One of the first things I was made aware of since the current COVID-19 pandemic started was that even my grocery shopping habits had to change. All of a sudden, and in the name of optimal social distancing and reduced exposure, I was being advised to avoid public places as much as possible and to combine trips to obtain essential items into as few occurrences as possible.
For me, this included shopping for food once every two weeks instead of weekly. I don’t have a car, so close to four months later, this still entails loading up my backpack with reusable shopping bags, all of which I then stuff with two week’s worth of groceries before schlepping all of it home on my person like a sherpa. Heavy or bulky items get carefully slotted into my backpack like large Tetris blocks, and the rest goes into four large plastic bags.
My first such shopping trip this past March was filled with so much paranoia about necessary foodstuffs eventually disappearing from shelves that I ended up with things that sat in my freezer for months before I took the plunge and actually ate them. I could go five years before eating another box of frozen, discount store-branded buffalo chicken tenders with a breading-to-meat ratio of about two-to-one.
At the time I bought those, I was thinking that any available protein was good protein, since everything else was basically gone. In thinking about other needed nutrients in the produce department, I rediscovered an old favorite: apples. I hadn’t bought apples in years, and I wondered if I might eat all or just some of them and leave the rest to slowly rot in their plastic bag in my fridge before I threw the rest out. There was no such instance. I. Absolutely. Love. Apples.
The more I thought about it, the more it became clear that, in my mind, there had always seemed to be something so basic and elementary about apples that made them seem somehow less than desirable. An apple is what the lame people in your neighborhood would give you when you went trick-or-treating for Halloween. An apple is what your mom would tell you to snack on when the pantry cupboard was looking a little bare and you wanted some potato chips or cookies. An apple has gone so far as to become a symbol of elementary school toadying when presented to a teacher.
Taken on their own merits, though, I’ve discovered that apples (my favorites include Gala, McIntosh, and Fuji varieties) just have so much basic goodness that I now find them irresistible. They’re just sweet and tart enough, they’re perfect after a meal as they serve to clean your teeth a little bit, and they’re just the right portion for one serving. They’re the ideal, basic snack food archetype with universal appeal, easy portability, durability, and above all, they’re good for you.
I’ll posit that the Chevrolet Chevelle, whether a Super Sport or a basic, garden-variety, V8-powered two-door, is the apple of muscle cars, particularly the 1968 – ’72 generation of GM A-Body in which coupes first rode on a shorter wheelbase than the sedans and wagons (112″ vs. 116″). I don’t say this because of familiarity with the “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet” jingle from the 1970s. I was too young in 1976 to understand any of those references to traditional Americana. I liken the Chevelle to an apple because like an apple is a prototypical fruit, the Chevelle was probably the first car I associated with being a muscle car, especially growing up in Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors.
This isn’t to say that I don’t recognize that there are Ford, Plymouth and Pontiac folks whose first thought of a muscle car is of a Torino GT, Road Runner or GTO, just for a few examples. It’s just that in a factory town full of Chevrolets of all vintages, stripes, configurations, and degrees of desirability, the Chevelle became the de facto muscle car in my head, shorthand for the vehicle type, itself. And there were just so darned many Super Sports produced before being phased out after ’73. Both of our featured cars are 1970 models, which featured the reworked sheetmetal this year brought in the third year of this design. Chevelle Super Sport production for 1970 was 53,599, with another 3,733 being SS 454s with that big block under the hood.
The truth is that for 1970, the GT and Cobra variants of the redesigned Ford Torino had combined output that outsold the Chevelle Super Sport (60,758 GTs and 7,675 Cobras) by over 11,000 units (over 19%). Pontiac GTO sales were down 44% to just over 40,000 units. Plymouth’s Road Runner was still strongly in the game, with 41,500 units sold that same year.
1973 or ’74 Plymouth Road Runner. Ft. Myers, Florida. Friday, December 18, 2009.
Maybe the Plymouth Road Runner would be a banana. I’m saying this not as an affront to Chrysler Corporation’s perpetual status as second (or third) banana, but rather because while the banana is also very nutritious (some have called it a “superfood”), it’s probably not the first fruit that would come to mind of a contestant on the “Family Feud” game show during the Big Money round. Plus, the above example does look fetching in yellow, has a white interior, and probably also goes like stink. Or did at one point, anyway.
I’m at a loss to liken other muscle cars to forms of produce, so I’ll have to leave the metaphors to just the Chevelle and Road Runner. The Plymouth looked a bit past its sell-by date back at the end of 2009, but don’t the two, featured red Chevelles, photographed in 2011 and 2013, look juicy and delicious? Among many new adaptations and different personal choices from which I have benefitted during this challenging year, I consider my rediscovery of apples to be toward the top. My love of Chevelles has always been up there.
Chicago, Illinois.
The slicktop was photographed downtown near Navy Pier on Sunday, July 10, 2011.
The other example was found in Uptown on Sunday, October 13, 2013.
