Walking through a classic
car show, I find it difficult to see the machines with their highly-polished chrome and perfectly-upholstered seats as much more than art. Even attending the
Woodward Dream Cruise recently, where the streets were jam-packed with classics in their native environment, wasn't the same as being there in the 50s and 60s.
The
Jalopy Journal, however, ran across a forum on a site called
SkyscraperCity that takes those same highly-restored cars of today and puts them where they belong. Right back in the 50s and 60s. The photographer was obviously trying to capture skylines and city scenes of the era more so than the cars, but that's why the dozens of
color photos posted there are so attractive. Here are the cars we love today in settings when they were nothing more than transportation. Those aren't expensive
reproduction whitewalls, those are
whitewalls. That 1966
Mustang in St. Louis is nice and shiny not because someone spent $5,000 on a new paint job, but because someone just spent $5,000 on a new
Ford.
But even though the cars were probably meant to be secondary elements, had the photographer not captured the occasional automobile, most street scenes would have looked much the same as they do today. Which shows how intertwined the automobile is with American culture and history.
Enjoy the photos, find your favorite, dream. But I got dibs on that black early 40s pickup truck in New Orleans, as well as at least one of those '56 Chevys in Des Moines.
[Source: SkyscraperCity via Jalopy Journal]
The
Jalopy Journal, however, ran across a forum on a site called
SkyscraperCity that takes those same highly-restored cars of today and puts them where they belong. Right back in the 50s and 60s. The photographer was obviously trying to capture skylines and city scenes of the era more so than the cars, but that's why the dozens of
color photos posted there are so attractive. Here are the cars we love today in settings when they were nothing more than transportation. Those aren't expensive
reproduction whitewalls, those are
whitewalls. That 1966
Mustang in St. Louis is nice and shiny not because someone spent $5,000 on a new paint job, but because someone just spent $5,000 on a new
Ford.
But even though the cars were probably meant to be secondary elements, had the photographer not captured the occasional automobile, most street scenes would have looked much the same as they do today. Which shows how intertwined the automobile is with American culture and history.
Enjoy the photos, find your favorite, dream. But I got dibs on that black early 40s pickup truck in New Orleans, as well as at least one of those '56 Chevys in Des Moines.
[Source: SkyscraperCity via Jalopy Journal]
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