This is the premier orphan car show in the nation, according to the organizers.
That means you won’t see rows of ’55-’57 Chevrolets.
What you WILL see are vehicles that are no longer manufactured (such as Studebaker), or brands no longer made (such as DeSoto).
Since Plymouth was the featured make this year, let’s start out with one, a beautiful 1934 Plymouth PE sedan
This 1946 Packard Clipper brings back memories for me. My dad had a ’47 Clipper as the family car when I was a child.
1930 Packard Model 733. The owner doesn’t know how many miles are on the car. The head has never been off the engine, and he drives it everywhere.
Not what you think it is at first glance!
This 1912 Overland was my favorite brass-era car at this year’s show.
Here’s a view of the instrument “panel” and the controls.
Two of the Kaisers at this year’s show.
DeSotos on their way to the reviewing stand. The front one is a ’57 (Firesweep), the one behind is a ’60.
As much as I’ve read about these on CC, I never expected to see one in person! This one’s a 1963 Panhard PL17 Break.
2 cylinders, air-cooled, front wheel drive, 4 speed on the column!
Another car that brings back memories for me. This one’s a 1969 Checker Marathon. I drove a ’65 to high school in the mid-70’s.
This is only a small part of the photographs I took on Sunday, September 16th. My intention was to do a mix of things that both interest me, and that I know interest other CC readers.
The rear DeSoto is actually a ’60. ’61s have the slanted quad headlights.
The front DeSoto is a ’57 Firesweep. A four-headlight system was optional for both the Fireflite and DeSoto Firedome models in 1957 and standard on all models from 1958 onward. The sheetmetal was changed on the 1959.
Oh, no! You’re correct! And the one behind it is a ’60. I went to the dashboard to fix the errors, and couldn’t see how to do it.
I fixed the dates. If you are logged in when you view the site, there is an “edit post” link right under the headline (next to your name and the date), no need to go into the dashboard. But if you are there you can click on the post or find it in the Calendar, hover over the title, and “edit post” comes up as an option at the bottom of the title. Just remember to “Update” after making the edit.
Thanks, Jim!
It’s 1912 Overland day at CC!
FWIW, the front DeSoto is a ’57.
Panhards always give me a weird interplanetary feeling, completely disoriented. If this is a car, what are those other things? If those other things are cars, what is this?
Ha! That’s the finest description of a Panhard I have ever heard!
+1
Reminds me of older Saabs: they were apparently designed by someone who had received only a verbal description of what a car should look like.
Im still adapting to the idea of Plymouth’s (and Olds, Mercury, Saab, Saturn) as being in the same category as Packards or DeSotos. Love the Panhard Break! Quite a contrast between front and rear styling.
Like others here: from the rear, that Panhard looks like many ORDINARY foreign small wagons. Then there is the front: even without knowing the mechanical details, that one piece, lift up front clip tells you this car is definitely NOT ORDINARY, and then there is the FWD, not to mention the engine.
Only place to find a car like that being built? France, maybe Germany, but the Germans I don’t think would do a complete lift up front clip.
I too am sad to know that Mercury had joined the ranks of Plymouth and Desoto.
Phew! Here I thought my creeky memory was really going, but NO!! It IS a ’57 Desoto…:)
My dad had a hemi ’52 Firedome, well before Exner’s “Forward Look”. Very “old” looking and dumpy, but in 55-57 MoPars did leap forward in style. ….DFO
Even Avanti IIs now qualify for the orphan show, but I’m not crazy about the vinyl top treatment.
56 Packard Caribbeans always draw some attention.
Oh, a dark Packard Clipper waiting patiently in a sweet setting, that’s just parkside porn, that is. I blush to stare at it. Certainly my favourite US car of the forties.
The 1930 model is also desirable. I’d hazard that it’s pretty rare to see a Packard of that time in this condition (patina for the deep-pocketed, perhaps), looking as if it drove the slow way from factory to here. By some alchemy, the combination of it being so old and so untouched, makes it exude quality.
Poor orphans from a once-rich home, these two. I’m available to adopt them.
Very nice photos, thankyou Dan.
Hey babe, what’s your sign?
Wow, haven’t seen a Merkur Scorpio in some time. Not my favorite color either out or in and those wheels aren’t stock, but still. I think I prefer them with the gray cladding around the bottom as they were introduced and with a black interior.
and with a black interior.
How about black and white?
No, it isn’t a….
