discontinued in 1955, the new car featured modified Nash "Airflyte" styling, to better integrate with senior Nash models. This, in combination with economical engines and a low price, helped the Rambler to be the first really popular American compact car, and it remained in production until 1955, not long after the formation of American Motors Corporation.

In 1957, AMC was in need of a compact car, something to slot in between the tiny two seat Metropolitan and the larger family sized Rambler Six. Fortunately, AMC had retained the previous model's tooling and it was a fairly simple job to update the styling. The "new" car made it's debut in 1958 as the Rambler American.

The American was well reviewed, praised for it's low price and economy, and proved to be a popular car throughout it's three year lifespan. In 1961, all new styling appeared, ending the Rambler's visual links to earlier "Airflyte" Nashes.

*a reference to the Playmate's 1958 song "Beep Beep".

The Car Of Tomorrow....

Corvair, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

...yesterday! A rusty and crusty Chevrolet Corvair. Trusty, too, as this was a runner-I think the owner was preserving it as found, in a state of arrested decay.

Corvette

Corvette, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Hard to believe, but the Chevrolet Corvette wasn't a successful car when it was introduced in 1953. Rushed into production after making the rounds of various auto shows as a concept, the Corvette received mixed reviews. It looked fantastic, and the first examples sold well, but it soon became apparent that GM's new sports car was more of a cruiser than a racer. It was slower than people expected, and it was beset with quality issues such as water leaks and body panel fit due in part to GM's use of fiberglass for the outer body panels.



These issues were fairly quickly resolved, and the '54 model year cars were better built, and offered more colors to boot. But the Corvette was still a modest performer with it's six cylinder sedan engine, not the sort of powerplant that enthusiasts expected. This changed in 1955, when GM introduced it's new V-8 engine, which naturally found it's way into it's sports car as well. Sales perked up, and did so even more in 1956 when the car gained new styling, roll up windows, and other refinements.

This slightly down at heel example is a '55, with a V-8. I photographed it at a show-it is completely original, having been put in a garage in 1966 and not taken out till recently.

California Special

GT/CS, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Available for only a year, the California Special was a factory built limited edition Mustang, and was an attempt to get some of the Shelby magic to rub off on the rest of the range. The package consisted of Shelby styling cues, such as the Marchal foglights, scoops, Thunderbird taillights, and the Shelby hood. Ford meant to build 5,000 examples, but demand for the California Special fell a bit short.

Ford did this sort of small-market limited edition a couple of other times. A nearly identical car to the GT/CS was marketed in the Denver area as the "High Country Special", and a few years later the "Twister Special" appeared in the Kansas area. All of these editions are pretty rare today, and are an interesting footnote to the Mustang story.

Pininfarina

Alfa Romeo, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Founded in 1930, Pininfarina is one of the world's most famous automotive design firms, as well as a legendary coachbuilding firm. Some of the most famous manufacturers have been the firm's clients, including Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, and Maserati.

This happens to be an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, an unrestored example from the fifties that still sports the Pininfarina crests.

TtV-Bird

A '55-ish Ford Thunderbird, the small two seater ones. As seen through my new to me Argus 75.

Skyliner

Introduced in 1955, the Ford Fairlane was the company's new full sized offering, and proved fairly popular for it's short two year lifespan. The model received a restyle for the '57 year, and along with most of Ford's range the Fairlane grew in size and gained a lower, leaner look. The model also gained a new top-line designation, the Fairlane 500, and a new top, top of the line model, the Skyliner.

The Skyliner was something really special-a hardtop convertible. Retracting hardtops are a bit more common these days, but in the late fifties this feature made the Skyliner unique-it was the only model offered anywhere with such an option. Sadly, although watching a Skyliner go through the motions is a traffic-stopping show, it was an expensive option, prone to malfunctioning (there's a zillion miles of wiring involved), and worst of all took up most of the trunk space. So, only about 20,000 Skyliners were built in '57, and way fewer for the restyled '58 and '59 years.

This one's a '57, and is resting peacefully behind a body shop out in the country. It seems pretty solid-I hope it gets the restoration it deserves.