History Came across this old add, never seen one back in the day

Never saw them when I was growing up in the 60s, but I bought an NOS set off of Autotrader maybe 30 years ago. Not to use, just to have sitting on a shelf of cool stuff in my ba*****t. Also have a pair of cast br*** fins that mimic early Cad fins, and use Caddy taillights, that I bought for the same reason.

 

There was a pair of these on a 1950ish Dodge sedan in a guy's back yard, they had dug out a bunch of old cars out of the woods and were selling them. I wanted those fins, just to hang on the wall, but they didn't want to sell parts, only whole cars, and that car had nothing else good on it so I had to p***. They looked just as awkward as they do in that ad. Not something I'd want to actually run on a car, but something I'd love to have just to display.

 

I seem to remember something like that in an old J. C. Whitney catalog.

 

Very cool. I wonder what the price was back then

 

Think they were about 5 fins back then.

 

Love this line: “Adjustable for perfect fit”. I guess that depends upon who does the adjusting.
At least it doesn’t say: “Installs in minutes”.
Thank you for sharing!

 

Whole lotta schlock sold back in the day.

 

Here's another bolt on restyling kit for Chevy, Pontiac or Olds. HRP

 

^^^^ Solid br***....wonder what those would cost in today's market!?

Eastern Auto.......wonder if that is Western Auto's cousin?

 

Seems there was more than one company trying to cash in on the tail fin craze.



And this man has a set on his car. HRP

 

. . . and kept the originals.

 

Studebaker Hawks 1957 - 1961 had some beauties.

 

I have some Jem brand bolt-on fins that are supposed to make a 49-52 Chevy car look like a Cadillac, but they were smaller and had an all-chrome housing so you wouldn't have to paint them to match. They look really tacked on compared to the Finliner ones, which at least integrate into the fenders a bit more and got color matched.

That's a great pic above, the car's got all of the accessory bumper guards and flipper full wheel covers on it too.

 

Not to mention the cool Phillips oil truck in background.

 

yeah

 

A bit more t******* and figuring out how to finish off the tail section.

 

Ha, and people laugh at kids and their spoilers!

 

clearer picture....it's from 1958 catalog, btw

 

“Man oh man” that would make my car look like a million bucks!

 

Forget the fins, I want the "Impala-type" rear fender trim!



If you look close, they couldn't even get it aligned properly in the illustration. Now that's authentic.

 

Sure it's crooked, but it "carries out the sculpturamic theme" and that's what's really important.

 

Really does remind me of today. Lit up vent lights. Kids today are throwing lights under their cars. Goes to show ya, it's in the blood! Lol

 

J C Whitney had so much cool... um... Stuff, yea, stuff, back in the day...

 

I kind of like the Cad tail lights for the Chevy

 

United Marine was not far from my old neighborhood, and it was right across the street from Swope Park. Definitely not an industrial area, more like a commercial building in a residential neighborhood. Weird.

 

I'm going to try to use "sculpturamic theme" in a conversation sometime this year. Impress all my friends. in low places.

 

These are on ebay!!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/1346100302...9&brand=Custom&_trksid=p2510209.c100903.m5276

 

the picture