Like many of our fellow Americans, we traveled to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family. For us, that involved a 15-hour drive from the Midwest to central Georgia and back again. I caught a quick snap of this ’64 Thunderbird and ’66 Mustang in Milledgeville; with a bit of cropping, it could pass for having been shot in 1966.
I had seen this 1971 Torino on the road about a half-hour earlier, when I was still eating my lunch and didn’t want to get mayonnaise on my iPhone.
Apparently they also stopped for lunch, so I got a second chance when they motored past me. The fenders wore 351 badges…
Finally, I couldn’t resist this shot of first- and current (fifth)- generation Dodge Grand Caravans side-by-side. The boxy styling only goes to show that “what goes around, comes around.”
Thanks for these pics Ed, feels like a step back in time. The Torino is a beauty. The Vintage Burgundy T-Bird appears to need a grille replacement, narrower whitewalls, and some period wheel covers (did the wires appear to be period Kelsey-Hayes?) but otherwise looks great. Back in the day I remember going to Thanksgiving dinner in our beige 65 T-Bird, parking it next to my aunt’s Vintage Burgundy and black 66 LTD and my cousin’s new 67 Mustang in Frost Turquoise. A lot of Ford lovers in our family at the time. Good memories.
Hmm, I took my Chevelle on a trip to Houston over the weekend. I got lots of waves and appreciative looks as it was rolling down I-45 at 75-80mph. It got 19mpg with a sticking advance on the distributor.
Saw quite a few classics on the road. Makes the day a bit brighter when you don’t see the same blah styling on the road.
Ah the first gen Chrysler mini-van. My parents had an 87 Plymouth Voyager in ice blue metallic with a 2.6 Mitsu I4. We took lots of family road trips in that van.
My buddy had an ’85 Caravan with a 2.2 and a 5- speed(!). Ordered it new like that. Only one I have ever seen with a manual.
Even more rare is that CTS Coupe.
Wow, you never, ever see Torinos. Especially a plain-jane one like that. Nice find.
Love that first pic!
Georgia’s backroads and small towns are filled with images like the T-Bird and Mustang at the top.
When I lived down there, I thought I’d find all kinds of old cars all over the place; sadly it didn’t turn out that way. Sure they were there, but mostly as lawn ornaments. All dead, stuck in the mud and kudzu growing all over them.
When I moved back to the Great Lakes, I found that my fellow midwesterners have a greater love for the old iron than I remembered before I left. In my part of southwestern Michigan I can find a huge number of old cars on the road being driven.
With the warm weather lasting well into November this year, I’ve seen all kinds of old metal rolling around, even on Thanksgiving! There were a few brave souls running their Harleys and Gold Wings last Thursday. Unfortunately, I don’t have the presence of mind and a fast enough shutter on my phone’s camera to capture some of the things I see on a daily basis.
But rest assured, here in the Great White North (of the US) the old metal is alive and well.
In the South, old cars are just…old cars. For the most part, anyway. There’s nothing remarkable about a 25-year-old car just being around; so it’s not a status toy. It’s poor-man’s goods.
Up North…they have cachet. An old car surviving…it’s not NATURAL. It’s really unusual; and since most don’t, it’s an attention-grabber.
So old-ride purchase and preservation is more of a true hobby.
You would probably see more of them if you used sand instead of salt. I’m pretty sure that they don’t survive better here because we treat them better. Hmmm. Maybe the government in Paris could get what they want if they just put salt on the road.
Good find Ed.
1987-88 cars are 25 model years old, so there’s still some running around the Salt Belt. They don’t have ‘cachet’ nor are they attention getters/status symbols.
That Torino is now 41-42 years old, and the 66’s are 46. Those are remarkable to see anywhere, I think. Pre-1972 ‘muscle car era’ was over 40 years ago. Any survivor that old is not just ‘poor man’s goods’, unless a worn bucket of bolts.
That Torino was just like my buddy’s from back in the day!
I really loved the pix of the two minivans together. I’ve thought since the release of the new Dodge minivan in 2008 that returning to the box was the way to go. Still one of the minvans that would make it into my MM garage…
i just love the shot of that Torino in your side view mirror! Its “Cat Eyes” are icing on the cake. Maybe it’s the kid in me but I always thought parking-lights-on-in-the-day was cool when the owner is sporting a very sharp car like this. I think “Dork” when I see Cat-Eyes on newer vehicles or older ones with burned out bulbs.
The second Torino shot is also nice — what a beautiful color combo on a beaufiful vehicle. I think the factory dog dishes with trim rings would make it look even better.
Milledgeville charmed me the week I was there (26 years ago) to cover a hay drive organized by Arizona farmers to help their Georgia brethren through a then-historic drought. I haven’t been back, but I hope not much has changed.
The top pic has a few clues that it’s not from 1966. The worn Visa/MC/Discover sign, the chipped paint, and worn 60’s building, which would look fresher 46 years ago.
Also, the paint on the Mustang looks like Earl Schiib special, no new car shine at all.
Also, I believe it is a 65 with 66 hubcaps, as it doesn’t have the trident in front of the rear wheel.
I went with ’66 because of the gas cap. My HS best friend had a ’65 and it had a gas cap with a black plastic insert in the middle as well as ‘bat wings’ on the side scoops. Didn’t get to see the grill on this car which would have made the ID more certain.
Actually, the signs themselves…VISA was still BankAmeriCard, MasterCard was MasterCharge and Discover didn’t exist until the late 70s.
And in ’66, that little gas station probably gleamed.