David Buckley was twelve in the fall of 1966 when he shot these three Chrysler and Plymouth “Car Art” cars with his new cheap plastic 35mm camera in a mall in Chicago. He recently sent me these shots and some background information on these period pieces. There are no other color photos of these cars on the web. Here’s David’s text:
This is a follow-up to Kevin Martin’s CC post from 2012: The “Auto Art” that Sherwood “Woody” Wallace had Chicago artist Tom Strobel complete for Mel Wolff’s Gage Chrysler Plymouth (Gage Park neighborhood, southwest side of Chicago) in 1966 was done for promotional purposes. These hand painted cars had an optic art vibe.
There were five original “Auto Art” cars, 1967 models: a Chrysler 300, Chrysler Newport, Chrysler Imperial, Plymouth Satellite/Belvedere GTX, and Plymouth Barracuda. Three of the cars are in these four pictures. 1967 was the first year for the GTX, which was a midsize muscle car developed to compete with the Pontiac GTO (The Dodge Coronet R/T was a sister car to the GTX). In 1967, almost 13,000 GTXs were produced, most with a 440ci big block with 375hp. The 426 Hemi was the only other option for the GTX that year (125 built).
UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 02: 1966 8th Annual International Motorama – Great Western Exhibit Center. Tom Strobel is the artist that hand-painted a new 1967 Plymouth Barracuda fastback Gage Chrysler-Plymouth in Chicago and an example of AutoArt, originated by Mel Wolff. (Photo by Gerry Stiles/The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images/Getty Images)
There’s a black & white Getty Image of Tom Strobel detailing the Barracuda, certainly an influencer of the 1969 Plymouth Pop Prints, with the floral vinyl top that matched the interior. Tom’s “Auto Art” was just a small part of his impressive artistic career. (See https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/11/17/thomas-carey-strobel-70/).
Sherwood Lee Wallace hired Strobel to create these cars for his client, Chrysler Plymouth dealer Mel Wolf, seen standing here in front of four of them.
Tom Strobel’s auto art designs were even sold on Meyercord decal kits for VWs and pony cars.
These four pictures of the “Auto Art” were taken by me in October or November 1966. I turned twelve in Sept. 1966. I bought a plastic 35mm camera (with manual film advance) from Montgomery Ward with birthday money.
Aside from taking fall color pictures in the nearby Dan Ryan Woods, I would look to take pictures of interesting images.
“Auto Art” at that time was displayed at the Evergreen Plaza, in Evergreen Park, IL. Evergreen Park is a mature community surrounded by the southwest side of Chicago on three sides. Originally built in 1952 as a strip center, the Plaza was expanded in the early 1960’s and enclosed in 1966, one of the first indoor malls in the US. Anchor stores included Walgreens, Jewel, S.S. Kresge, Montgomery Ward (originally “The Fair”), and Carson Pirie Scott. The mall closed in 2013, was demolished, & redeveloped back in to a strip center. I remember a month before the Chrysler “Auto Art” cars were displayed at the Plaza, there were 1967 Fords there, including the refreshed and larger Mustang.
There’s no proof, but it seems quite likely that these Auto Art cars inspired Chrysler’s Mod Tops in 1969.
Related CC reading:
Wow, that sure is interesting and predates the camo wrapped car trend by 50 years. I think I like the flower motif on the Satellite convertible the best.
Considering it’s size, they should have just gone all the way and given the 300 some battleship dazzle camouflage instead of just something close.
These twelve year old photos are superior to what I was doing at that age, at least the cars are in the frame and not shaking.
As the owner of a “hyper green” Jeep wrangler and an Artist I really think that car ART is so very cool…I’ve watched video of the Car art parade in Houston and plan to attend one day. I truely believe that the car you drive is an extension of who you really are….And although it can/could get outrageous to the point of rediculousness I think we could all use something different..I seem to notice more cars recently that have broken away from “white”and displayed more originality and thought.Some blues ,yellows,golds. Sure hope it’s a trend
Did someone from Porsche attend this show?
The lead photo; all I could see (sort of) was a 1967 Buick LeSabre four door hardtop with a 1965 Buick front end. I thought something was crazy for a moment when the text went into Chrysler-Plymouth products. The lines sweeping toward the rear wheel opening seem very Buick.