I find myself surprised. First, that Chevelle = apple. I had never thought of this, but it makes perfect sense. I can also see the Mopar as a banana. I’m thinking that the GTO is the orange – less common than the apple but juicy and delicious. The Torino? Maybe a pear? Excellent when ripe and fresh, but with few other uses and that doesn’t age particularly well.
The second surprise is that the Torino GT and Cobra versions outsold these Chevelle SSs. The Torinos all disappeared – either rusted to nothing or got their parts appropriated for Mustangs. I loved the 70-71 Torino, but have not seen one in eons, while these Chevelles never really went away. Sort of like the 57 Ford and Chevy all over again.
I also think the GTO works as an orange, and not just because of the paint scheme of the iconic GTO Judge. I equate oranges with Vitamin C, and Vitamin C with pep.
I’m thinking back to an early memory of seeing a 1970 – ’71 Torino in my very first neighborhood and being so intrigued by it. I rarely saw them, but that could have had as much to do with growing up in a GM town. As a shape, I think the Torinos have lots of pleasing, eye catching details.
I knew that the Road Runner was the musclecar sales king for 1969, but had no idea the Torino GT/Cobra outsold the Chevelle SS for 1970. I guess the Chevelle’s evolutionary styling wasn’t enough to beat the truly brand-new styling of the Torino. It’s kind of reminiscent of 1957 when Ford outsold Chevy, but no one remembers the 1957 Ford as an icon.
Likewise, the 1970 Chevelle SS (particularly the 454 version) is thought by many to be the pinnacle of the musclecar era, due not only to its performance but daily tractability. The Torino? Not so much.
With that said, all the chrome trim, along with the period correct Cragar S/S wheels, on the vinyl top Chevelle just jumps out at you. It’s stunning and a reminder of how there is almost zero chrome to be found on virtually any new vehicle, today.
Rudiger, I agree that the Cragars and chrome really set off the look of the vinyl-topped example. (“Cragars & Chrome”… hmmm, possible name for a car-themed coffee shop?)
Joe, this is a great analogy and versatile also.
Lighter colored Chevelles would be Golden Delicious, dark colored ones Arkansas Black – it just works so well. Then for those who like peanut butter on their apples (whoever that might be), this could be likened to the vinyl topped example you found.
Like JP, I’m surprised the Torino outsold the Chevelle. Those Torinos were getting mighty thin on the ground by the late 1980s.
Thanks, Jason, and also for expanding on the metaphor. I have to be honest – I don’t think I’ve ever tried apples with peanut butter myself before, but I’ve seen it plenty and might have to give it a try, as I have both in my house.
Great write-up Joe. The analogy works really well. One point to mention for those comparing the Torino GT to the Chevelle SS and Road Runner is that it’s not really a fair comparison. The Chevelle SS was a high performance option package, either Z15 (454) or Z25 (396) which included the high performance engines, other performance upgrades like disc brakes, dual exhaust, chassis upgrades, etc, and trim upgrades. The Torino GT was really just an appearance package, similar to the earlier Impala Super Sport packages. The Torino GT only came with a 302-2V engine and most other model features were cosmetic upgrades. You could order a Torino GT with no performance options. The Road Runner and GTO were like the Chevelle SS, in that a high performance engine was always part of the package. Only the Torino Cobra included a mandatory higher performance engine, with the 360 hp 429 Thunderjet being the base power plant.
Things softened a bit in 1971 though, with the Chevelle SS package available with the 350 -2bbl, the Road Runner with a 340-4bbl and the Torino Cobra being offered with a 351-4V engine. Also, although there may have been more Torino GTs and Cobras sold than Chevelle Super Sports in 1970, the Chevelle line still outsold the Torino/Failane line overall. It wasn’t until 1972 that the Torino outsold Chevelle, taking the sales crown from Chevelle for the first time since its 1964 introduction.
Vince, thank you for this helpful information. I was actually hoping you would weigh in on the Torino, seeing that you have one.
I’m actually not all that surprised that the Torino outsold the Chevelle for ’72, seeing that the former was a new design that year.
A really enjoyable post Joseph. Thank you. I find the corporate Chevrolet ad from ’75 really slick for the era. Art direction is great, with strong subliminal imagery. Your analogy is excellent, as Chevrolet sold themselves as the All-American brand for a long time, and it is a strong message here. Thirty/sixty second car commercials also really started to promote various lifestyles in their marketing. Makes sense the ad starts with the Chevette. Many generally consider the Chevette as junk today, but it was a key part of GM marketing then.
Thanks, Daniel. There was another similar Chevrolet ad from this period floating around on YouTube, but I chose this one because I just liked the various slices of life and people in it better.
Between the recent rerun of the ’72 Mustang Sprint article and a few other things, it has reminded me of things I have read about all the to-do about the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976.
And I have come around on the Chevette. Of course, I was one of those kids who called it the “Shove-It”, but what I’ve read (including from commenters here on Curbside), the Chevette may have been slow, but it was a mostly reliable, fixable, no-nonsense machine that did what it was supposed to. I thought the early ones had a really cute, tidy look to them. You’ve got to love their lack of pretense.
