Vintage shots from days gone by!

The top picture made me do some thinking,it sure looks like a mid 50s car but a dual master cylinder and what looks like a egr valve on the motor then it hit me as it must be a Checker.

 

As congested as traffic is in downtown Boston these days, it’s hard to believe that the streets once looked like this. This panoramic view of Haymarket Square with the landmark Custom House in the distance was shot from a vantage point on an upper floor of the Haymarket Relief Hospital. Note the Chevrolet and Purity billboards and three Model A Sedans just to the left of the Subway Station. You can see it all in enlargements on The Old Motor.

 

The first picture in #72848 is I believe a Checker assembly line.

 

Dago, that's not a vacuum cleaner. It's a hair dryer. I have 5 sisters and I can remember when all five had one going. The noise sounded a lot like the active runway at a Strategic Air Command base during a scramble!
Not only were they loud, but when you get five girls trying to talk and be heard above them, the racket was unbelievable!
I haven't seen, (or heard!) one of those things in years. I guess I'm just lucky!

Robert

 

Model K Ford. I've had the chance to ride in a couple of these and they are just absolutely amazing cars when compared to the other models Ford was offering at the time. First and last 6 Cylinder Ford for some 40 or 50 years.

-Tim

 

I can't tell from this photo, but is that a fabric covered sunroof, or metal? Surely it's not just an open top!
Knowing how 'innovative' that Studebaker tried to be, it wouldn't surprise if it was open.
Back in the early 80's, there was a cab company in Dallas that had several convertible taxis, but they were used by appointment only. I think they had 4 or 5 of them.
That's one way to see the city!

Robert

 

No more candy for this bunch! Look at the boys eyes! He HAS to be on a super sugar high!

Robert

 

Looking at the grin on the guy at far right, seems like he got a polish before the pic was taken.

 

Co.E 34th Armored Reg.,5th AD at the Desert Training Center is buzzed by a pair of A-20 bombers September 1943.

 

There is a thread of Model A Ford related Crash pictures over on the Fordbarn for those who might be interested.



-Tim

 

Boston.

 

Okay, the Ford Thunderbird was, at least until 1968, IMHO, a classic personal luxury car. Ford managed to avoid some of the excesses of other carmakers during the early days of the "Space Age".
But as these clays show, they could have gone the other way.

BTW, these are not in chronological order.


Dated 1961, this was a potential 1963 model.


Pretty close to the final configuration for 1961. It seems from this view that only minor trim changes are left to do.


Don't you just love those headlight pods? Reminds me of the experimental XB-51 bomber.


My gues is that this dates from about 1957- or 58, during the very early stages of the design process. Some of the styling elements, such as the hump over the rear wheels dates back to at least 1952. So does the cantilevered roof. This isn't a very attractive design, but you can see the beginnings of the 1961 T-bird emerge.


Can you imagine driving this thing during the middle of the summer? You wouldn't need an air conditioner, you'd need a refrigeration plant!


Getting closer. That fender emblem probably weighs more than some cars today!

Okay, the next few came as a surprise to me. I had no idea how much the T-bird influenced the Lincoln Continental. But as you can see, many of the elements made it into the 1961-68 Continentals. In at least one shot, you can see where the tail lights seemed to have influenced the full-sized 1962 Fords.









This one, to me, looks like a cross between a Continental and a Soviet Zil limo. Not a pretty combination to my way of thinking. Dated 1958.





Hope that you guys like these. I found them rather fascinating. From idea to production, the evolution of a design is an interesting process. What is stylistically acceptable changes pretty quickly it seems. Sometimes, that's a good thing. A very good thing.

Robert

 

I believe this is a Skytop. It was a factory option. I have seen a few of these but never on a commercial vehicle. It was a fabric sliding sun roof, similar to those found on many European cars at the time.

 

An Interesting Tale: The 1919 Ballot Indianapolis 500 Team Racing Cars

With the Indianapolis 500 weekend upon us, we are very pleased to be able to present excerpts from a fine article about the historic 1919 Ballot team racing cars originally written by noted English automotive journalist David Burgess-Wise for the Revs Institute and the Collier Collection. In it, he recounts the tale of how Ernest Ballot and Ernest Henry pulled off the near miraculous feat of producing a team of three race ready cars from initial design to finished product in the incredibly short time of 102 days. He then goes on to give us an accounting of the trials and tribulations that the team encountered after arriving at Indianapolis and on through to the finish of the 1919 race.

See the detail complete post with a dozen photos, including period magazine articles on The Old Motor.

 

Yes, a turboprop. Suitably modified, of course.
From the Wikipedia article:
"The Bristol-Siddeley Proteus was the Bristol Aeroplane Company's first successful gas-turbine engine design, a turboprop that delivered over 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). The Proteus was a two spool, reverse flow gas turbine. Because the turbine stages of the inner spool drove no compressor stages, but only the propeller, this engine is sometimes classified as a free turbine. The engine, a Proteus 705, was specially modified to have a drive shaft at each end of the engine, to separate fixed ratio gearboxes on each axle."

For the complete article on the CN-7, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebird_CN7

Kinda puts the Bugatti Veyron to shame, doesn't it?

Robert

 

I'm pretty sure that this is not a B-57. I think that it's a Canberra with the Royal Air Force. Note that the canopy is offset to the left side, which no American version ever used.
Of course, I could be wrong, but I don't think that I am. Another clue is that these guys on the ground are wearing what appear to be uniform shorts. I don't think that the US military ever authorized dark shorts like them.

Anyone know more about that?

Robert

 

An Interesting Tale: The 1919 Ballot Indianapolis 500 Team Racing Cars

With the Indianapolis 500 weekend upon us, we are very pleased to be able to present excerpts from a fine article about the historic 1919 Ballot team racing cars originally written by noted English automotive journalist David Burgess-Wise for the Revs Institute and the Collier Collection. In it, he recounts the tale of how Ernest Ballot and Ernest Henry pulled off the near miraculous feat of producing a team of three race ready cars from initial design to finished product in the incredibly short time of 102 days. He then goes on to give us an accounting of the trials and tribulations that the team encountered after arriving at Indianapolis and on through to the finish of the 1919 race.

See the detail complete post with a dozen photos, including period magazine articles on The Old Motor.

[/QUOTE]
Those carburetors look interesting.

 

Oh yeah......INDY!!!

 

This is the TES-3 Mobile Nuclear Power Station of 1961.
Yes, NUCLEAR. It was mounted on a Soviet T-10 tank chassis that was lengthened and otherwise modified for the task.



It produced between 1.5Mw and 8.8Mw of electrical power, (sources vary), not to mention huge amounts of radioactivity. It was also mounted on a pair of wheeled chassis modified from mobile ICBM launchers.



What a terrifying idea! Can you imagine having a Mobile Chernobyl in your neighborhood?
Especially when you consider the dismal Soviet track record concerning nuclear accidents. Scary stuff!

Robert