Vintage shots from days gone by!

Back in the early 70's, I worked in a small town garage in Akron, NY.
We sold plenty of recaps then, mostly snow tires.

We had the tire guys coming around all the time looking for tires to recap.
One of the main problems killing the recap industry was suitable cores to recap.
They always wanted a matched pair.
Could not have been plugged.
had to have presentable sidewalls, good bead.
Could not have been worn to the cords.

Eventually, new tires were just about as cheap to make as recapping an old one.

I don't ever recall a recapped radial.
But a lot of early radials had problems due to belt shifting.
Remember the old Firestone 500's?

 

In this instance, it looks like it was done to move the blower down low and actually get to see where you're going. Plus it would have better aero.

 

Thank you. Very good detective work on this.
What an amazing thread.

 

What a great photo on it's own but take a look at the sofa. Remember that mohair-type fabric and how secure it felt to a little kid? I think that's why mohair car seats were so warm and inviting. It made a car ride an adventure in luxury. It made me appreciate the complexity of such a fine machine and the effort to make it. If anyone can find an old photo of an original mohair interior, please post it.

Today cars are so "commoditized" by do-gooders that the ride has nothing, likely as it was intended by them. It offers little invitation for a kid to devote hours and days and years of their life to in that elusive persuit for machinery excellence and craftsmanship. So they hang out at the mall.

 

"That's right, it's a custom hemi with license plate
JIMI, now run the registration for me, over!"



"Cheese it, Tod! The cops!"
"No shit, Buz! We're outta here!"

 

Is it my imagination or does there seem to be a lot of 2-dr cars pictured on this thread from the old days?

 

1955 Ford Research and Engineering center - Styling




Pretty crazy, now a days this scene would be replaced by 3 guys on computers

 

There were a lot of 2 door cars in the old days. Basic attrition. A lot of 2 door cars got turned into stock cars, drag cars and hot rods. A lots of kids bought 2 door cars and trashed them. A lot of old folks bought 4 doors and pampered them.

 

4 doors was an expensive option back in the day. 2 door cars outsold 4 doors by a wide margin.

 

Fresno, 1966 and some more big hair.

 

what a GREAT photo!

 

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Same buildings now - Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh

 

Sharon Tate's dad was a LAPD detective, & from what I can remember he vowed that if Manson EVER got out from prison, he would personally see to it that Manson would be dead within 24 hours.
Of course "charlie" is still in prison & guarded 24/7, but Sharon's dad has since died & heartbroken to the end.

 

Now----Thats a real "DINGER"!!

 

That depends when you mean by "back in the day" and what kind of cars you are talking about. The 'business coupe' with no accessories was cheap, salesmen used them, many had no backseats but huge trunks. By the 50's the pillarless 2-door hardtop was more expensive than the post 4-door sedans. Then the huge variety of models exploded, 4-door hardtops, pillarless station wagons, etc. and the prices were all over the place. The fact is that you could actually carry a family in comfort in a 2-door car including convertibles in those days.

 

http://www.topgear.com/au/car-news/ford-future

 

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/7197/fifty-years-of-mercedes-benz-in-australia

 

Sad part is---Back in those days everyone was working, no computers, about all things were AMERICAN MADE, & the USA economy was buzzing!---Now,pure GREED has set in on most corporations, & operations have moved from USA to foreign countries, resulting in the mess we are in today.
When was the last time you purchased ANY AMERICAN made clothing?????????
Go ahead, how about shoes,cars,trucks,food, & the real biggie'----GASOLINE---90% from foreign source!
Still wondering why 10% unemployment in USA??????

 

http://arizona100.blogspot.com/2010/03/abc-arizona-communities-all-roads-lead.html

 

http://www.cartype.com/pages/103/abc

 

http://www.warisboring.com/2007/07/23/army-overland-train-hybrids-in-the-1950s/

 

The prototype X1 on a test drive in Norway in April 1956

http://www.volvoamazonpictures.se/history/history.html
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http://www.volvoamazonpictures.se/history/history.html