(first posted 1/7/2018) For me, the turn of the year always brings forth a sense of nostalgia – another year past and a longing to look back at the “good old days” of my youth in the early and middle 1960’s. More so now as I’m into my seventh decade – and wonder how much longer I’ll be able to keep these memories…
Paul’s recent article on the step-down Hudson Hornet made these reminiscences much more vivid, as it brought back those long forgotten of a Hudson owned by a family in our neighborhood. That then led to recollections of other “classics” that roamed the streets of our lower middle class section of Columbus Ohio, and their unique and colorful owners. Thanks for the memory jogger Paul – if you’ll allow me, I’d like to reach back and offer some thoughts on these owners and classics, with a now over fifty years of perspective. Note names have been changed and pictures are representative examples from the Internet.
Let’s first look at the Hudson – it was owned by a large Italian family named Murcer. The father was a part time house painter, and as with most others in the neighborhood, didn’t have much money. He drove a early 50’s faded blue step-down Hudson – probably a Hornet because I can remember the large “Twin H” badge on the back. It was both a work and family car – I would always see his ladder, tarp, and other supplies stored in the trunk and back seat. At this point, the Hudson was at least 10 years old – which in the 60’s was ancient. As an eight year old already fascinated by cars, I thought this Hudson was one of the ugliest cars on the road – compared to the new crisply-styled Stingrays, Rivieras, T-Birds, and Starfires that passed by our neighborhood en route to the more upscale environs of Columbus, the Hudson could only be described as hoary, bloated, and roach-like. I’d wince when it went by, it was so ugly.
Across from the Murcer’s were the Andrienko’s; a Ukrainian family with the parents first generation immigrants from the old country. Neither the mother nor father spoke much English, but the children, several my age, were all born in the US and were typical US kids. Perhaps because of his lack of language skills, the father performed mostly odd jobs; small mechanical and electrical repairs, etc. The family car was an early 50’s “bullet-nosed” Studebaker Starlight coupe. Here was another car that I thought was beyond bizarre – a wrap-around cathedral like rear window and what looked like a propeller hub in the nose, Its trunk was longer than its hood – maybe the first cab-forward. Truly weird. You couldn’t call it ugly – it was too strange to call ugly – I’d just stare at it; puzzled…
Across from our flat was Mr Dillard, a middle-aged, single gentlemen who lived with his elderly mother. He had some type of office job as he always wore a suit to work. He was formal and very uptight – one who had no time for young kids running around causing noise and mayhem. He was a routine visitor to our home complaining to my parents about something I had done to upset him or his mother. He had the only new car in the neighborhood – a bone-stock early 60’s Ford Falcon, white, completely lacking in chrome, with dog-dish hubcaps. It fit his personality…
Down at the end of the street near the railroad tracks lived Mark – Mark was a professor at nearby Ohio State University – and was one of the nicest guys in the neighborhood. A bachelor, he lived in an apartment, and his door was always open to us young kids. Today I imagine folks would raise an eyebrow at this, but Mark was just this truly nice gentleman who would share with us his time, food, books, and music. He also would impart things that maybe our parents had forgot to do – always say please and thank you, never interrupt a speaker, etc. Surprisingly he didn’t drive a Volvo but a haggard 1956 Desoto – which appropriately was covered with “stop the war” and “save the environment” bumper stickers.
At the opposite end of the apartment complex from Mark lived Tony – Tony was probably in his early 30’s, a bachelor, and a “player”. I never knew his job, but my guess would have been “salesman.” He was always friendly to us but was more interested in the string of young ladies that he escorted into his apartment. Between these liaisons, he would occasionally invite us in – he had a ham radio kit and would explain how the radio worked and show us how it operated – fascinating stuff to young kids. He drove an early 60’s Buick Lesabre convertible – a few years old but in very good shape.
Looking back, I’ve learned some things over the intervening fifty some years;
The Hudson may have been ugly then, but its a gem now. Big flathead six, quality step-down unit construction; sure would love to have one in the garage.
