I usually have a few projects that I don’t enjoy very much in various stages of completion around the house and yard. For example, there’s a miniature forest in a corner of the back yard, and I’ve been cutting it out little by little this year. It’s about half done, and I never got around to shredding the huge pile of trunks and branches before it got cold. I might finish it next spring.
Another project is to take all my old photographs out of albums, write what each one is on the back, and store them in boxes, which are more space efficient for my little house. Among these photos I found negatives from a nearly forgotten road trip I took to the hills of Tennessee in about 2001. What’s remarkable about them is that they represent the first time I pulled over by the side of the road to photograph cars. This ’51 Ford was just one of the cars I photographed on that trip.
My memories are dim, but I think I found this one on US 127 in Tennessee. I remember sending all of these photos to Collectible Automobile magazine for their Car Spotter feature, but I never heard back from them and the photos certainly never appeared in the magazine. And look, now I can share my spotted cars as often as I want right here at Curbside Classic! Take that, Collectible Automobile!
Somewhere in Kentucky, I think I passed a yard with a bunch of moldering classics in it. I stuck my camera’s lens through the chain link fence to capture this bathtub Nash and this 1954 Plymouth.
I managed to get a bit of the fence in this frame with a 1952 or 53 Ford, a 1953 Chrysler, and a 1949-51 Ford.
The oddest find on the trip was behind this Kaiser Manhattan, which I think is from 1951. It’s a combination restaurant and Kaiser-Frazer museum. I found it in Jamestown, KY, on US 127.
Unfortunately, both restaurant and museum were closed that day. But I was thrilled to find this Manhattan, the first one I encountered in person. But I’d forgotten all about this moment until I scanned these negatives to find these images, which I hadn’t seen in well over a decade.
Man!…My pulse quickened when I saw the picture of the 53 New Yorker.
My heart hopes it was put back on the road, but my mind says under the hood where there used to be a Hemi, there was probably just weeds growing
Love the look of these film photos. That shot of the three cars, with the green Chrysler, is splendid.
Yes, that’s a decidedly non-factory green with the rear bumper guards painted to match.
I took these with an early-60s Kodak Automatic 35F. It was a decent little camera.
Nice photos and that green Chrysler next to the 49 Ford looks pretty dang good, I wonder what happened to it?
It’s still there! (see below)
You mention that that the Nash and ’54 Plymouth were in Kentucky, but I believe this is near my hometown of Jamestown, Tenn. If you were on 127 in Tennessee, you almost certainly passed the junkyard I’m thinking this is; it’s about 10-15 miles south of Jamestown in Grimsley. And I am indeed saying Jamestown, Tenn.; there is also a Jamestown, Ky., on 127. an hour-and-a-half north.
I’ve long meant to get pictures at this junkyard. It was owned by a Lane. The cars are for sale, or at least they were; I’ve moved north and haven’t been by it regularly in years. There are quite a few interesting cars there. Anyone who wants more info, I can find it for you. My Dad could probably tell me right off practically every car that’s there.
Hey, thanks! It’s been 10+ years since I made this trip so I couldn’t remember for sure. I was absolutely on US 127 in TN as I headed toward Crossville and Cumberland Mountain State Park for my little mini-vacation.
Off-interstate road trips through small towns always seem to be replete with old car sightings, and this one had some very good ones. The Kaiser Manhattan is an especially nice find, although you are right, a restaurant/Kaiser-Frazier museum is a very odd combination. Also, the mannequin behind the wheel is a bit strange looking; it reminds me the slightly creepy plastic people in the nuclear test town in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Those Kaisers are such pretty cars. That’s one of the few American cars on my list of dream cars.
That Green Chrysler has been there since 1989. My grandmother’s family is from Jamestown, TN. That yard is filled with cars, many are stacked and covered by overgrowth. The yard is on 127 south of Jamestown Tennessee and just north of Clarkrange. Take the little side road beside the yard and you can see some very neat Dusters and Darts sitting in a wooded area. Jamestown Tennessee was home to Hammond Motor Company, a very successful Studebaker Dealership. The signs were donated to the Studebaker Museum. The building remains-the family operates the NAPA Parts store there in Jamestown. See the link to see the story from Turning Wheels Magazine. http://www.studebaker-info.org/TW/tw0393/tw0393p22.html
Thanks to the wonders or Google maps, I can confirm from the comfort of my lounge in New Zealand that the green Chrysler is still there! The ’49-’51 Ford’s gone though, as is the bathtub Nash:
Cool!! This place goes back for a mile — these are just the cars you can see from the street!
https://goo.gl/maps/DEpEb