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.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally formed in 1852 to provide express and banking services to California, Wells Fargo is one of the best-known banking companies in the United States. It's well known stagecoach logo stems from the company's operations in the mail forwarding business, and Wells Fargo was also involved in the legendary Pony Express during the Express' last few months of operation.

This beautiful stained glass clock is at a Wells Fargo branch in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Vintage Iron

Vintage Iron, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A set of vintage golf clubs. I just like the logo.

Made in Racine

Case tractor, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Not sure when I shot this, but I do remember where-it was at a tractor dealer in rural Somonauk, Illinois. They had several vintage tractors out front, all kind of beat up and rusty, but still proud. This is a vintage Case, from the fifties or so, and still ran like a top.

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.

Speed Demon

Speed Demon, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A faux-vintage sticker on a real vintage motorcycle. I thought it might be real, or based on an old logo, but the "Go Fast or Go To Hell!" tag line rather gave it away!

J.C. Higgins

Bike, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

For almost sixty years, Sears sold sporting goods under the J.C. Higgins name. Originally named after longtime Sears employee John Higgins, an Irish immigrant who began working for the company in 1898, eventually becoming a vice president of the company before retiring in 1930.

The Higgins name continued to be used by Sears until 1968, and the company sold a wide range of sporting goods under the brand, from rifles to golf clubs. This included bicycles, including this farm-fresh fifties cruiser.

Firestone

Firestone, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A vintage repop Firestone motorcycle tire. It's gum-dipped!

Campana

The Campana Building-Batavia, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Campana Building is a landmark in the town of Batavia, Illinois. This Streamline Moderne building received landmark status in the late 70's, and still retains much of it's period style and detail, such as the glass block windows and teal green tile.

It also still has it's neon sign, the logo for Campana Balm, the company's signature product. Sadly it no longer works, and you can see some busted glass in this shot. I don't remember the last time I saw it illuminated, although I know I have. When it was foggy, all you could see was the sign at the top.

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.

Hydra-Matic

Hydra-Matic, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Dreamy, rusty, stately, vintage-y, Olds Hydra-Matic.

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.

Spotlight

Lincoln Continental-spotlight detail., a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Typically found on police cars these days, pillar mounted spotlights were a popular accessory for both cars and trucks back in the 40's and 50's, and a pair of Appleton spots were a custom car standard for years. This one is one of a pair of Unity spots on an old Lincoln Continental that used to sit out front of an old gas station. The car disappeared years ago-I don't know what happened to it.

Tastee-Freez

Tastee-Freez-North Aurora, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Founded in the 1950's, Tastee-Freez originally focused just on ice cream products, but as the chain expanded so did the menu, moving into fast food items as well as the traditional cones and shakes. The chain eventually grew to over a thousand locations by the end of the 50's. Fewer than fifty are still around today.

This one was in North Aurora, Illinois, and was undergoing renovation when I shot this in 2009. The building was completely re-done, but I don't know if the restaurant actually opened up again-I never actually saw anyone inside it. The building's closed up again, and this sign, which was from the sixties, disappeared sometime in July or August 2012.

General Electric

General Electric, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I think we're all familiar with the General Electric logo, in one form or another. This is an old one, probably from the 50's I imagine. It's on an old piece of railroad signaling equipment, which I found in the back of a local trolley museum. Proof that GE has made just about everything down through the years.

South Shore

South Shore, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend Railroad is one of the last interurban railroads in the United States. It still runs today, under the aegis of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. They still use electric trains, and there's even some street running through Michigan City. It's one of the icons of Chicago area railroading.

This is a 1920's era South Shore car, currently on display at the Fox River Trolley Museum in Elgin, Illinois.

Monterey

Monterey, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Mercury's Monterey was the company's jack of all trades, at various times being the entry level, mid-level, and top of the line full-sized offering. Introduced in 1950 as an upscale coupe in the Mercury Eight line, the Monterey became it's own model line two years later, with coupe, convertible, and sedans on offer.

This taillight is from a '61 coupe.

Transit

Transit, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Faded Waukegan & North Chicago Transit logo, on the side of a derelict ACF bus, which is parked out back behind one of the buildings at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Also, it looks like Rebecca was here.