The Starlight coupe still puzzles me – I can appreciate its then (and now) daring styling – but even today when I see one I still just stare at it, puzzled…
I wish I had been nicer and more empathetic to Mr Dillard – who was probably an awkward, lonely soul whose common complaints were likely just his attempt to communicate with us. And I’d be glad to be an owner of an original bone-stock Falcon.
Mark is one of those few people from your childhood you look back on with true admiration – and a ‘56 finned, hemi-engined Desoto would be pretty cool to have too.
And from now on every time I see an early 60’s Buick convertible, I’ll remember Tony cruising our neighborhood with the top down and a cute young thing in the front seat.
Thanks again for the memory jogger Paul…
This was very enjoyable! It’s amazing how the cars from ones formative years imprint themselves into the mind so well. It’s also amazing how the simplest things are what children tend to remember.
Very true for former kids and Curbside Classic readers like the author and me. Probably incomprehensible to most.
As a little kid I remember the time I got a ride to somewhere from a neighbor in what must have been a Hudson. I definitely took note of stepping down to the lower floor over the door sill, something not seen in any other car at the time.
i AGREE. A different time for sure. Back in the 60’s as a kid. You knew everyone in the neighborhood. You knew where the dad worked, or sometimes the mom, but that was rare. You knew what they drove. You knew their kids names, you most likely knew where they went to church. For me it was mostly the cars. “hey, did you see the Wrights got a new Chevy wagon? They did every 3 years, always a wagon, always a V8, Always a stick shift, “Or the Johnsons ,Man I wish I had that ’64 Thunderbird they drive!”
Oh, and I dearly love Studebakers, But like you, I always thought they, the designers must have been on drugs when they designed the Bullet nose ones. Very weird looking cars!
Good stuff, thanks for sharing. Oh boy, you stoked my memory up! For me it was the mid 70s to mid 80s. I grew up in a GM family and most vehicles in the neighborhood were GM products with a few old lady driven Plymouth Valients as the second largest demographic.
The ones I remember are mostly because they were not GM products owned by folks I found interesting. There was a first generation Honda Civic in rust and red owned by Mr. Smith. He was an engineer working for ALCOA who had transplanted from CT to TN. He was a middle aged bachelor who lived his life without commentary from a wife so there were some odd ball things, starting with driving that tiny car which was getting pretty rusty. Access to the back seat was eased by removing the front passenger seat. He owned multiple aquariums and needed easy access to the back seat for cargo. These were very small cars. Maintenance records were stickers produced by the old label makers that embossed the letters into the tape which was then stuck to the dash and glove box door. There were quite a few when I met him. Mr. Brown was a very old taciturn man who we kids were all afraid of because he had an artificial leg. I would help him in his very large garden occasionally and he cut my mental questions off by saying in very few words he lost the leg in WWI. I don’t recall him having a wife but someone had to can all of those vegetables, maybe he did it himself. No one had ever been in his house, which was unusual back then for kids. Fittingly he drove a Ford Granada that was beige or another light color if I recall correctly. Mr. Brooks was a machinist who drove a beige VW pickup, diesel of course.
Good times!
When I was a kid, most everyone’s mom drove a station wagon. Moms weren’t “cool”, and therefore neither were station wagons.
But by the time I bought my first completely-selected-by-me car, it was a ’72 Ford Gran Torino wagon. I’ve been a fan ever since. Even today, when wagons are scarce, I like to pretend my Prius is a wagon, with a very sloped tailgate.
Great stories! Fascinating how “we are what we drive”, so to speak. In our pre-driving days, my buddies and I would cruise the streets on our bikes (early to mid-60’s) finding gems similar as you pointed out, slowly disappearing, losing favor to the newly-minted models.
Thanks for reviving these images of a great era for uniqueness in design!
