True story. It was late in the summer of 1957. I was 10 years old and my bicycle was my transport all over the little town I lived in. I knew a lot of kids and we'd ride everywhere. One of the kids was the son of the local Ford dealer. In those days, car dealers were not multi millionaries. They were just regular folks, like the guy who owned the hardware or the grocery store. The car dealer lived down the street, went to our same church , his kids went to the same school, and we could ride our bikes to his house and holler "EeeeAwwwwwKeeee" and his kid would come out and ride with us. Well we were all car crazy kids, riding around making car shounds with out bikes and we all wondered what would the '58s look like. Turns out the Ford dealers son said his dad had 2 1958 Fords stashed in the garage and covered up. OMG ! We snuck in the garage and pulled the covers off. OMG again! We saw them - these 1958 Ford Fairlane 500s and they were beautiful. They had grooves in the roof and 4 tailights. In those days it was a secret what the cars looked like until introduction day, and we had seen them early. It was incredible and I still think the '58 Ford is beautiful although I've never had one. The next year the same thing happened with the '59 Chevy. America was a different place back then and new car intro day was a BIG day in town. It was a wonderful beautiful way of life. My grandkids will never ever know what it was like and that makes me sad. But I remember.... mmmm show me a '58 Ford ..... and I will remember.
I dig it man. Wish I was a part of that generation ... the creeks and streams I grew up playing in all have hazardous waste water postings these days .The fields and old train tracks all made way for subdivisions and metro rail and the playground equipment is all molded plastic. Its a different world for all of us after some point.
yep, I remember those times, cars would be disguised during road testing so people couldn,t see what the new models were like, it real secret mens business
Almost 1958 but the summer of 57. Graduated high school in the cl*** of 57 that had a dream. Got first full time job. Got married. Bought small one bedroom house. Bought three rooms of used furniture. Bought first car project, a 1931 Model A Ford. Got first wife pregnant. Thought the 57 Chevys were ugly and the 57 Fords were fine machines. Thought the 58 Chevys and the 58 Fords looked great. 1958. Had first baby boy and still playing with the Model A Ford and first wife. Two more kids later and one adopted to prove it. Retired 1994. Moved to Florida and took a bunch of old cars, adopted son, and first wife. Still playing with old cars and first wife. Fast forward to 2012. No Model A but a few other old cars to play with. Still playing with first girlfriend. Think most new cars look like ****!
When I began to get fasinated with cars, it was always a must for my dad to get my brother and I loaded in the station wagon for a trip to the dealerships. This was during the muslecar wars and it was wonderful. My dad finally got his first new car in '72 and although I tried, a stationwagon was the vehicle of choice over a SS Chevelle. Although he did convince my mom it needed the 454bb option. Go dad!
The showroom smell!!! It was great. My walk home from school, way over 2 miles, p***ed every showroom, except Ford. I would get home with every brochure I could carry. Oh, and not to mention the free hot dogs and give away goodies, but the SMELL!
In 1958 all the Police cars in Fort Worth Tx. were Fords. It was easy to tell after dark when,you saw quad head lites or tail lites that more than likely it was the cops. If you were doing something you shouldn't be doing like racing,trying to steal hubcaps or parking & necking. They were pretty much the only ones that could afford a new car in 1958, it was a recession year. '58,'59 & '60 were tough times for new car sales around here.
I can rember in late 1957 . I was sitting in the back seat of my folks car on are way to visit grandma. I was 10 yrs old and already cars were in my blood." Well back to the story" I spotted a black 1958 chevy Impala. I have never forgot that moment. It was a great time for great looking cars. My$.02
I remember those days. I was still a Pup in 57 but I knew Ford's were better looking than the Chevy's that year. My second car was a 57 Fairlane 500 and I've owned at least 1 every since. I currently have a 57 Fairlane 2d Ht, a Convertable, and a Del Rio, a 58 2d Ht and a 59 Fairlane Galixie 2d Ht. I guess you could say I never lost the Love. The Wizzard
That's a great story, thanks for sharing it. It's the little bits like this that give texture to the tapestry of the American experience. Without them we're left with two dimensional snapshots in some history book, (e.g. 1958 Ford, see illustration.) What am I talking about; they don't even bother teaching history in schools anymore.
And it was you Baby boomers who screwed everything up. You got rid of your Detroit Iron and bought a Datsun or Toyota in the 70s
In the sixties I worked at a Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC light truck dealership. New car showing was a big deal! The dealership was scrubbed and polished, flowers arranged in the show room, miniature models of the cars were given away or sold.and people dressed like for church. I had all the miniature models from that era but I have no idea what became of them? In '64 the new GTO was unceremoniously unveiled. This was in the upper mid-west and took place in October instead of the preceding year!! The Pontiacs were between 2 and 3 thousand dollars.
We had a white 4 door 58 Ford custom 300/blue interior - it had cool "gunsights" on the fenders - a chrome ring with a clear insert, and a gold ball in the middle. 223 6-cylinder-about 145hp, 3-speed column shift. The speedometer showed over 100mph, and I know for certain it worked at least once
Remember when the Chevrolet's were shown on Sunday night on Bonanza for the first time? The iconic 64 on needle rock? I didn't care that much about the show but those ads were very special... appointment TV. Back then you could tell if it was a new car just by looking at it. If you can tell a new Chevrolet from a Honda you are a better man than me. It was a big deal for us to be the first one to identify the year and make of all the cars from the back seat as we rode. I remember thinking that they made sooo many VW bugs until I had an oh yeah moment... the body never really changed for many years.
In 64 my Dad and I were at a small town Ford agency waiting while they serviced his new F-100. The salesman took us out to a shed in the back and let us "sneek a peek" at a new 4x4 they were to introduce in a few months, a little truck called a Bronco! I thought that was so cool. Yeah, the new car intros was a big deal, every September you could count on Dad taking us and spending a whole Saturday going to all the dealers whether he was in the market for a new car or not, didn't matter!
In 1958 I was driving a 1957 Ford (1st photo) still own it,only 47000 miles. Other as it is today---------LOT of kustom work between photos. TwoChops
We could listen to the cars going past the house and quess the make and year by the sound. Then look outside to see if you were right. Easily amused
Beautiful car. I had one while in high school in '67, but mine had the optional dual headlamps (I hated them) and rust package, but I still liked it. When I was growing up in a small town, I liked all the cars, especially the unusual ones, like the old guy across town who had a Henry J, or the neighbors up the street who owned a Vauxhall. I started working at the local Ford dealer at age 15 mowing gr*** and washing cars. I remember the owner hiding the new cars until the showing date, it was really cool. When new cars came on the car carrier, we all went out to watch the driver unload them. Later, I was the one who would prep the new cars; putting on the wheel covers, radio antenna's and prepping them for sale. In '69, I was prepping a new LTD 2 door, and I got the radio antenna from the trunk and proceeded to install it, only to find the car had been ordered by a lawyer WITHOUT a radio. No problem in those days.
This thread makes me remember sitting behind my Dad driving his 56 Olds, smoking a cig, and with the speedometer bouncing around at like 90. I was just leaning over the seat watching. Windows down and not a care in the world. Good times.
yep all good times & you could even work on your you car without having to be a diagnostic wizard & have a fortune tied up in equipment. Discharged from the service in june of 56 & left ohio in jan of 57 for the hotrod scene in so cal. Never looked back. Have a GREAT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND & don't forget to pay your respects to all the service women & men.
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