While AMC’s factory was in Kenosha, the HQ as well as styling and engineering were in Detroit. These two gentlemen are usually at the AMC show in Livonia, but they were also at the orphan show this year.
The man on the left is Vince Geraci, who was head of interior styling in the 70s.
The other is Frank. Frank told me a story I had not heard before. When Renault bought in to AMC, there was an influx of Renault personnel in the styling department. The AMC people noticed that, from time to time, the Renault people would get together and start talking in French, which made some of the AMC people paranoid. Frank, being an art major in college, was required to take a foreign language, so he tossed a coin and took French. Frank became the in-department spy. Whenever the Renault people started talking among themselves in French, Frank was to find something to do within earshot and listen, then report back to his boss, Bob Nixon. Apparently Mr Nixon had good reason to be paranoid as the Renault people were indeed talking about him, in an uncomplimentary fashion.
It was a busy day, so I bid farewell to the orphans, had lunch at a Wendy’s on the west side of Ann Arbor, then ventured out to the Russian Fair.
The interior materials were not quite up to modern standard, but then the Niva was a 78. US market econoboxes weren’t finished much better then.
Good little wagons if you got one unaffected by vodka, some were scrapped new they were so bad.
Awesome Checker Marathon! Regarding the front pic of the Panhard: Does anyone remember the game Mr. Mouth?
Does anyone remember the game Mr. Mouth?
I remember Pac-Man.
Caught the Panhard with it’s hood closed at the show last year.
Yeah shoulda gone with that one…
Does anyone remember the game Mr. Mouth?
Was that the one that was an offshoot of tiddly winks? I think I remember a game with a mouth shaped thing rotating on a game board, with the mouth opening and closing at intervals and you had to shoot winks into the mouth when it was open.
Yeah, that’s the one!
Not what you think it is at first glance!
I’ll say, first glance I always mistake 59 Mercurys for GMs because of the windshield/vent window shapes, and this time in addition I mistook a Monarch for a Mercury!
I’m normally not as enthusiastic about early 30s era cars but love the well worn Packard the most I think, that’s quite a survivor. The Kaisers always get my admiration too, especially the pioneering Traveler.
It took a while for hatchbacks to catch on but they did, great idea, I’m on my second Citroen version.
Great shots. My favourites are the old Packards. The Clipper has plenty of class, and I was impressed with the old coupe. A Packard of that era was nothing if not a very well-made car, and while it takes work to keep such an old car running, it’s a testament to how well-engineered it must have been in the first place. Most of today’s cars will be long gone well before they reach the age of that 1930 Packard.
I caught this de Soto at a local show last weekend. Camera was playing up…
Nice one, same two-tone scheme as the Chrysler Royal.
Great collection. I didn’t see it mentioned but I assume this is the show in Ypsilanti MI?
Yes, that’s the one!
I am in deep lust with that old ratty Packard. I haven’t felt it that strong in some time. I could so drive that.
Early Clipper – up there with my very favorites of all.
That Panhard is a great surprise – I see saloons and Coupes from time to time in France but never seen a Break. Lovely.
The Kaisers are wonderful too, and I like that rear boot/hatch arrangement.
And to put me out of my misery, “Not what you think it is at first glance!” – I thought Plymouth, then Dodge, then Mercury but I’m still not getting it. Please help!
Ohhh, Roger, so close! It IS a Mercury, but the Canadian Monarch version from 1960.
The Panhard 17 Break is very rare. Seeing one in the US is quite strange, but they’re not exactly common anyplace. Only about 3000 made in 3 model years (1963/64/65, compared to over 160,000 saloons from 1959 to 65). It had a longer wheelbase and was surprisingly expensive.
The Break was supposed to be made in Italy by Panauto, the folks who conceived it and who had taken over the old Caproni works. But Panauto were unable to keep costs within certain limits. In the end, the Breaks were produced in Panhard’s second factory in Orléans.
Those Packards are superb though, especially the 1930 coupe.
The problem was although the feds had approved the quad headlights for 1957, states had to change their laws to match, and not all of them had done so by the time the new models were introduced. Dealers could convert them on site if necessary, and many did as states updated their statutes.
By ’58 all states had done so, leaving GM free to introduce them across the board, including the Corvette.
Thanks very much Dan, any more photos to share please?
I assume there must be a section for non-orphans too, eg the Citroens or Ford Anglia?
There’s another post coming. I have to sort through the photos a bit more and write about them.
There WAS an Anglia there, and a couple of Citroens.
Well, there are no English Fords anymore, so it’s kind of orphaned.