Cheers
Your posting brought me up short in the realization that my childhood was so Chevrolet oriented that I have very few memories of anyone in the neighborhood driving anything else. Yeah, there was my Uncle Mike who caused a minor scandal in the family when he turned down the 63 Chevrolet Bel Air dad ordered for him in favor of a Pontiac Catalina, and a buddy down the street who’s father was a hard-core Chrysler Newport guy, but that’s about it. For me, childhood was Chevys, Chevys, Chevys.
I think that might have something to do with my liking for things like Citroen’s and Fiat 500L’s.
I was thinking the other day about how there was an almost Lake Wobegonian parallel in my extended family between devotion to Catholicism and St Mark of Excellence. There were exceptions, of course, but among the devout those exceptions nearly always were Chrysler products (including my own mom’s Plymouth Horizon). My grandparents’ generation whose pre-Vatican II sensibilities demanded a St. Christopher medal, never seemed to attach them to any but a GM dashboard.
Among us apostates, it was almost parallel rites of passage for Gen Xers…stop going to church in your teens, start driving Japanese in your 20s. A well trodden path by the time I (born 1974) was on it.
Backing up a generation, one of the relatively few Boomers in the family, my Aunt Sue, actually converted to a non-denominational Christian (read=Evangelical) church and drove an LTD Crown Victoria. Full Size, Full Gospel, Praise the Ford!
It goes further than that. By the 70’s (dad left the business in late ’65), it was still Chevy, Chevy, Chevy in our house. My first two real cars (not counting that ’37 Buick which was for the antique circuit), both graduation gifts were Chevys (Vega GT and Monza 2+2). My third car, the first one I actually had to pay for myself – and had to borrow money from dad to do – was a Monza Kammback. This was accomplished by him refusing to loan me the money for anything else. What I really wanted was a Ford Fiesta S.
That car was the worst POS I ever owned, plus I was pissed at dad’s heavy-handedness. So for the next car (’82, and I’m married at this point) I was going to be the first member of the family not to buy a GM product, much less a Chevy.
And, summer of ’81, dad shows up with a Dodge Omni. The only non-GM car he ever owned in my lifetime.
Can you say, slow burn? And then he tried to step into my wife’s and my buying our first house by trying to force grandchildren . . . . . .
While built to to a tight budget, the 1960 Ford Falcon was an extremely well and modernly styled car. And by going conventional (front engine, rear drive, live axle on leaf springs) if all-new, with the mechanicals and basic shape – unlike with GM’s Corvair – they had money for (with the deluxe model) nice interiors for the time and room for humans inside.
As a small boy in the late ’60’s, I remember a variety of cars in our neighbourhood. My parents had our ’61 VW and a ’67 Beaumont. A family up the street had a ’59 Chevy and an early ’60’s Austin. A nice old couple next to us (Mr. and Mrs. Derbyshire) had a big black ’61 Chrysler 4-door sedan. At 4 years old I thought it was the coolest car on the street. A friend of my dad’s across the street had a well-worn late ’40’s Ford pickup, and a very nice and interesting childless couple down the street (the Meikars) had a Rambler station wagon. It’s funny that over 50 years later, I can clearly remember the cars we saw in our neighbourhood. I was fascinated with them back then, and I still am today. I actually saw an identical black ’61 Buick convertible at a car show in Toronto’s Distillery District several years ago. I also came across a maroon Studebaker Starlight coupe at a used car lot that specialized in antique cars. Great story and pictures.
In 1953, I was 7 years old and can clearly remember the guy across the street coming home with a brand new Corvette. It might as well have been a rocket ship from Mars!
If it was a split rear window coupe,it probably was!
Uh, he said ’53.
I still remember my ride in the dealership’s first one. My earliest conscious memory as a child.
Great story! My family was very GM centered so like some others here I noticed the other stuff.
It was the older childless couples who had the most unusual cars. An old couple down the street bad a black 59 Buick, a real oddity by the late 60s. Another such couple later owned the first boattail Riviera I ever saw.
