Art & Inspiration When did cool cars become cool ?

Hard to beat a hard top 4 door 57 .

if the Willy’s was “ uncool “ new

this must have turned a few heads when new !

 

You had to dig the jive and become hip before you could become cool...

 

My only “reply” is a “then and now” thing.
Back in the 70’s all those cars I thought were ugly, etc, I now like. I won’t mention them for fear of ******* someone off.
For me things got “cool” the older I became

 

kinda like this ?

 

I with you, the car i'm working on right was/ is the kiss off death...no body worth their salt wanted a more door Cdan,... but,.. we had a vacation house at lake havasu and I wanted a car to take down to the thursdat hotrod meet up, and wanted to be able to haul 4......anyone that has a girl friend that can slide between a bench seat and the door post on a model A is dating a blow up doll...

but, as said, times have changed and model A's became popular...I'n my era, cool was a 32.... period...every thing else was behind...

when i had my streetrod shop I used to say.... don't build a model A, cost just as much to build a 32, and the 32 will be worth multible X more and easy to sell when your done.... now people buy 30 coupes and say, come over and check out the deuce I just picked up...lol I'm like wheres the 32, oh it's a 30 deuce...

anyway... try'n to make the more door half cool....

aluminum head built 32 banger ,39 trans juice brakes, 35 wires..32 grile, and soon to have 32 gas tank...

 

stone woods and cook... come to my mind when I think g***er willy's



that and big john

 

Well I didn't think it was that cool when he bought it in 1955 but that 55 Buick Special 4 door sedan is a dead ringer for the one my dad bought at Hall-Harmons motors here in town. Dad went down to buy a new Pontiac and mom had a fit over the Buick.

 

REALLY looking forward to seeing the "Group Photo" of all Moriarty's cars out on the front lawn with this one in the middle.

 

Something I’ve always wanted to do is buy a cheap car ( a 4 door 57 with family history is amazing )

Stuff a 350 under the hood in virtually stock form with a 700r4 trans and a decent hwy geared rear .

mall brakes and suspension gone through and the car is essentially a dead nuts reliable daily driver . Nothing fancy but runs and drives as it should and require minimal maintenance and fussing .

I know it’s O/T. But a TB injection SBC from the mid 90’s would fit the bill perfectly for reliability sake , you can hide the wiring pretty easy and dress it up like a carburetor engine .

amyways I like the idea .

 

@Moriarity You know you have to have it now, kind of like the Uncertain T The suspense is killing us. Actually other than the moss the car looks pretty solid.
Dan

 

Coming from the Model A world, we always had a sedan (mine now) so I always liked 4 doors-some better than others. When Model A's were younger in the 60's everyone wanted a roadster with a rumble seat. They even converted the trunks over. Now with families and grand kids they want sedans and trunks.

My 57 wagon is a 4 four door because- well it was the shiny object thing. But I like her. She is not a dragster (didn't buy her fir that) so the extra doors don't bother me. To me she is/will be cool.

Mike

 

Only thing is, 4 door tri-5’s in decent shape aren’t really “cheap” anymore…ie like from 30-40 years ago cheap.
But I get ya, less into it to start off than a comparable 2 door, and still have smiles for miles.

 

cars became cool when I was 7 and Hot Wheels came out.

can't think of any American car built before 1965 that does not have a degree of coolness no matter how many doors it had so long as it is stock or modified tastefully.. old cars can be modified to be not cool.

out of 30 something cars I've had 2 with 4-doors. both cool. My 1949 Chevrolet sedan was EXACTLY what I was looking for, faded green paint and all the accessories with an added bonus of a 350/auto

my 1962 Cadillac Sedan DeVille had the same roof as the 2 door, that was a great car to pile my buddies in and go out and have fun. that was 34 years ago, I would not leave it in a parking lot unattended today. too easy to steal.

 

When Did Cool Cars Become Cool ?

When they were used as transportation vehicles to various surf adventures. We were able to drive along the Westcoast of So Cal during our longer road trips from our Westside of Long Beach house.
Photo: Killer Dana Cove, Dana Point, CA 50+ miles one way down the vast coastline of So Cal.


Hello,

We were young enough to drive to the So Cal beaches from our Westside of Long Beach house. At the time, any car or station wagon if available was the preferred method of getting to the beach with our surfboards. For us, it started in 1958-59, when my brother went surfing with his first longboard. It was not until 1960 that I got started, going with him in his pristine 58 Impala. now, that was a sight to behold.
Two brothers, two longboards sticking out of the Impala, tooling down PCH to get to Huntington Beach, almost 20 miles away. The Dana Point Killer Dana parking lot (above) was where we saw the most of our friends, when the surf was good and consistent. The parking lot was full of cars, trucks, station wagons of all makes and models. No one version stuck out more than the others. Whatever got anyone to the beach was the “cool” method of transportation.

Later on, the Flathead 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery (front row center) took over the surf transportation means as it had more room and camping abilities if needed...

