This morning I decided to take my two younger kids to a “Shine and Show” type of car show that was being held here in Fort Collins. Like many of you, I have mixed feelings about these shows in that they invariably welcome a lot of very current machinery along with the stuff that a car show really should be about, i.e. those cars that you can’t or don’t just see all the time…
While it was certainly not a huge show, with only about fifty vehicles in attendance, the admission price was right (free!) and the owners were enthusiastic and friendly. I picked out a few of my own favorites, all of which later surprised me in that I have never owned an example of any of them, either of similar age or newer. What’s doubly strange is that as big a car nut as I am, American Iron is not at all my specialty so I may know a couple of factoids about them, but nothing compared to the majority of you, the readership. I just know what I like…So in no particular order and with no further ado, here they are for you to enjoy as well:
First up we have a very nice Corvette. I’m no Corvette junkie, however this one was immaculately presented and I really liked the color combination on this particular car. The wheels on this car really appeal to me.
White doesn’t usually show off the lines of a car as well as some other colors but today this was really working for me.
That interior looked just as good in real life as it does in these pictures.
The second car to catch my eye was this very nice red Plymouth Barracuda, I believe the lady I was chatting with about it said it was a 1968 and there were only 81 of these made with the 340 Special package. The readership will know more about that than I , but it looked like a great car to take the family for an outing in. Not original paint, but it was originally red as well, and certainly looked good.
For some reason I like flat black tail panels.
Plenty of room in that interior for the family, my kids are still short so the aftermarket speaker boxes could stay for a few years as well.
Overall just a very nice car done up to a nicely maintained and not over-restored standard.
Next is a very nice Chevy Cheyenne Pickup truck. This style Chevy has always been one of my favorites, it just seems honest, strong, and ready to go. I really like the paint on this, while obviously a repaint of a color that was popular when this was new, it was nice to see how bright and shiny the automotive landscape must have been at the time. Nowadays you still see older cars in this and similar colors but they are almost always faded due to age.
The interior was great as well, I’m not sure if it was redone or just kept up in great condition. Love that green steering wheel.
I don’t recall ever seeing any of these with the wood applique trim before, it had it all the way around at the lower rub strip. Very nice effect, I’m sure someone can enlighten my if that was a trim package or not. This one also had the small “locker” ahead of the right-side rear wheel well. Overall it looked much fancier than just an average work truck. Maybe this was the Lariat or Denali package of its day?
Here’s another shot of the wood trim on the rub strip along with the front fender badging. A very nice truck.
After we walked around and came back towards our car I noticed one of my favorite Detroit Classics had pulled in in the meantime and claimed a parking spot, a first year boat-tail Riviera. (At least I think it was a first year, the rear bumper changed after that, right?). This one looked to be a very well maintained survivor, the paint was definitely not perfect, but the interior was just immaculate.
Look at that interior, original or not? If so, someone obviously never had kids in it. If redone, they did a great job.
The rear looks very comfortable as well and like the front, in perfect condition.
Here’s the shot from the rear, like I said, I find this style very appealing. These were used in a couple of memorable (to me) movies as well, notably “The Ice Storm” as well as “Go!” where they had somewhat significant roles and were perfect embodiments of the characters that were the occupants in them.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these. As a side note, you may have noticed the Colorado Collector Vehicle plates on them; that does not mean the cars are not driven regularly, here any car built before 1975 (rolling scale I believe) can apply for one, they are valid for five years, but you pay all five years’ fees up front, so no savings. You sometimes see totally normal beaters that were built in the early 70’s with them which always looks a bit funny.
Great interior shots of the Vette, Cheyenne and Riviera. They remind me it’s important to get the seatbelts laid out neatly when you park at a show.
I also loved that generation of GM truck. Those sidepipes look so good on the Vette but I hate the whitewalls!
Like them or not, white walls were likely on this Vette when it was new.
However, I’m not so sure about the alloys being on his car when it was new: Since reproductions have been available for many years, I’m convinced there are more Vettes running on alloy rims today than there were back when these cars were new. If I’m not mistaken, I don’t think that high a percentage were equipped that way from the factory, but they seem to be on at least one-third to one-half of the cars you see in shows and at cruises. Not a criticism, either, but an observation…I think those alloys wheels are particularly handsome.
That’s normal in the hobby. Anyone sixty or older that attends vintage cars shows knows that nowhere near the number of cars came equipped with dealer-installed rear fender skirts. Actually, back in the day it was not a terribly popular option, yet today the impression is given that over 50% of the cars built had them installed.
I’ve always felt though that the guys who install fender skirts, orginal style but aftermarket (or scavenged from another car) wheels, or some other option that was available at the time BUT never ordered on their car were the kind of guys who WOULD have ordered those options if they could have aforded the car when new.