Thanks for taking us to your neighborhood.
The folks two houses over had a ’56 DeSoto; he was a doctor at the university. In 962, he traded it on a ’62 Dodge Polara 4 door hardtop in red. I really liked it, despite it being a bit different. It was my first deep introduction to the ’62 Dodge/Plymouths, and undoubtedly influenced my infatuation with them ever since.
They had a big new color tv, and invited us over to watch Wonderful World of Disney one Sunday Night. What a treat that was!
We were the first in the neighborhood to get an RCA Console color TV in ’62/63.
Bonanza and Disney, along with Wizard of Oz showings always brought a few neighbors over. And every 6 months, without fail, the TV repairman was there replacing tubes or tweaking the tuner. When Star Trek came out in ’66, parents forced us kids to watch it on the old BW set downstairs. 1966 was the year most TV shows went to color. Bonanza was the first in 1959.
Our neighbor 2 doors up was a female police officer and brought home her patrol cars, I don’t remember the make or model. A white, battered ’59 Ford was always parked in front of the poorest neighbor’s house. They had an old Victrola crank record player, the house was a time capsule. A friend’s ’62 Valiant which replaced her ’57 Buick comes to mind.
Everyone knew their neighbors, and kids the circulated around freely.
We got our first color TV in 1964 – an RCA New Vista console set. The person who sold it to my father – Mr. Jernigan – also serviced it for the next 17 years until the now ancient TV was finally replaced. That RCA was perhaps the first “non-Sears” appliance in our house. The first two TVs, a 1952 and 1957, were Sears Silvertone models. Our family tended to keep things for a very long time, as did other thrifty folks in the Midwest in that time. Quite a contrast to the disposable world we live in today.
The one we had looked like this. (The one on the right with Santa).
$599.95 in ’64 which today is $4836.00! I don’t remember how long we had the TV, probably until the early ’70’s. At that price it was worth repairing for a long time,
https://books.google.com/books?id=U1IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=what+did+a+1963+rca+vista+console+color+tv+cost?&source=bl&ots=exRHWcXsmv&sig=AaItmTBLber6-XhMKcGsQgY3nXA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM0qvCk8fYAhVr9IMKHV0ECao4ChDoAQgqMAI#v=onepage&q=what%20did%20a%201963%20rca%20vista%20console%20color%20tv%20cost%3F&f=false
Our next door neighbors were the first ones on our block to get a color TV; I can remember being invited over to watch Batman (of all things) with my mother and my siblings. Black and white TV was good enough for my father and I don’t think the family got their first color TV until 1970 or so, when my dad married his second wife. I know that I personally didn’t own a color TV until the early eighties; now, I consider anything that is not HD to be not worth watching.
My block had some people who were the equivalent of those mentioned in Jim’s story. There was Mr. VanBussum who lived with his mother; he didn’t have a Falcon but instead had the ultimate stripper ’57 Chevrolet, the only option the car had was a heater. Mr. Gish across the street was a painting contractor; he had an early fifties Ford pickup he used for work. I could be wrong but I think that was the only pickup on the block, and it was strictly for work, he had a newish Caprice he drove for pleasure. Then there were Mr. and Mrs. Brenner who lived next door to the Gishes; the Brenners were refugees from some part of Europe that changed hands after WWII and they were no longer welcome in their homeland. Mr. Brenner spoke reasonably good English which I assumed he had learned on his machinist job; he certainly knew enough English to swear like a sailor. Mrs. Brenner didn’t work outside of the home and her English was theoretical at best. For most of my childhood they owned a 1954 Mercury that was washed and waxed nearly every week; it is a wonder that he didn’t buff the paint off the car with all of the polishing.
We had a color TV fairly early (comparing to our neighbors); my father bought a Zenith console that complemented their mid-century modern furniture (some of which my Mother still has and is apparently back in vogue).
