A Few More Things Automobiles Have Lost Over Time Part II

TWO-TONE EXTERIORS

There was a time when the beauty of a car was one of its most prized attributes. Cars were sleek and stylish.  The early twentieth century was a highpoint for the automobile, and during that time auto makers made sure to compliment their innovative, elegant designs in stunning multi-colored beauty.  The 1950s, in particular, were the time of two- and sometimes tri-tone color schemes as the sleek and shapely bodylines of the designs provided fine boundaries for colors to meet and mash.

            The colors were vibrant and varied, and they were thrown together to create a great assortment of diverse color schemes. Bright colors were matched with black for dramatic flash.  Matching shades of a single hue made for class and elegance.  Most any color could be matched with white. One of the most striking combinations was the popular black-and-red color scheme that screams 1950s Americana. Another one of my favorites of the chrome-and-fins era was the gorgeous charcoal-and-coral scheme offered on 1955 Chevy’s.

            Cars don’t come from the factory with rich colors like that anymore—they haven’t the shape for it.  The majority of today’s cars are monochromatic and formless blobs, melting Jellybeans idly oozing their way down the road.  Older cars are finely sculpted pieces of kinetic art.  They are low, long and wide not for improved handling but for a graceful and gliding appearance as they move down the road.  And like a fine painting these pieces of rolling art exhibit a deliberate and stimulating use of color.

WRAPAROUND WINDSHIELDS

Wraparound or panoramic windows are another styling cue unique to the 1950s.  These windshields turned the corners of the cars with elegantly curved glass which was not only stylish but pushed the pillars to less visually restrictive positions. When paired with the thin front pillars of the day and the hardtops that had no center pillar, the wraparound windshield helped provide unobstructed visibility and a spacious open-air feel.  I especially like the inwardly angled shape achieved when a wraparound windshield was paired with a wraparound rear window like on the 1958 Chevy Impala. Another one of my favorite designs of the 1960s is the elegant sweptback styling Pontiac achieved by pairing a wraparound windshield with a beautifully curved ultra-thin rear pillar.

THIN AND DECORATIVE STEERING WHEELS

I don’t believe there has been a truly beautiful steering wheel since the standardization of the airbag. Airbags ruined the steering wheel with their rubbery bulkiness. Before airbags steering wheels had far greater potential for alluring design. They were thin yet over-sized.  They could be flashy chrome and color or they could be wood and brass. The use of a chrome horn-ring made for an elegant and popular circle-within-a-circle affect. There were also cars like 1960s Pontiacs and Chryslers that used translucent steering wheels that placed the Sun’s radiance in the hands of the driver. 

1918 Oldsmobile

1934 Packard

1934 Cadillac V-16 with banjo style spokes.

1950 Oldsmobile 88 with gull wing (slightly bent) top spokes.

Notice the wonderful combination of polished chrome and brushed steel.

1947 Buick Super 8

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado

1956 Mercury Montclair

Porsche with a lovely use of chrome and wood.

the classic and stylish station wagon

I feel station wagons have fallen decidedly out of fashion in past five to ten years. Station wagons seem to get shunned by society. They are turned away as drab, unexciting implements that have long been obsolete. They were first replaced by minivans, then sport utility vehicles and more recently crossovers.  For the new models that closely resemble the classic station wagon the automakers create new terminology, such as sport utility and crossover, anything so long as they evade the stigma of the station wagon.

It seems the station wagon is the relic of another time; maybe a better time.  It’s a shame station wagons are not more fully embraced today, because in their hay day they were truly something special and important to the American family, and yes, even exciting.  Since they were largely a product of the ‘50s and ‘60s, the glory days of the American automobile, they were highly stylish.

1950 Buick Estate Woody

1967 Pontiac

It was a time when bigger was clearly better--making low, wide and long the current vogue in auto design. The station wagon was in excellent taste. Its three rows a seating and cargo space gave purpose to the long sweeping lines so in style.   As kid, my grandpa still drove an old station wagon and that last bench facing rearward was always the best part of riding with him.

1957 Oldsmobile 88 wagon

1960 Buick LeSabre Estate Wagon

Another ‘50s element that added to the beauty of American station wagons was the unrestricted, open-air feel that was so important to create a pleasant driving experience for car owns.  This meant big wraparound windows, razor thin pillars, deleted pillars (hardtops) and vista windows in the roof all used to create an open glasshouse canopy.  American families wanted to be able to pile into the family car for a road trip and have a great view of all they passed.  Families were crisscrossing the nation in rolling works of art.

Then in the ‘60s it was a time of unrestricted high performance.  Cars were offered with huge lists of engine options running from the mundane economy engines to the probably-shouldn’t-be-street-legal, don’t-tell-my-insurance-agent engines.  So, there were the high performance station wagons.  Chevy Nomads (extra-stylish two-door station wagons) were given the now legendary Chevy small-block V-8.

1957 Chevy Nomad

The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 station wagon was probably the greatest and most outrageous of the high performance wagons. It was offered with the vista roof and the Hurst hi-po package which included: 455 cubic inch big-block V8, fiberglass ram air hood, heavy duty suspension, disc brakes, duel mode tailgate (swings down and swings sideways) and power everything.

Old cars & family history

Cars are significant family possessions probably second only to the family home in importance. They are often bought when the family is young and the cars grow old and familiar as the family matures. (The back seat of the family car becomes a safe and comfortable place—a favorite for drowsy children.) Thanks to the passing of time and daily use, the cars and their families also grow closer. Later on the family’s many memories are tied to the cars they lived with.

In my family, the family cars and family history are closely tied and interwoven. In fact the family cars provide the timeline and structure for the history. Family stories are often told: “We drove there in the Bonneville so it must have been the mid-60s” or “the Buick was still new so it was probably 91 or 92.” It also helps that cars are often bought at family milestones such as marriages, births, moves and new drivers.

As part of a family, cars get to take part in daily errands, family events, and road trips. They get into family photos—they get lavished with attention and they get neglected. Years later when they are old and probably gone, replaced by another, they are an important part of the family memories. We look back on them as part of what made ‘the good old days.’

Something interesting about old cars that are kept in the family is that they are a lasting and tangible piece of times before. It’s a piece of your father’s life before you were born, maybe before he was married. Or it’s the car you grandfather bought and drove while you mother was a child. It’s a remainder of the lives your family lived and you didn’t. The car was there though and you’re sitting in it—you’ve driven it too.
 

These are my mom’s younger siblings standing before the family’s Pontiac bought new in 1956. (Oldest to youngest: my uncle Sal, Aunt Irene and Uncle Robert.) This car brought newborns home from the hospital, later taught those kids to drive and then took part in their youthful antics. It also pulled trees and off-roaded.

My uncle Sal would, 35 years later, restore it to like-new only to lose it in a divorce. The second photograph shows how it looked in the 1980s after being painted blue.

This 1964 Chevy Impala was my mom’s first car besides the family hand-me-down ‘56 Pontiac. She says she loved it. It was later stolen and taken for a joyride and police chase. My mom eventually had the car returned to her but not before it was driven over a fire hydrant, wrecked, then abandoned by the thieves.

Back in the garage is a 1960 Pontiac Bonneville which my uncles tell me was quite fast; I believe them. Pontiac was hitting the drag strips and race tracks hard and heavy in the early 1960s in order to gain some brand recognition. It was a great time to be Pontiac loyal.