OK; the CC corporate biannual retreat and strategic planning session in Jackson Hole is over, and we’ve returned in the Gulfstream. Your input to my previous post and private e-mails confirmed my own thinking: take a deep breath, slow down, and keep the quality high, but still allow for a diversity of voices. We’re not trying to compete with the big boys on volume. So what’s the upshot? A clearer definition of the brands within CC; a bit like GM in the good old days, when the expression “the Cadillac of…” really meant something. And maintaining our Curbside Classic™ Mark of Excellence:
Curbside Classic™: Our signature product, and fully spelled out in the headline. It isn’t just about the thrill of finding cars, it’s what it takes to properly put them in perspective and context, and add something worthy to the automotive historical knowledge banks. We don’t spend weeks doing it like some, but we also don’t just slap up a few pictures with a quickie take. It’s the Goldilocks approach; but even if it’s not 3000 words long, Curbside Classic authors have to know what they speak of. Not necessarily stylistically; because we encourage different voices and points of view, but they have to back the talk with the walk. That means that guest submissions for a Curbside Classic are going to get close scrutiny of the subject matter and the depth of knowledge that informs it. Is it a car we’re not likely to find ourselves, or haven’t done before? Is it a new or different insight? When you see the full Curbside Classic™ name at the beginning of a headline, you know it’s earned it, as well as its place in the Curbside Classic archive.
Automotive History: Our other signature brand, and the same standards apply as above. Just not about found cars.
My CC: A way for CC readers to share their rides, present and past. The emphasis is on the story and the personal experience, and little or no historical knowledge or context is expected. They will typically run on weekends. And the comments should be appropriate to the content. Every car is lovable, especially if it’s accumulated personal history. And we’re going to create their own archive for them (as soon as I find my webmistress).
CC Capsule: The shorty. It may be a variation of a car we’ve already done (in which case it will be linked to the CC), or a very unique car submitted to us. Less research, context and sore fingers, but worth sharing.
CC Outtake and CC Clue: Self explanatory.
Auto-Biography and Cars of A Lifetime: Those titles specifically relate to the series by the two authors using them (PN and M Freeman). The emphasis is on the story. Guest submissions for similar stories would fall under My CC.
Other Blog Posts and Guest Submissions: If it doesn’t have one of the CC brands above in the headline, it may be anything that catches our eye or pops in our head, as well as other guest submissions that don’t fall into the other categories, but worth sharing. Caveat lector (reader beware)
Thanks for helping keep CC on track; now back to the cars…
Paul, all that really matters is a bunch of very nice guys from all over the place is having a whole lot of fun with CC. Good things happen when people have fun and I’d wager the traffic CC is getting will lead to better things. At my stage in life, I truly appreciate something as fun as CC and how rare it is. Really, this is the culmination of a lot of good karma.
Now we need to work on a CC member weekend, BBQ or something to that effect. That could really be a hoot.
Do you know what is cool? Looking on Google for a picture for an 80 LeBaron and having it return my own picture from the 82 I covered as a CC here a few weeks ago. THAT’S cool!
That and actually getting paid $50 for the rights to use one of my pics (Ford Styleline) on a tv show.
In looking at that poster above, the cars all looked the same back then as they do now, so why the hate on the similarity of cars within an OEM group, especially GM? I guess GM just did it better than anyone else.
As far as content on “CC”, yeah – slow down a bit on the CC clues and such – we only have so much time to spend online, and I hate to miss stuff or be late to the party, and I am all too often, and that’s just keeping up with CC and TTAC. No other sites that accept comments are worth the time and trouble.
Yeah Zackman…those artist renditions do make those ’50’s all look the same. I think in reality, there were enough differences in the styling cues that each had their own personality. That said, the Chevy and Pontiac had more than a little resemblance to each other, a trait that didn’t really change ’til ’55.
The ’50 Buick is my all-time favorite in that brand.
Paul, really enjoy coming here and look forward to more great car stories in the next six months!
In looking at that poster above, the cars all looked the same back then as they do now…
Yeah, but if you look closely you can see there was a time when the typical offerings in the “GM aspirational hierarchy” consisted of three different platforms (A, B and C), and each marque was pretty much limited to a single one of those platforms (perhaps with a few exceptions in Olds-Buick territory).
I always looked sadly upon GM’s 1958 lineup, when all of the passenger cars moved to what was more or less one platform in varying lengths. Probably the right move for the time, but there’s a certain, simple honesty to Chevrolets prior to that model year…the same can’t be said for the bloated ones that were trying too hard to be “junior Cadillacs.”
Actually, it was ’59 that forced GM to share ONE common body platform, although technically there were A/B/C bodies.
Buick was ground zero – all ’59 and ’60 GM cars share the Buick ‘dip’ and beltline.
It figures – Buick was the “golden divison” of GM for many moons as its top management over the years were usually men who came up through Buick (Harlow Curtice, etc.)
Great site, good delineation of what should be what.
Although I am laughing at the fact that the Chevy in the advertisement is taxi cab yellow.
CC is a great site the content is excellent and for me its a facinating insight into how the US car industry dug itself into a huge hole from which its now trying to extricate itself.
Keep the good work going love the GM aspirational tree back in the early 50s when you finaly managed to get your new Vauxhall it was obviously part of the tree that had Caddy on top.
Wish I still had the old GM model recognition posters,. a frontal of everything GM made back to the begining.
Good formula plan – like a stylebook, it keeps everything on an even keel.
Betcha ya never thought you’d have to be laying out rules, requirements, departments for your lark-of-a-websight…huh?
Curbside classic was the reason I liked TTAC.
You put the camera back in my car Paul Thanx there are many fine old cars around here even survivors that were rubbish new.
One guy at Haumoana has 350 British cars in a huge series of sheds the cars are stacked 2 high he specializes in Morris Minors but has Hillmans and EVERYthing else trucks vans long dead brands but wont sell parts hes a museum I think some displays are to show how British cars rust so well and he keeps buying more
Plenty of old American cars here too many survivors and recent imp[orts its dry here in Havana Pacific Lots of artdeco cars to blend in with the buildings and entrants are turned away during the festival During the winter old cars visit to be photographed in their natural surrounding hence the Auburn I saw and thanx to you Paul I got pics.Including this little 1936 Morris grazing quietly by the curb.
Paul….Not a slam to TTAC, However I prefer the pace here. Keep up the good work.
Great plan, Paul; well thought out. I have an idea percolating about doing the ’61-’64 full-size Chevrolets, have photos for each model year also. Just have to get in the right frame of mind.
I’d personally love to see an article about my 1964 Chevy Impala SS I owned when in the air force in NoCal 40 years ago! That’s it in my avatar from 1970 on base!
I have quite a roster of cars that I’ve owned, and each has a story to tell, including the ’66 Malibu coupe that was all looks and, due to rust, very little floorboard and almost no trunk, but still got me through college — and then some.
What? a boring newfangled Gulfstream? I say you need to get yourself a Tarmacside Classic. Look no further:
http://www.airforcecenter.ch/navy/mainnav.php?langy=e
Apart from that, congratulations, this sounds like a winning formula.
PS: it’s caveat lector, lector emptor means “reader buyer”.
Yes; I copped out on that opportunity; a Junkers it is, if not a DC-3.
Whoops; obviously, I wasn’t taking my own advice about slowing down, with my latin.
Paul is busy and took the Gulfstream, but he provided the rest of us with with a comfortable RV.
Boy! The 50s is when the Alfred P. Sloan hierarchy really began to get muddied, although GM was better against mortally competing against itself (then) than was Chrysler (where Dodge moved up AND down market squashing DeSoto and crippling Plymouth).