The Zenith didn’t last long (maybe 5 years)…after it died he gave it to a friend that built a Heathkit TV and used it for the cabinet.
I took a highschool electronics class where we learned on Motorola “works in a drawer” sets…the instructor would put bugs on them and we’d have to figure out what the problem was..also learned how to do alignments. I went on to study electronics but never got a chance to use the skills from that class (though I have repaired TV sets of my own and for friends, as a favor).
My Grandparents (on my Father’s side) eventually also bought a Zenith Console…first remote control I ever saw with the xylophone hammer buttons that generated tones to get it to change channels and turn on/off. They lived in Wilkes-Barre, PA, which I think was the first place to get HBO…they also had cable TV, which was pretty new
(I had an uncle who lived there that claimed he put up most of the rooftop antennas in the valley (all UHF) back in the 50’s when TV was still pretty novel).
In terms of neighborhood cars, I kept track of what everyone on our street drove. My friend at the end of the street’s father was the publisher of our newspaper and pretty well to do; his sons (older than my friend) drove 60’s Jaguar XKE and Mercedes (not sure of the model…I’d never seen a Mercedes before and didn’t even know they made other models than the one he had). Across the street from that was a friend of my sister who’s parents drove an older (1950’s) Plymouth…my Father was mean and said their mother wore a “sailor’s hat”, I guess to emphasize how “old fashioned” he thought they were. My best friend was part of a “Mercury” family, they had a ’63 Comet, and a ’66 Colony Park Wagon. We had a ’65 Olds F85 wagon, soon to be also a ’59 Beetle then (after the Beetle got totalled by the same son down the street who drove the Mercedes)..he bought a ’68 Renault R10. Other cars on the street, a Pontiac Executive, and the one I always took notice of, a 1967 Dodge Polara, I think I liked the taillights on that car the best….this was in the old north end of Burlington, Vermont, where we lived from ’65 to ’69…and where my Dad’s job returned after a 5 year assignment in Virginia, though we were slightly south in Shelburne where they lived another 7 years until buying the house my mother still lives in in central Texas.
The neighbor whose cars I remember most was an older lady who apparently liked the luxo-boats of the 1970s.
I was 10 in 1975 when I entered my car love phase, and she had a 1974 Buick Electra “Limited” all-black sedan. I knew what I wanted. We were not well-off enough for something like that, but we always had new cars.
Three years later, her ’74 Buick turned into a newly-downsized 1977 Sedan deVille, all-black, again. And two years later, her ’77 Cadillac turned into a 1979 Lincoln Continental “Collector’s Series” sedan. How she was able to go from a $6,000 Buick to an almost $20,000 Lincoln in only 6 years I’ll never know, but I was always impressed with her automotive choices.
In 1977 my mother bought a newly-downsized Electra 225 sedan, so I guess we got there eventually. I think my mom wasn’t really a “Cadillac person” anyway. She was very happy with her Electra.
Neat idea! We ought to all do a write up of our childhood street(s) and the cars up and down the street that we remember…..
+1. It’s been over 50 years for me, but I remember every single car the neighbors on the street had- make, model, and year. One of the big things I miss on the newer cars- how the heck can you tell one year from another? At night, I can only spot Dodge’s and Cadillac’s (the taillights).
We sort of did a couple of years ago, but perhaps it might be time again.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/qotd/qutd-what-were-the-most-interesting-cars-on-the-street-where-you-grew-up/
For sure a great idea for a new series Paul. I’d be glad to volunteer.
Thanks for the great reminisces. I especially liked that photo of the Stude, now that’s patina! I grew up during the late ’50s and through the 1960s in East Oakland, which was probably a slight step up from blue collar in those days. Neighborhoods of smaller well kept post war houses, with a vibrant business district along E. 14 th St. (Now known as International Blvd). I don’t remember seeing any older cars (1940s) in my neighborhood, most were either new, or maybe up to five years old. People, even my folks used to trade up to anew car every three or four years. There was a used car lot that had a mint Model T for sale when I was in primary school. That was really very unusual.