But, as the history was going on long before we got on the scene, old folks used to just grab whatever car or transportation they could get their hands on to go farther south to Dana Point and farther yet to San Onofre Surf Club’s Camp Pendleton’s private surf spot.

Jnaki

What everyone calls “cool” cars today are what most of our era teenagers and older folks used for daily drivers. Around the late 60s and early 70s, the older Model A versions were popular and the magazines pushed the 32 models as the pinnacle of hot rodding. But, that was the editorial speak for this is our choice. Not all hot rods were 32 models.

Today, we would still like a 65 Chevelle 2 door station wagon with our choice of mods. Not, a 32 or Model A … we are beyond those choices. To us, those old cars we see today on the road are all cool and they far surp*** the current crop of camaros and other modern sedans. But, we are old hot rod folks from the way back time machine, like old hot rods and custom cars, while still around and healthy. YRMV

 

I think the more doors make it easier for some one the get into the hobby without having to take out a second mortgage to buy a duece or tri 5's . My friend bought a '62 Dart wagon for 13 k the big one before they shrunk it's got a nasty 440 in it with cop wheels and dogdish caps orange on the bottom and white roof . It's awesome he piles his wife a 2 girls and off to the car show! It's a respectable ride, and it gets rollin'

 

Candy apple red streched T-bucket is the ginchyest. Kookie talk for cool.

 

"T's" and "A's" teens thru 1932, 32's thru 37's thru 1940, 40 thru 1954's thru 1955, 1955 thru 58, from there up "It doesn't matter they're all too new to matter.

 

Cool cars, beauty, art & insanity are all in the eye of the beholder...

 

I remember in high school I got a job at as a petroleum transfer engineer at a local ARCO and the owner drove a midnight blue, Mercedes SL 500 ragtop with tru spokes. He let me drive it once in a while to fetch parts, it was KEWL! The guy with the body shop next door on Halsey, drove a lowered Lincoln Mark V, black on black on black, tru spokes, moon roof, Damnnnnn Geena!
Cool? I couldn't afford to scratch the cover off cool back then.

 

Some cars we see at rod trots and cars and coffees weren't cool when they were new, weren't cool when guys my age drove them to high school in the 60's because their dad got a deal on them from some local guy he knew and aren't cool now but are loved old settled for cars that are old enough to slide past the not cool body style or brand or model thing now.
My 55 buick 4 door hardtop wasn't that cool in 1966 but my buddys girlfriends always wanted to take it when we went on double dates because it was comfortable and the underseat heater really kept it warm. Plus the 4 doors were nice even in the summer with all the windows down.
My 48 pickup wasn't cool in 1973 especially when I showed up at the street rod nationals in Tulsa with my entry tag stuck in the windshield and some clown at the gate went on a rant that it was a 53 and he wasn't letting it in. He was about one more mouth off from an *** beating when his boss rolled up in a golf cart and told him to back off and shut up. Even for the next four or five years you seldom saw one at a rod trot in those days.

 

Cool depends on a number of factors.
some cars are just cooler than others.
age is one of the factors.
the style of the car is another factor.
but in general If it's old it's cool. take a 59 Cadillac for example. when they were just a late model used car they were not cool. especially the four doors. maybe when they got about 20-25 years old then they started becoming cool.

 

Stopped by a friend's house this morning he showed me his newest toy a '57 Chevy wagon lowered 4 SPD with a '70 Lt1 notched bench for the shifter. 2 tone dark charcoal roof over silver with torque thrust ! Absolutely gorgeous, 25k.

 

He is actually selling his '57 nomad to a friend who lost his '56 handyman 2 door wagon in a garage fire ! ****ed totally.

 

I think when someone started parking them in old, long ignored barns and garages until some young kid who got some money together to finally put together that one car that he saw in the old Rod & Custom magazines.

 

My dad is 75 and he doesn't remember any 4 door stigma, in this area a V8 two door sedan was practically a sports car! In fact most new cars were 4 door six cylinders, dairy farmers didn’t have much need for horse power on the street.

What dad does remember is a stigma about cars with automatic transmissiosn, and A/C.

He drove a 4 door 58 Del-Ray to high school (Cl*** of 67) it had an automatic transmission, it was a two bbl car but his friend he bought the car off put a 4 bbl intake and carburetor on it. Dad had collected all the parts to change it a manual but sold it before making the swap.

He talks about one of this cl***mates driving a 57 Buick Roadmaster 2 door and everyone trying to figure out way he would want to drive an old man's car.

 

55-57 GM hardtops were just spot on, I am a huge fan of a 1955 Roadmaster 2-door hardtop but I wouldn't kick a 1957 four-door hardtop out of the driveway either.

 

Cars became cool when baby boys first opened their little eyes and could recognize shapes and objects that pleased them. Which caused them to speak, COOL…. So all cars have been cool forever. Just depending on the persons needs some are cooler than others!

 

This big Caddy Fleetwood 4 door, has always been one of my favorite cool cars.

 

Cool cars became cool when two guys agreed on it.

 

Thats me as well.