Art & Inspiration When did cool cars become cool ?

Back in the '80s, a close friend of mine was a musician in a local Rockabilly band. Played drums and stand-up b***. Drove a '57 Chevy 4-door, in primer. Drum set went in the trunk, b*** in the back seat. He died a couple weeks ago, way too young. I visited a few days before he p***ed. We reminisced about old times, including the '57. He said he still regretted never painting that car, but at the time he didn't have the cash. I told him it was cool regardless. He made it so.

 

I suppose cool cars became cool when it first became apparent that a car could be uncool by comparison. Surely two bucket seats and a fuel tank were cool when people grasped the advantage that gave over a ponderous Roi-des-Belges affair on a similar ch***is?

The obvious next question is, when did cool cars cease to be cool? I've got my thoughts on the when, but for the present purposes I'll only say that I think there are two factors adding to it: first, there was a time when you had the sense of a car as something cast into a world that was indifferent to it. A car was just an instance of all the different kinds of stuff people might have, like a dirigible or pipe organ or pet elephant. The world wasn't set up specifically to receive cars. I believe that some element of that, or at least some memory, is needed for it to be possible that cool cars could be cool, because it allows a car to stand on its own merits.

We've gradually been losing that. Today a car is expected to plug into a big machine, an expensively established system of mobility embodied in lots of public infrastructure. Cool cars are cool insofar as they are able to defy this in some way.

Public space has been transforming from right-of-way primacy to infrastructure primacy. The public street was once simply a demarcated area where it was generally agreed that anybody may go where they please, and bring their clobber with them. Today there is a freeway in the way. It's weird to think of a freeway as being in the way of your car.

Second, there was a time when you had a sense that owning a car represented owning the parts it was made up of, ***embled more or less according to the OEM's suggestions. They were your parts, with which to do as you saw fit. I believe some element of this is necessary for coolness. Over time the overall composition, the pattern, the Gestalt, became a more important component of your ownership. Today you buy the Gestalt — which is ultimately no more than a thought — and nothing else: the parts don't belong to you in any meaningful sense. This doesn't support coolness, because coolness means owning the parts in order to create your own Gestalt.

 

The above seems to apply to "new" cars.

 

Well Mr. @Moriarity is this in your stable yet? I was going to ask you when I visited but somehow my mind lost track.
Dan

 

1925
stripped off the Ford body and build an Ames bodied speedster out of it.
Fronty head and Buffalo wire wheels

 

Inquiring minds want to know, have you gone to get the 57 Chevy yet Mark, there is something special about owning a piece of family history. HRP

 

BTW, in my youth I disliked 4 door cars, I guess my taste have changed with some of the multi door cars, I have been a die hard 32 Ford nut and for years I had the impression the '32 fordor's were nothing but parts cars, I have changed my way of thinking having owned 2 Deuce sedan's with 3doorss on each side. HRP

 

4 doors without b pillar were cool an always will be....

 

Have you guy’s forgotten Mark has the scaled up 265 powered version of…

 

Thanks to @themoose

Hello,

We actually had different ways to use the cars as cool items as teenagers. It was the whole idea of “anything that rolled on wheels with a motor,” that would take us where we wanted to go was cool. To the grocery store, friend’s houses, high school, and downtown movie theaters were some of the places within 4 miles, but too far to walk if a ride was available. Or, high performance acceleration runs late at night to get the “bugs” out and a smile comes across your face…

It was that idea and the thought of anything that our folks allowed us to use as transportation. Some kids only wanted two door sedans. Others thought anything with 4 doors was what the majority of us grew up in as daddy’s car or the family car. So, when the choice was given or presented, a two door sedan took precedence over a 4 door. But, a two door 41 Buick fastback may be the admired hot rod sedan, today, but back then, they were old folks, parents’, cars for daily driving.

Our dad had a two door Buick fastback and for us as little kids, it was nice. But, for them, each time our parents took us to a place for a vacation or a short visit, the seat had to be moved forward and we all got in the back seat. As the need for larger 4 door family cars came apparent, it was now easier to get into the rear doors for the kids and the parents did not have to open, move the seat and then reverse things before they got ready to drive or go to the destination.

As my brother and I grew older, the two door sedans were the main emphasis for the teens. When one teen was driving a 4 door, everyone wanted to say that driving "daddy’s car" was good for a Saturday night. Ha! Unless the teen was 6 feet 4 and the starting tackle for the varsity football team. The four door was his car from the family and it was free. So, there is that…

Jnaki

As we all got to be teenagers ready to buy our first cars, no one wanted a car that looked like dad’s car. So, 4 doors were out. Then the oldest teen by several months got his license and bought his first car, a 54 Chevy two door Bel Air Hardtop. His parents had a 4 door and a two door sporty car. So that filled the spectrum. Then in succession as the rest of our group was going to buy a teenage car, the 2 door sedans took over. A white 57 Bel Air Hardtop, a 55 two door post sedan and a 56 two door post sedan. There was even a kid that had access to a nice two door 58 Impala, if and when it was called for the teen activities.

But, then it was the oddball, 2 door flathead 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, a 2 door 51 Pontiac, a two door 61 Pontiac and in succession, a 2 door Chevy 2 Nova plus the topper of all toppers… a 2 door 409 Biscayne Sedan. Not a 4 door sedan in all of those cars. One of our group’s teenager had a 4 door Oldsmobile, but that was because, her dad owned an Oldsmobile dealership and that was her first car.

So, not every last teenager had a two door sedan. One of my friends bought a 2 door Plymouth station wagon and he was a surfer. But, also, he liked going camping all over the local forests, deserts and empty beach side places in Mexico. The only exception was one of our younger friends rolled up into the drive-in restaurant parking lot in a 2 door 55 Nomad he bought used. It was stock, but had black rims and tires.

By this time, we were ready to move on to college and that younger group started their 4 year reign of the local cruising scene. YRMV

Note:
I still wanted to be one of the first sponsored traveling surfers. I would represent the Westcoast surf companies as I traveled on the East coast and European coastal cities. A long distance traveling job, doing what I liked doing, while getting paid for the time and energy spent. Yes! And, the boom was just starting at the time...