My Grandparents had given up driving before I was born, so I never got to experience what kind of car they might have had. My youngest uncle had a ’49 Cadillac fastback coupe that was around fifteen years old at the time. My aunt had a ’56 Olds four door hardtop that she bought new and kept until she bought her new ’69 Pontiac Grand Prix.
My impression of the grey Cadillac was that it was pretty dull. The interior was dark with plain grey cloth, with almost no chrome. There were no power amenities. I wondered, “What made this a Cadillac?” The Oldsmobile, on another hand, was flashy in and out with plenty of bright upholstery and chrome trim in the airy, well lit cabin. My Dad bought a new car every four years or so, until the late 1960s when he began buying older used cars to save money and have a little fun.
This is not my Auntie’s Oldsmobile, hers was blue and white.
I love posts like this- thank you for sharing! I was fortunate growing up. The next door neighbors were Italian, but he was an OB/GYN. Doc Bartolli was a big, imposing guy with a big voice and a heart to match. They drove Chevies (two ’57’s, a Coupe and a Convertible), but had a red 190SL tucked away as the toy car. Sometime in the early 60’s he brought back a Ferrari 250GTE Coupe he had bought used in Italy. His idea of stress relief was pulling that car out of the garage, grabbing his tools, and fiddling with the Weber’s. Fortunately, he always had the time (and patience) for the little kid that wandered next door to watch and listen, in awe at this process.
Although the Doc and his wife drove their “normal” cars to the practice daily, babies have a habit of coming at unusual times. I can’t count the times that Ferrari would fire up, in the wee hours of the morning, and he’d have that thing redlined in 2nd gear before he hit the top of his driveway (it was a straight shot into the street). His driveway ran parallel to the side of our house where the bedrooms were. I’m sure my parents didn’t appreciate being woken up, but to me… it was magical. No, my folks never complained. They were just too damned nice, and the best neighbors you could hope for.
Dads once told me that he bought a new Studebaker sedan in 1951. He thought that the nose styling was cool, but then again he was an aeronautical engineer. He only kept the cat for two years, trading it in on a 1953 Pontiac Star Chief.
Fascinating story, as much for the cars themselves as for the changing perspective brought on by age.
Jim-thanks for the article, it stirred up some old memories. My grandmother owned a 1954 Olds 98, it was two tone-medium blue and white, at that time compared with my parents plebian ’54 Chevy it was the height of luxury, it had about every option on it with the exception of a/c and I’m not sure if that was available; my grandmother never drove-she relied on her housekeeper or one of her daughters to drive her to appointments. My favorite thing I remember about it was the art-deco rocket hood ornament. I thought that was really spectacular. After her death in 1966,one of her daughters bought it; she had it for several years and after that I have no idea what became of it.
On the way to elementary school I used to cut through our neighbours’ property. They had a prewar Hudson (I think it was like this picture) sitting behind the garage – being a car-crazy child I used to go and sit in it sometimes.
I found the owner’s manual in the glove compartment, which identified it as an Opera Coupe. It had a sideways-facing third seat, which I never saw again until I was looking at a Pagoda Mercedes in a classic dealers.
These are the stories I really like. The ones that open everyones memory banks because everyone can relate.
Thank you.
+1
Great post. I’m not even sure it was about cars. 😉
Just so, and one of the great things about this site.
Lovely post Jim Brophy, most atmospheric. When you’re a middle-aged car nut and have been since the crib, you do remember the folk not just with their cars but because of the cars.
