Dreams Of A Shinier Yesterday

Dreams Of A Shinier Yesterday, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

It's that Cadillac again.

Blast Off

Jet and rocket imagery was everywhere in the atomic fifties, and few companies took to it as much as General Motors. For a while their cars had rockets and swept wing jets everywhere, especially at the front. This one's an Oldsmobile Rocket 88. I totally dig the contrails molded into the sheet metal of the hood. You don't see that level of detail anymore.



Olds got an extra rocket at the back, too.



This sporty number's off a Pontiac



This one's a Buick, I think. It also looks more like a torpedo, but whatever.



And finally, a tribute to Northrop's flying wings, courtesy of Pontiac.

Ultramatic

Fading Glory, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A 1952 or 3 Packard sedan. I think it's a 300 or maybe a Patrician, but there were no badges to suggest this. It was sporting an Ultramatic automatic transmission, though.

I found this car in a tiny rural town in Illinois, parked in front of a rundown repair shop amidst a complex of grain silos. I don't know how long it sat there but I went by a few weeks later and it was gone. I've said it before, it's best to just stop and look when you get the chance.

V-8 Ford

Ford's Model B, introduced in 1932, was an important car for the company. Aside from being a replacement for Ford's long-serving Model A, and fixing a few of that car's shortcomings, the new model would also provide a platform for Ford's brand new V-8 engine, the legendary Flathead. This was a bigger deal than many today realize-previously, anything bigger than a four-pot was the preserve of expensive luxury marques, not humble working class Fords. Finally, Joe Average could enjoy some of the performance of Joseph Moneybags, even more so if he was handy with tools because the new Ford engine was pretty easy to soup up and make more powerful.

The classic Model B, it seems, is the legendary '32, the Deuce. It's the one that all the hot rodders got and it's the one that everyone still likes to build today. But the Model B lasted until 1935-a heavy restyling job for the '33 season brought more flowing lines to the car, as well as some new trim and more power. This graceful hood ornament is on a '33.

Make a date...

Oldsmobile Rocket 88 #2, originally uploaded by William 74.

...with a Rocket 88!

Famous from the song, Oldsmobile's "Rocket" 88 was a precursor to the muscle cars of the sixties. Using the lighter body from Oldsmobile's six cylinder 76 model, and the company's new, powerful "Rocket" V-8 engines, the 88 was a fast, comfortable car, and a favorite on the burgeoning stock car racing scene.

That engine was the key to the car's success, and led to my favorite detail of the '53 pictured here. Rocket imagery was already popular in the fifties, and the swept-wing motif was a popular styling cue at General Motors. So it was natural that Oldsmobile would have rocket plane hood ornaments. What kills me are the contrails molded into the hood. You just don't see that anymore!

Chilly Dog

Chilly Dog, originally uploaded by William 74.

The iconic Mack bulldog, a face only a trucker could love.

This one is a B-61 tractor, probably a late fifties example if I'm not mistaken. I like the B series trucks-they have a really nice, late 40's style to them, with lots of nice brightwork. The cab is also quite small by modern standards-about the size of a pickup cab-and it's quite Spartan inside, with plain vinyl trim and lots of painted meta, all in traditional Mack green. The outside's orange, and pretty faded, but the truck does run. I'd love to see it restored again.