So really they’re just making the car look or perform as it would have if they had done it.
“Anyone sixty or older that attends vintage cars shows knows that nowhere near the number of cars came equipped with dealer-installed rear fender skirts.”
Correct-o-mundo!
When I was a young man, fender skirts were laughed at, cussed at, and one of the first things that were vandalized, stolen, fell off, rusted, or just put away permanently when having to change a flat on the side of the road! We HATED those things, and regarded them as… well… um…. never mind.
Nice cars. A few days ago, in a discussion on that generation of Chevy pickup, I related a story about a green 72 with air conditioning that was the nicest pickup I had ever seen in my life. The truck here is the virtual twin to that one from my youth. Very, very nice.
You don’t often see white cars with tan interiors from the era of that Corvette, but I kind of like it.
The Barracuda is very nice. In truth, I prefer the fastback on these. The convertible is OK, but doesn’t look right with the top up. I agree on the tail end treatment.
The convertible misses out on most of the unique Barracuda body style, no?
I think the Barracuda is a ’67 because it does not have side marker lights.
67 or 68 it’s a beauty.I usually see E bodies in magazines and shows but the 67/69s are ignored.I’m not a Corvette fan but that white one is really nice,a change from red.
The Barracuda is a ’67 (no head restraints or side marker lights) but has the front and rear of a ’69, for some reason. Looks good in any case.
The Riviera appears to be a ’72; it has a full-width rubber strip stuck onto the rear bumper and has no slots in the trunk lid.
The Riviera is a 72, the egg crate grille and lack of rear Astro Ventilation vents are the give away.
The Riv is definitely a ’72 and the seats look immaculately original (if re-done, a very good reproduction). The Chevy pickup is like one my late Step-Grandfather owned, but his was a ’70; orange with white top. Loaded to the gills and originally had the faux-wood strip tailgate until he put a camper box on it that had a little door in back. His was a 400 SBC. The ‘Vette looks like a very nice and mean sounding boulevardier; the Powerglide and probably the standard 250hp 327 . . . .
Theres a Buick for sale locally on Wisconsin collector plates a long way from home
Very nice work with camera, Jim. The interior on that Chevy pick up, looks too good to be true.
I’m pretty sure that wood grain trim was the big defining exterior feature of the early Cheyenne package. Definitely a stock item though whether or not it was part of the Cheyenne package. Yes the Cheyenne package was the top of the line truck when introduced, seems pretty spartan by today’s standards but that was pure luxury truck back in the day.
My favorite of course is the Riv in all of its boat tail glory. Definitely one of the stars of the movie The Ice Storm.
Yes. In my corner of the world it was very, very common.
Which was odd to me, since it was a strange option – and detracted from the clean lines of that generation Chevy truck. But if it were the trim-level delineator…that makes sense; although why they used THAT as a status-marker, does not.
Looking at the brochure at oldcarbrochures.com shows that the indeed the wood grain in the side molding and tailgate does indicate the Cheyenne, or the true top dog for 72 Cheyenne Super package. In 71 Cheyenne was the top model but it doesn’t indicate that there is wood grain on the special lower body molding or tailgate.
As far as why that was used I’d guess it was because wood grain was the defining exterior feature on the top models of the station wagons. Additionally over at IH they had wood grain sides on their best trucks, so there was a precedent of having at least some wood grain on trucks, and it did tie in with the wood grain accents on the inside.
I’m not certain of the year (1972?), but the Cheyenne also had an option of leather-tooled-appearance bucket seats. I never saw one in person, but it sure looked too-cool in the brochures.
In Texas, I imagine you could add six-guns and holsters as well!
If you look at that bench closely you’ll see the tooled leather look as accent stripes on it.
You are probably right. If the car didn’t have the sidepipes the whitewalls wouldn’t bother me that much. it would have kind of a Tbird look. The sidepipes would go better on a red convertible with black interior and of course blackwall tires.
The Riviera is a 1972, my favorite year, and it is beautiful. The fender light monitors aren’t that common on these. The blue interior is amazing with the white exterior.
Neither is the RH mirror, cornering lamps too! If it had the buckets and a GS option I would be in lust.
Did you ever notice how rare Rivieras with ALL the performance options are? I see GS models but few have the Stage 1 or floor shift. Few Stage 1 cars have the console and not many are GS models. Few console cars are GS models, etc.
I imagine a Stage1 GS floor-shift car (with sunroof) would be the rarest & most desirable of them all (so long as it’s not beige/brown with brown interior)
The white walls are proper for that era Vette, if you look at the brochures over at oldcarbrochures.com you’ll find them on every car pictured in the 63-66 and for 67 they have some with white walls and some with red stripe.