In my ’70’s outer-suburban working/low middle class childhood, a number of old folk still didn’t actually have cars. The Stewarts two doors down didn’t, neither did Mrs Anson opposite, nor Mrs Smith up the road. Mrs Gough had a ’66 Mini, miserable Mr Tuckett had a ’64 Morris 1100 and his son a ’62 Morris Major, next door’s huge tribe had a massive long brown ’72 falcon wagon, a big Fairlane opposite, the Adams doing quite well had new Ford Escorts & an Anglia, and sharp-nosed Mrs Bird had an unexpected Renault 12. Rosenbrocks at the top had a ’60 Falcon (which blew smoke from underneath some how) and a ’68 or so Toyota Crown wagon. Just realized that yet another three houses with older owners didn’t have wheels – and of course, I can’t recall their names! Gosh, in this 40’s-’60’s estate, lots of lawns, sunburn, asbestos, and free-range kids everywhere. The old folks walked to shops and train, or neighbours drove them as a matter of course. Sign of the times too that so many of these “older” women (of probably only mid-’60’s), were widows. Shorter lives for men then.
One thing of the modern world that truly saddens me is the automatic suspicion of the single guy who is good to kids, which now has no innocent meaning. It is wrong – the overwhelming number of abusers are in the home – but a permanent cultural shift. There was at least one of your De Soto Paul’s in our area, who were simply decent men who were probably a bit lonely.
Interesting, and it got me thinking our family in the 60s always had a new Vauxhall or Holden, the across the street neighbour a new Hillman(he was the local Rootes dealer) next door down the hill had a work supplied Landrover and his own car was a Humber 80,(a NZ only rebadge of a Hillman Minx), other side had a 58 PA Vauxhall Velox and a A30 Austin for his wife, over the back fence lived the local Simca agent who naturally had an Etoile sedan and a 1000 with the rear engine, there were four other Vauxhall owners on the street another guy with a Morris Oxford estate and another with a Standard ten, all cars rarely seen these days except at shows and museums but back then just reliable everyday transport.
Beautiful post, brings back lots of memories…best cars on my street: Olds Toronado with wrap-around back glass, Porsche 924, BMW 320i, that guy’s BIL would visit periodically with one of his 50s era RHD Rolls Royces, only SUV was the Jeep Wagoneer that one neighbor pulled her horse trailer with (and would tie up the horses in the front yard occasionally). Lots of Oldsmobiles, some Buicks, Dr. Shahbabian had a pair of S-Class MBs, both turbodiesels, Pete Rose the ballplayer drove a Porsche 930 and his then-wife had a Rolls Royce that she would park in front of the dive bar where she tended bar, The Wagon Wheel. Guy across the street from the Roses had a series of Porsche 928s, I assume they were leased because he didn’t keep them very long. His next door neighbor had a gray-market BMW 745i. And oddly enough there were a half dozen Triumph TR3s that some of the dads had as toys, yellow, pale blue, dark blue, 2 red ones…strange.
gray-market BMW 745i. Has it never been officially sold in US? Why?
Nice neighborhood, car wise. Sounds like Beverly Hills to me 😉
Great article! The passage of time has a way of both clarifying, and “fuzzifying” our memories! At a gathering of old friends (some from elementary school) the guys’ talk was about the cars the teachers drove. There was Mrs. Webb’s 62 Gran Prix, with BUCKET seats, which were subsequently stolen and took months to replace! The music teacher, single Mr. Neely, drove a 64 Thunderbird (rumor had it that he made a pass at Mrs. Webb and was soundly rebuffed). Mrs. Hardeman had a 64 Dodge Polara, Mr. Harper had a 59 Plymouth Fury, Mrs. Armstrong drove a 2 door 59 Lincoln Premier, which was replaced by a classic 61 black suicide door model. Mrs. Harper, the principal, had a very well kept 56 Buick. My neighborhood had primarily GM cars. Our neighbors across the street had a succession of Chevrolet’s, 58 Bel-Air, 63 Impala, 68 Caprice, 72 Caprice. My dad was a Mopar guy, changing from a 55 Ford bought new, to a 56 Plymouth, a 60 Dodge Matador, a 62 Dodge Dart 440, a 65 Plymouth Fury III, (all bought used, due to the five kids) and a spanking new 72 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham (I got the Dart as my first car). Famously enough, he brought the Chrysler home the same day as our neighbor’s Caprice, and the five of us kids had our revenge on our friends because our new car had LEATHER, and theirs didn’t, LOL! In his later years, the pendulum swung wildly, from Datsun to Chevrolet, to Mercedes, to Honda, and finally back to a Chrysler 300. Then, of course there was that absolutely stunning 69 Pontiac Gran Prix, Model J, owned by the Army Pfc next door, that had all of us guys enthralled, (who later went AWOL, and the memory of his arrest by the MP’s is seared into my memory). There are so many more, but, alas, the details are starting to become a bit fuzzy…….. 🙂
Nice Article. It´s very intersting to read about those cars and imagine what kind of people drove them back in the time. Especially when you´re some decades younger and from another country.
