Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
September 22, 2007
September 18, 2007
' 55 Mercury ( "Honeymoon Merc")
This car belongs to a Mr. Jimmie M. Clark here in Pampa who also happens to be a long-time family friend. (That might be presumptuous of me, but he stated he knew my grandfather and is also a friend of my uncle. Any connection to me should NOT be held against Mr. Clark. -grin-)
Mr. Clark also owns a '57 Bel Air convertible, featured earlier.
At first glance, it looks boxy and nothing like the sleek styles of today, but I'm so glad I gave it some good attention.
(click any pic f/ larger view)
In 1958, Mr. Clark was a young man in the Army, based at Fort Polk in Louisiana. On his last leave before being discharged that fall, he took a bus to Houston and saw this car and bought it on the spot for $950.00.
You can see a doofus taking a photo of that photocopy of the invoice and cancelled check posted on the inside of the window.
(I told Mr. Clark that I wouldn't post that last photo as it had personal info. on it. "I don't care." he declared. "That's not my p.o. box number anymore, go ahead!" )
I like this shot, it's as if the car is smiling, enjoying the attention. It sure attracted a lot of admirers and I had a hard time, especially later in the day, taking unobstructed photos of any car being shown.
The KFC bucket is for donations to the Coffee Memorial Blood Center; you voted for each vehicle with money.
Back to the story: Mr. Clark came back home after his stint with Uncle Sam, and while riding around town in his "new" car, he met his lovely wife-to-be and married her a few years later. (and she's STILL lovely because Mr. Clark also brings along a photo album and will show you her pictures, both then and now. I don't blame him; I'd be proud of her, too)
I had been up at the show earlier and taken some photos, then came home and transferred them to my computer. When I saw the next shot, framed without any intention, I knew I had to go back up there and tell him of the great "accidental" shot I had taken with the Mercury sign in the background.
The car is lovely, but I'm particularly attracted to the bumper, so solid...simple, yet elegant. The hooded headlights also are like sleepy eyes above the "grin" of the bumper, making the car seem to be alive.
I almost expected it to wink at me.
If you've got the time, Mr. Clark will tell you that he took his new bride to Colorado for their honeymoon back in 1960 in this car. He'll show you photos of the car back then, shoe polish messages scribbled all over it (horrible to think of that NOW!) and the obligatory tin cans tied on the rear bumper.
I can just imagine her sitting close to him on this wide front seat on their trip to the mountains.
Thanks to the new innovative automatic transmission, the "Merc-O-Matic", the proud groom could keep his new bride...now Mrs. Clark... snuggled close with his free hand!
Mr. Clark drove the car nearly every day from the time he bought it until '73, then he garaged it until 1991 when he started restoring it, a job that took six years.
He then took his wife on a second honeymoon back to the very spot they had stayed on their first, driving this same vehicle, now beautifully restored. He had a photo of the old motor lodge where he and his bride had stayed the first night, closed and run-down. He said it was now demolished.
Plenty of room in this trunk for a bride's trousseau!
(Heck, it's big enough to HAVE a honeymoon in! *grin*)
Mr. Clark said he once had some different fender skirts for it, but these are lovely. I wrenched my back getting up from this shot.
Love the whitewalls! The hubcaps have the god Mercury on them.
A lovely old car.
(as old as ME *sniff* and in much, much better shape! *sigh*)
One of the best hood ornaments ever created!
The car was featured in some auto magazine, a copy of which Mr. Clark has in the window:
There's one photo I wish I had taken; Mr. Clark's 92 yr. old mother had tatted a beautiful doily for the back seat. You can make it out in the frontal shots posted above if you'll view the large versions.
Hope you enjoyed this! This has been one of my most favorite posts I've done since starting this blog!
Mr. Clark also owns a '57 Bel Air convertible, featured earlier.
At first glance, it looks boxy and nothing like the sleek styles of today, but I'm so glad I gave it some good attention.
(click any pic f/ larger view)
In 1958, Mr. Clark was a young man in the Army, based at Fort Polk in Louisiana. On his last leave before being discharged that fall, he took a bus to Houston and saw this car and bought it on the spot for $950.00.
You can see a doofus taking a photo of that photocopy of the invoice and cancelled check posted on the inside of the window.
(I told Mr. Clark that I wouldn't post that last photo as it had personal info. on it. "I don't care." he declared. "That's not my p.o. box number anymore, go ahead!" )
I like this shot, it's as if the car is smiling, enjoying the attention. It sure attracted a lot of admirers and I had a hard time, especially later in the day, taking unobstructed photos of any car being shown.
The KFC bucket is for donations to the Coffee Memorial Blood Center; you voted for each vehicle with money.
Back to the story: Mr. Clark came back home after his stint with Uncle Sam, and while riding around town in his "new" car, he met his lovely wife-to-be and married her a few years later. (and she's STILL lovely because Mr. Clark also brings along a photo album and will show you her pictures, both then and now. I don't blame him; I'd be proud of her, too)
I had been up at the show earlier and taken some photos, then came home and transferred them to my computer. When I saw the next shot, framed without any intention, I knew I had to go back up there and tell him of the great "accidental" shot I had taken with the Mercury sign in the background.
The car is lovely, but I'm particularly attracted to the bumper, so solid...simple, yet elegant. The hooded headlights also are like sleepy eyes above the "grin" of the bumper, making the car seem to be alive.
I almost expected it to wink at me.