These are great and yes, I remember more than a few art cars (& trucks) in the 1960’s, most were hand painted by hippies .
There were also cars that had grass growing all over them, how they attached live grass and dirt to the slab sides on 1960’s cars I have no idea .
-Nate
The design painted on the first car (Chrysler) is based on a Moiré pattern. Moiré patterns were trendy around this time, but now you almost never see them.
In the early ’70s my father brought home two clear plastic transparencies with black radiating lines on them. You placed one sheet on top of the other and by slowly rotating the sheets, you get all these amazing designs! Don’t know what happened to that neat little toy.
You really framed those pictures quite well for being only 12 years old. Did you pursue photography as a hobby or a profession later in life?
Oh, that poor Chrysler in the lead photo!
Makes my eyes water just looking at it. 😉
Yes and seeing it in motion must a been an experience.
Remember those “mod tops”! The “Montgomery Ward” store brings back happy memories too.
I certainly prefer this type of art car to the ones with 500 doll heads and other bizarre things glued all over it! Still, these paint jobs don’t do anything to accentuate the lines of the cars, except for the first op art Chrysler, that moves the eye towards the rear of the car. I often see cars with anime themed characters displayed on them, and who can forget the import tuner cars of the “Fast and Furious” that displayed a wild graphic on the sides? Even the cheapest paint job has gotten quite expensive, maybe “wraps” are a better and removable route to personalization?
While Lowriders will still paint their cars in fanciful and colorful themes, most of us will ride around in whatever color the car left the factory with. It might have been more common for enthusiasts to have the exterior of their cars painted in a favorite color, at one time, standards are much higher now, and all the surfaces of color have to be changed to be considered acceptable.
I’m doing my part to combat vehicle color boredom: I’ve currently got two red ones, a blue one, and a green one. One black over silver and one…. beige!
First off, excellent photos – especially for one so young with equipment of that style. These are very unique cars in more ways than one.
I am a huge fan of Op and Pop Art. Good versions of it can be seen in London, courtesy of Bridget Riley who show us how designs can play with our eyes and our minds, breaking flat surfaces and creating illusions of motion. Her work was phenomenally popular globally. As with Bauhaus, Riley’s work appeared so simple to copy and like Bauhaus, it was abused by amateurs, cashing in on cheesy versions of her work.
This art and the word itself was addictive. Pop Tarts anyone? Spirograph drawings appeared as art toys, record album covers decided to drive phonograph sales up using these techniques. Op and Pop Art appeared on everything being sold right through to the mid 1970s, when earth tones and baroque design replaced it. With the Boomers reaching adulthood, pop art was used and abused to gain profits on anything that could be printed.
It does not belong on cars. While I could see a Piet Mondrian on a Chrysler Plymouth product of this era, attempting to apply op art on these cars just doesn’t work. It’s pretty insulting for auto stylists to craft a beautiful work of art, just to see another style of art applied onto it, breaking up what they so carefully designed and styled. Sorry, but these cars are damn gauche.
Art in the first two images, looks far more modern than the car. The car dates the design.
I vaguely remember seeing a photo of the ’67 Newport hardtop in a magazine when it was new. (Motor Trend? Car Life? Road & Track?). I would not be surprised if it was the inspiration for Mopar’s “Mod Top”. And these cars pre-dated BMW’s ‘Art Cars’ by seven years.
I just want to applaud the photographer! That’s fantastic work for a 12 year old with a not-so-great camera. Although I’d guess that that Monkey Wards camera must have at least had a glass lens. You’d not get images that sharp from a plastic lens camera (which why sadly so many Instamatic photos from that time are so terrible).
Is that Ektachrome?
I like the Plymouth in the 7th photo. It looks like someone’s lunch box.
Looks similar to the nearby (8 miles away) Dixie Square Mall from the Blues Brothers.
(New Oldsmobiles are in Early this year)
Could some of these pictures have been taken there instead of at Evergreen Plaza?
I am not so much into art cars, but I have to appreciate the craftsmanship that translated the artist’s vision into reality. And I will join others in saluting the young photographer’s ability to frame these shots.
Thanks to ABB’s “Pixel Paint” technology, these new ‘art cars’ can now be mass produced: https://new.abb.com/news/detail/90794/prsrl-abb-robotics-unveils-worlds-first-robot-painted-art-car