I´d like to have the `56 De Soto.
You mentioned the part-timers, bringing out another major difference. In the ’60s it was possible to live on much shorter worktime than now. Most of my buddies had dads who were teachers like mine, but one dad was a part-time bricklayer and full-time drinker, and another was a part-time “antiques” salesman specializing in guns, mostly selling in shady circles. Those two families had older cars and older houses than the professional types, but they were more close and comfortable than the prof types. They were emphatically not “dysfunctional”.
A wonderful article I missed the first time around! I particularly liked your ending with the contemporary perspective. My childhood neighborhood was pretty diverse automotively … perhaps I’ll plagiarize your story with an effort about the cars I grew up around in the same era, if you wouldn’t mind.
Absolutely not – looking forward to your post…Jim.
Thanks for sharing. Got me thinking about the cars and families that lived on my block and a few on the next street or avenue. Yes, anyone driving a 50’s era car in the sixties was certainly considered to be “poor” amongst us kids. Which reminds me of the old guy who owned a couple rentals on the other side of my block. He drove a Model A sedan, complete with ladders and other necessities. That turned a few heads!
Great post that I missed the first time around, too. I would love to write one of my own–the dove-gray 1977 LTD Landau across the street, the green and white Granada next door, the brown Torino next to that…red Maverick next door and the cool kid up the street with the celery-green 1967 Toronado…funny, as I think of it, we were outliers–a strictly GM family on a heavily Ford street!
My thoughts are from later. My godfather and dad’s best friend lived on the 1st fl of our garden apt. – we lived on the 3rd – and he drove a fastback 1967 Impala (not the SS), teal blue/green (We owned a used 1964 Jetstar 88, ice blue coupe). He was a prematurely widowed engineer with Airco; how I still love the look of that car – cool but not excessively so.
I lived a variety of places growing up, we moved semi regularly. The only one I recall with cars of note was an upper middle neighborhood in the mid 60’s.
Neighbor to the left had a very early 427 Mustang Fastback. I know, supposedly there were no such beasts, and while I probably did see under the hood, my 12-13 year old self at best could ID a 6 from a V8. I do recall it did have 427 badges on the fenders though. It got stolen.
Diagonally, a flashy insurance salesman. I think there were 3 unusual cars but I only recall 2, a very early Olds Toronado and about a ’65 VW Camper van. Talk about opposites. Foreshadowing later life, the VW camper interested me more than the Toronado.
Directly across. Some good people moved in. The Dad had a mid 60’s Corvette, the only one I’ve ever liked, styling wise. Tall guy, maybe 6-3, 6-4, made noise about how he needed a car to fit him and it did. Later they got a full bells and whistles Chrysler wagon. It had a flat. We neighbor kids decided to help change it. Not knowing about left hand threads on the left side. Broke that stud clear off. How we did that and didn’t strip the nut I have no idea.
Behind me. A little less flashy, but one of those I think it was Mercury Montereys with back slanted rear window that rolled down.
Us? My Dad drove a ’57 oval window bug and my Mom had a ’63 Ford Galaxy 500. Not as exciting a driveway as some of the neighbors.