If you've got the time, Mr. Clark will tell you that he took his new bride to Colorado for their honeymoon back in 1960 in this car. He'll show you photos of the car back then, shoe polish messages scribbled all over it (horrible to think of that NOW!) and the obligatory tin cans tied on the rear bumper.
I can just imagine her sitting close to him on this wide front seat on their trip to the mountains.
Thanks to the new innovative automatic transmission, the "Merc-O-Matic", the proud groom could keep his new bride...now Mrs. Clark... snuggled close with his free hand!
Mr. Clark drove the car nearly every day from the time he bought it until '73, then he garaged it until 1991 when he started restoring it, a job that took six years.
He then took his wife on a second honeymoon back to the very spot they had stayed on their first, driving this same vehicle, now beautifully restored. He had a photo of the old motor lodge where he and his bride had stayed the first night, closed and run-down. He said it was now demolished.
Plenty of room in this trunk for a bride's trousseau!
(Heck, it's big enough to HAVE a honeymoon in! *grin*)
Mr. Clark said he once had some different fender skirts for it, but these are lovely. I wrenched my back getting up from this shot.
Love the whitewalls! The hubcaps have the god Mercury on them.
A lovely old car.
(as old as ME *sniff* and in much, much better shape! *sigh*)
One of the best hood ornaments ever created!
The car was featured in some auto magazine, a copy of which Mr. Clark has in the window:
There's one photo I wish I had taken; Mr. Clark's 92 yr. old mother had tatted a beautiful doily for the back seat. You can make it out in the frontal shots posted above if you'll view the large versions.
Hope you enjoyed this! This has been one of my most favorite posts I've done since starting this blog!
September 16, 2007
The Blood Bus
At the car show yesterday (Saturday)
Nothing special about the bus, not as a vehicle (the mission it is on is a good one, namely to get folks to donate blood) but I thought the mural was cute:
September 15, 2007
1929 Model "A" Ford
This belongs to a local man and is not only seen at events such as these, but just toodling along around town. I agree with the owner's sentiment, that it's something to be enjoyed and not just looked at or parked away in a garage.
A distinctive profile from head-on with the engine covers up.
The spare was easy to get to, but you would've had plenty of practice changing tires back then, I reckon. Not a lot of roads, and the interstates were still a quarter century in the future.
The rumble seat; those would be nice now on any model, especially with unruly kids. A few hours of riding along in the rain or snow would change their attitudes. Good place for a mother-in-law, too, come to think of it.
The view from the rumble seat, also good for backseat driving.
"Hey, watch out for those kids!!!!"
Mr. Schiffman, the owner of the vehicle, informed me the motor was something like 40 horsepower. I commented that many riding lawn mowers these days have that many or more and he laughed and agreed.
Not much to it: gas, spark - pretty easy to troubleshoot. Probably would run on three cylinders out of the four it has. I expect it got fairly decent gas mileage, too. Even if it didn't, gasoline was about a dime a gallon then.
He told me that the generator wouldn't put out enough at idle to light the headlamps.
He got in to start it up for me; I heard a rough low growling, then the noise stopped, I stepped closer and the growling was louder and then again it stopped. Then Mr. Schiffman found his key and stuck it in the ignition and then I saw the dog that sounded much like a Model A starter.
Sounded pretty good (the old engine, not the dog. Mr. Schiffman sounded pretty good, too.)
You'd need to learn how to shift a manual transmission and without any power steering, you could probably win arm wrestling tournaments after a few months. 2-35 air conditioning. (Drive 35 with two windows down)
Another good thing: not a lot of dashboard instruments to confuse you.
No radio, either. You'd have been forced to take along your boombox or mp3 player. -wink-
A distinctive profile from head-on with the engine covers up.
The spare was easy to get to, but you would've had plenty of practice changing tires back then, I reckon. Not a lot of roads, and the interstates were still a quarter century in the future.
The rumble seat; those would be nice now on any model, especially with unruly kids. A few hours of riding along in the rain or snow would change their attitudes. Good place for a mother-in-law, too, come to think of it.
The view from the rumble seat, also good for backseat driving.
"Hey, watch out for those kids!!!!"
Mr. Schiffman, the owner of the vehicle, informed me the motor was something like 40 horsepower. I commented that many riding lawn mowers these days have that many or more and he laughed and agreed.
Not much to it: gas, spark - pretty easy to troubleshoot. Probably would run on three cylinders out of the four it has. I expect it got fairly decent gas mileage, too. Even if it didn't, gasoline was about a dime a gallon then.
He told me that the generator wouldn't put out enough at idle to light the headlamps.
He got in to start it up for me; I heard a rough low growling, then the noise stopped, I stepped closer and the growling was louder and then again it stopped. Then Mr. Schiffman found his key and stuck it in the ignition and then I saw the dog that sounded much like a Model A starter.
Sounded pretty good (the old engine, not the dog. Mr. Schiffman sounded pretty good, too.)
You'd need to learn how to shift a manual transmission and without any power steering, you could probably win arm wrestling tournaments after a few months. 2-35 air conditioning. (Drive 35 with two windows down)
Another good thing: not a lot of dashboard instruments to confuse you.
No radio, either. You'd have been forced to take along your boombox or mp3 player. -wink-
1941 Ford Coupe
(click any pic f/ larger view)
A copy of the original sticker:
And a reflection of a big doofus.
EDIT: 5/27/09
I've noticed quite a few hits on this post; thanks to all who have stopped by.
The car was at a small show this last weekend and I took a couple more photos of it, but one was almost identical to the first one above. This one was different enough that I thought it would be worth posting.
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