You were allowed to use your own reusable bags? In my area, by law enacted due to Covid-19,, they were not permitted to be taken into the store. Don’t know if the evil virus might be on them! The stores provided plastic or paper bags at no charge (here in California, they normally charge 10 cents each for them) until June 29 when a new law took effect…now you can bring your own bags into the stores but the employees won’t fill them. You must bag your own. Get stuck behind someone who is slow at bagging and the trip through the checkout line could take a while. If you don’t bag your own, you either take your stuff out of the store unbagged, or you buy the 10 cent bags and have the employee fill them.
G. Poon, I’m glad you asked. There were signs at my local grocery store saying that reuasable bags weren’t allowed, but when I asked the person at the door who was letting people in, they indicated that since my reusable bags were contained in my backpack, and I’d be okay. I suppose what I should have asked (and will) is if I could still bag my own groceries using said reusable bags.
I’ll probably just buy all new ones to throw away the next time I go. I honestly didn’t think I was breaking the law, as I had asked the person at the door at the time, and no one in the store said anything. I want this to end as much as the next person, so I just want to do the right thing.
I am a 67-year-old Veteran, twice divorced and twice was a single parent to my children from both marriages. Now I am retired and live alone in my small 40-year-old mobile home. I too do not have a car and have had to depend on rides to go to the grocery store, which is a few miles from my home, to buy my two week supply of food. Though I prefer to buy my food at the grocery store sometimes I have no choice but to buy some food at the nearby dollar store. I too during some of my walks to the grocery store admire the classic old muscle cars I see on my way.
Pete, first, thank you for serving. It can be tricky to get two week’s worth of stuff in one trip, and I’m all about dollar stores. I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of classic cars that I’ve seen out and about since late spring. I’m sure that if I had one, it would be seeing a lot more miles this summer since many other things and places I’d use for entertainment are still mostly off limits to me.
I hated apples when I was a kid, because the two choices were yellow or red Delicious apples, whose mealy texture was anything but. Now, with Gala’s, Fuji’s etc, apples have gotten much tastier. On the other hand, I fell in love with that generation of Chevelle when they came out in ‘68, and grew to like the slightly blunter restyle from 1970 onwards. Nevertheless the apple analogy is a good one, while the yellow RoadRunner pictured is certainly banana-like, with its brown spots.
The brown spots! Spot-on, Dman.
The 1970 Chevelle is at the top of it’s game. Next in line is the 1969 Chevelle. For apples it would be Granny Smith for tartness and Honey Crisp for sweetness. On the Apple Pie Trail that covers Meaford, Thornbury and Collingwood Ontario, the orchards are gradually removing the larger, older apple trees and replacing them with newer ones trained to grow straight up like a grape vine.
I love that there is actually an “Apple Pie Trail”! I just found the website and plan to explore it. Thanks for referencing that. I learn new things at CC on a weekly basis.
Apples have come a long way form the horrid mealy big Red Delicious of yore. So have cars, but the unlike the apples, the old cars have kept a lot better!
I did recently buy a bag of mealy, mushy apples in my quest to try different things. I can’t remember what kind they were, which is a shame, since would try to avoid getting those again. Still, while they were far from my favorite, I didn’t waste any of them.
So, how about the Pontiac Firebird is actually an apricot? Smaller, more intense, and just as likeable?
Roger, I’d say an apricot works for the Firebird, but sticking with the Pontiac-as-citrus metaphor that JP Cavanagh referenced above, the Firebird could also be a tangerine. Smaller, and packed with just a little extra sweetness with that Vitamin C goodness.
I like a Russet, not too sure it translates well to the car though
The amazing thing is that the finish on this 1970 does very much mirror the mottled appearance of a russet apple.
I wish someone at Chevy would make a decent looking car again, and the Chevelle of the 1970 era would be a great place to start. I know I’m older but IMHO, the cars of the later 60’s and early 70’s just were at the peak of styling. GM has totally lost it’s way with the hideous Camaro, C8 Corvette, and the Silverado/Sierra.
I don’t think GM will ever make a car or truck I would want now, it seems I can”t get past the Challenger, Charger, and Ram when it comes to vehicles I like that I could actually buy. My present Challenger will be 2 years old 5 days from now, Other than the seemingly universal USB stick weirdness I’ve seen in a bunch of other cars (Not reading the files, getting “stuck” at the end of a song, etc), it’s been perfect, not a buzz or a rattle, and the 6.4 Engine with the 8 speed auto is just about perfection.
I agree on late 60s cars being a bit of a peak, in the US at least. I quite often compare the styling trends of the late 10’s to those of the late 50’s, more, more, MORE! More lines, more features, more aggression. Thankfully we seem to have turned a corner (not unlike the early 60’s), and potentially we’re also looking at longer product cycles which may deter short term fad based trends.
Interestingly I really don’t like overly aggressive aesthetics on modern cars and as aggressive as Dodge is, their cars fall on the correct side as they’re still clean.