I got to the show just as it was wrapping up and watched many of the photographed cars pull away. I agree with Junqueboi, the ’72 Boat-tail Riviera is one of my favorites too. It burbled just like a speedboat as it drove off… As Jim’s pictures show, Ft Collins is a great place for CC spotting because of the dry climate and the lack of winter road salt. Just wish I’d brought a camera today, so thanks for the photos!
And it’s a college town which often makes for interesting older machinery in various states of disrepair…
Good to see a fellow FC’er on here!
As a lover of white and tan interiors, you’ve really piqued my interest here. That Corvette is very appealing in that combo. Agreed; the side-pipes and alloys are almost certainly not original. The alloys were somewhat rare enough, but the sidepipes even more so. But I can think of worse crimes by a long shot.
Nice, all of them.
I think sidepipes became factory available in 1968 and never on the C2s but am not 100% sure. In any event for me nothing says sidepipes like a chrome bumper C3 in orange and RWL tires.
No they were available in 66. Here is the 66 brochure page showing the featured car’s wheel, tire, and side pipe combo. http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Chevrolet_Corvette/1966_Chevrolet_Corvette/1966_Corvette_Brochure/1966%20Chevrolet%20Corvette-13.html
So yeah that combo was a factory option up even if it wasn’t the way this particular car left the factory. Of course those items would have also been available over the counter at the parts dept and if someone wanted a car with that combo right now and had the cash I’m sure most dealers would have put those items on quickly, to make the sale.
Though that Corvette is a 64 according to the gauges, so the pipes aren’t right on it for the year.
Those center knock-off wheels and side pipes were Corvette options during that era; the latter mostly on the hotter fuelie and ’66/’67 big block ‘Vettes. In my youth, a barber I went to had a silver ’64; 250hp 327, Powerglide and it had the optional sidepipes (dealer installed, he was the original owner and bought his in early ’65) . . .
I know; but I was saying that they weren’t very common at the time. It was a pretty big deal to see one with sidepipes. The alloys: not quite so uncommon; maybe 20-25% or so.
Those “knock-off” wheels were factory option from ’63-’66. The car appears to be a ’64.
Great story and shots. I haven’t seen a Cheyenne pickup of that vintage in a long time, and though modern pickups are a lot nicer inside, that still rates as a nice truck for its time period. The Vette and the Riviera are great as well. There was nothing else on the road like a boat-tailed Riviera, and the mid-’60’s Vettes are among my favorites. The Barracuda? Nice as well, but my favorites are the later ones. I haven’t seen a Hemi ‘cuda in quite a while…
Those 3 vehicles would make a nice garage, a car for most purposes (other than carrying people, that Riv rear seat doesn’t look too roomy)
Its the angle of the shot, the footwells are being cut off by the tops of the front seats, I’ve sat in the back of this vintage Riviera, they are roomy back there.
My recollection of the Boat Tail Rivvy is a bit different than CAR
MINE’s. One of the guys that I worked with in Ft Worth had one of these and I was amazed at how little room was available in the passenger seat front. The dash protruded into the passenger space an amazing amount. I found the interior claustrophobic.
Love me a boat tail Riv… A car that screams BUICK just as loudly as any Electra 225.
I like that MGB-GT with Brit D-day invasion stripes behind the Riv!
Not just striped, he had rivets all over it and panel lines to make it look like a plane!. Not my thing really but he did a great job on it. I might see it again at another show next month, if so I will get more info/shots.
That Barracuda convertible is a ’69 since it has the hump in the middle between the front grilles and the flat black panel at the rear of the trunk.
On further consideration, I think the whole car (not just the front and rear) is a ’69, with its side marker lights filled in, hence invisible in the photos. It seems that not all 1969 model year cars had the newly required head restraints – apparently the standard went into effect 1 January 1969.
The owner said the car had been repainted, I looked up the sidemarker lights and can see why perhaps they had the holes filled in….
I have been to that show in FTC before and it is fun with a good variety.
And yes, the ’72 is the best boat tail – small bumpers and no trunk vent holes to let water in rear.
The white Riviera is especially attractive because it does NOT have a 1/2 or full vinyl top. I owned a ’72 that was in similar condition but it did have the 1/2 top and I did not like that feature at all. While the looks are great, those 455s just vaporize gasoline and the car was not fun to drive. It was heavy, not quick and driver visibility was poor. But boy, when parked, it was a fine car.
I now recall that Fletch had a white one with a black vinyl top, remember that? I need to watch that movie again, the chase scene with the ’85 Alfa Spider is good as well.
Nice cars, all, but my favorite is that lovely Riv. The ’72 is my favorite, with that bold eggcrate grille.