I know I’m not the only Curbside Classic reader who looks forward to the work of Laurence Jones. His artful photography complements his knowledge of cars and his witty stories. I especially enjoyed his recent piece about the 1975 Cutlass he grew up with, and the place it held in his family for decades.
His memories of that car sparked a little nostalgia in me, as well. Sadly, my own full-sized rolling heirloom is still lolling about its winter home, but I do keep some wheeled history here on my bookshelf.
Takes you back, doesn’t it? How well I remember admiring the mid-engine Auto Transports that ruled the road back in the ‘70s, their twin gold-plated V8s gleaming behind tinted glass.
And while I never saw one with quite this varied a payload, those three cars on top sum up a tumultuous era in automotive history.
The ’68 Fury. Its Alfa-like driving dynamics, high ground clearance and compact, tossable size made it a favorite of free-spirited off-roaders and cops alike. Then, a few short years later, came the outlandish, capacious “Colonnade” Rabbit. It earned its racy image with more than just its blistering speed and iconic roof-mounted surfboard option; it also had one of the roomiest backseats imaginable. The first “Hot ‘n’ Heavy Hatch” spawned a generation of jokes about using it to do what rabbits like to do. One imagines that many a baby bunny was…well, let’s just stop right there. Too many dirty puns could make the editors’ hares stand on end.
Finally, the Omni 024, symbol of an America that came to its senses in the 1980s. Not too big, not too small, and bank-vault solid. No wonder it’s been a favorite of ours for decades, although no one back then could have imagined the Omnicharger 024,000s crowding the front rows at Daytona, or the Omnivorans that get so many families to the Longhorn on T-Bone Tuesday.
Anyway, thanks for indulging my little nostalgia trip. I’ve got plenty of history books on my shelf, but really, you can’t beat accurate scale models for explaining how things really were.
BONUS Bookshelf Clue! Can you identify the two cars on the lower level of the majestic Auto Transport?
one is the Hot pink Datsun 260z. Made by Matchbox, two doors open.
I cannot get a decent glimpse at the other one thou.
Not just a 260Z, but a 2+2 version. Blech.
I say E-Type Jag… and a Square pillared Studebaker Lark Sedan? HA. And thanks so much for the kind words, that makes writing so worthwhile.
Of course! Those two sentences are the only ones that should be taken at face value. 🙂
Omni 024, bank vault solid — hysterical!
My mom had a Charger of the k-car variety for a few years, and she loved it. I could never understand why… Total POS, I think a Yugo would have actually been more refined.
No such thing as a K-Car Charger. The Charger of that period was an L-body, based off the Omni/Horizon.
The K car was the basis for every fwd car made by Chryco back then, including the Charger. Even the minivans were K cars.
Of course, Chrysler tried to hide their shame with arbitrary renaming, but that was just marketing.
A lot of folks forget that the Omni/Horizon (L Body) sedans came out in 1978 and the coupe versions in 1979. The Reliant/Aries (K body) hit in 1981, but was underneath an enlarged and more fully developed L (which was, itself, derived from a Simca design). And as you say, everything thereafter for quite awhile was based off of the K.
love the angular lines of the transporter, and it reminds me of one of my favourite matchbox trucks, the Alvis Stalwart. I had this one, in the colourful BP livery
This first few series of Matchbox cars w/ the boxes are fascinating to me! The brunt of my 250+ Matchbox collection was made up of the subsequent series when Lesney moved their operation from the UK. The handful of cars that did come w/ these boxes i used them as ‘garages’ and were quickly discarded or fell victim to one of Mom’s cleaning sorties.
I only have around 15 of my Matchboxes left as over the years I have given them away to younger friends or to the kids of some friends that had recently moved to the country and didn’t have discretionary funds for such toys.
One other memory: I recall a toy store in my hometown (still there!) that had an entire walled, glassed case of Corgi Toys. I think I walked into that place everyday whether i was returning from classes or just hanging around downtown during the summer months…. Into my teens, Corgi introduced a line of cars in the same dimensions as these Matchbox’ but at the time their cars/trucks were approximately twice as big as the matchbox’ and had a huge advantage in detail, opening doors, boots, turning steering wheels’ etc.
I specifically remember Corgi’s James Bond Aston Martin and their incredible line of war toys. WW2 war birds and diorama’able reproductions like machine gun crews or Afrika Korps Halftracks or Eng. 8th Army Onimogs. brillant stuff and wonderful memories!
I would be wonderful to resume that hobby ……
I also recall a huge glass display case of Corgis, I think it was at the American Auto store back in the late ’60s. Poor kids today will never know the cool stuff they missed… But I suppose every generation probably feels that way. 🙂
“Stalwart” is a great name for a truck, though today it would never make it past the focus group!
‘Stalwart’
you’re absolutely right… it’s such a british word. You read it and it’s like an automatic imagine of churchill holding the line against Hitler’ s axis. 🙂
Oh wow! I have three of those, the Omni, the Rabbit and the Datsun.
Collecting diecast cars is one hobby that I’ll never grow out of 🙂
The sedan on the bottm looks like a 1967-ish Valiant.
It’s hard to tell, but it looks like a Matchbox Lincoln Continental.
I had that exact same green Golf!
I have the Auto Transporter sitting here in my cupboard. I got it for my 10th Birthday in 1978. It came with a Blue Camaro, Green Javelin, Red Challenger Convertible, Orange BMW Coupe and White De Tomaso Pantera. I think it’s great how people put photos of their old die cast cars up here and some of us go, “I had one of those” and others go, “Oh wait, I have one right here in the cupboard”.
The cab of the car carrier kinda looks like the GM Gas Turbine powered Bison show truck from the 1964-65 Worlds Fair.
That is cool.
Wow – thanks, Carmine, never seen that thing before…although rigs like it seem to show up on the cover of “Pop Sci” every few years. The “Truck of the Future” that never quite gets here.
Incidentally, here are the “Clue” cars. Many of you got the 260Z. It and the Giant Pregnant Rabbit both have tow hooks, though I can’t remember either ever having a trailer.
The car in back is a Lesney that’s so old it doesn’t even say Matchbox on it. It says “Ford Zephyr 6” and has a British license plate.
Looks just like a Falcon to me, but after Niedermeyer’s latest, I’m not even going to pretend I know what continent any given Ford comes from. 🙂
Doh! Here’s the pic.
I have a few of those old Zephyrs. One needed the plastic suspension piece rebent, which of course involved a lighter.
that old Datun Z260 2+2 also came w/ a trailer hitch If my memory serves!
I had completely forgotten that the early Rabbit was virtually the same size as the 68 Fury. Or am I confusing these with the Australian ones?
As a Newport owner you can relate to the Ring-ready dynamics of the 60s c-body.
If only the automakers paid attention to what the toymakers were trying to tell them. 🙂
I like the idea that “Australian” can now be used to describe anything over-the-top and non-existent.
Australian is the new French? 🙂
Love the Auto Transporter. Were trucks like these really real? Where’d they go?
Nope, only real enough to sit proudly on a bookshelf! 🙂