This vintage Ford AWD C-Series boom truck is still at work for a tree company. But it’s getting a break on Labor Day, as I hope you are. Perry is off for the week, for a well earned vacation. And I’m turning over rentals, as the kids come back for school. So this coming week might see a few less posts and a few more re-runs. I know some of you CC old-timers have seen some of our “Classic” posts before, but they’re popular with our newer readers, as well as those of us older folks whose memories seem to appreciate a bit of regular reinforcement. Sometimes I re-read my older posts and go; Wow; how did I come up with that?
Thanks for making July and August by far our most successful months ever at CC; almost a million Page Views in each of those months. Where’s everybody coming from, and how did you find us?
Related reading: Automotive History: The Almost Immortal Ford C Series
Christmas,1964, I got a Marx Big Bruiser tow truck based on this design. I loved it, but it sure went through its 4 D-cells quickly. It came with a complementary pick-up truck with a removable crumpled fender, so you had something to tow.
I’ve been here just about every day since Paul announced the creation of his site on TTAC some years ago. And I found TTAC only because of Murilee Martin moving from Jalopnik! And I forget how I bumped into Jalopnik, but I’m sure it was a review of a bizarre or obscure vehicle that hooked me. Unlike those latter two, the subject matter and general insistence on avoiding politics and fanboyism have made this the most pleasant site to comment on that I know of…even with the relatively simple and unmoderated/anonymous commenting.
The curbside classic is a corner of the automotive world that I love to view and discuss, despite being considerably younger than 95% of the featured vehicles (b. 1984). It’s a little strange when you tell people you’re interested in cars and then prattle on and on about a rusty Toyota pickup truck instead of a Lamborghini Murcielago…but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I still have designs on a few articles, here in Houston I don’t get a ton of exposure to older vehicles (anything auctioned off that still runs is promptly hitched into a 3-car-long chain and towed to the border), but outside the cities you start to see the sort of trucks that have been passed down for a few generations.
I took the exact same route as Leroooy. Maybe it’s a Houston thing. Keep coming back because this site represents a family that just seems to be weird in the same ways that I am.
I keep on commenting when I have thoughts because that’s how I get the emails with so many interesting thoughts and experiences. Articles are great but the comments make me return. All told, this would represent the most enjoyment for your buck that you could buy if you could buy it.
The site caters to older cars but the separation from TTAC and others is that it comes with civil language and discourse that you can generally show your family if you want. I don’t because they aren’t interested.
Keep the fires burning.
“Weird”?! “Relatively simple”?! Us?!
😉
Visiting this site has become part of my daily routine. I’m glad to have found folks who appreciate cars that were once everyday transportation but rare now.
Just a few days ago, I was running an errand with a co worker and I had him stop because I wanted to admire an 86 Chevy Cavalier that was still on duty. He looked at me and said ” you are the most unusual car guy I know. You say nothing when you see fully restored Mustangs and Camaros but stop to look at an old POS like this. There is an old Granada on my block, do you want to see that too?.” I said….”absolutely!”
Here’s a ’60 converted by Marmon-Herrington, who did all the 4×4 conversions on Fords before the factory started doing it. I wonder if M-H was still doing them this late? Also, note the relocated headlights on the later model, I guess they would have been borderline useless at the stock location, given the height gain.
I’m guessing they wouldn’t have been legal that high in some jurisdictions either.
Well, now that I’ve sold all of my cars, I am coming to you live from Dresden Germany!
Really? You no longer autocross a Caprice wagon?
“Where’s everybody coming from?”
Southern New England (Providence area). The classics are out in full force this time of year, going to shows and being driven for pleasure. During the colder parts of the year…not so much.
“How did you find us?”
I have been following Curbside Classic ever since it was on TTAC and Paul was the only regular contributor. It’s great to see this many contributors now. Thanks!
I’m coming from the southeast of the Netherlands. More exactly the river region. Swamp land. Catholics of the rather irreligious branch.
I came here through a Mercedes W124 article IIRC, somewhere in the spring of 2013.
The H-U-G-E variety of vehicles here, that’s what I like. Especially the bigger stuff.
Great fun to write about them too, my personal CC darlings from the sixties, seventies and eighties. Brings back very good and fond memories.
Not a Ford, but a Mack N-series with the same cab, owned by a haulage company nearby. Never saw a Ford C here.
Its nice to see a Pic of the Mack Doppelganger of the Ford as a truck & trailer setup in Europe.
Haukes (the Dutch haulage company that owned the Mack above) was a very loyal Mack customer. Here’s another one they had. More info related to Mack in the Netherlands in a new truck CC pending right now.
Holy crap ~ I got a ‘ Big Bruiser ‘ toy tow truck one Christmas too ! I thought it was in 1962 but who knows ? .
Mine came with two wrecked plastic cars to tow around….
I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the ’57 ~ ’92 Ford Medium Duty C-Series trucks , even though I worked on the damned things for years .
I’m a (damn) Yankee born and bred , living the good life (no cold/rain/snow) now in Southern California , home to Fruits , Nuts and Flakes .
I don’t recall where I learned about this most excellent site but I love it , better than any Trade School or Factory Training I ever got , mostly due to the comments although the articles are top notch too ! .
Keep ’em coming Gents .
What ever happened to Steven Lang’s Used Car Articles ? .
HAPPY LABOR DAY ! I was out running the wheels off my Avatar Car again .
-Nate
You can find Steve Lang at Yahoo Autos, also he’s on Facebook almost every day.
Houston here. Been following Paul since TTAC and such.
Wow, those headlight blanks look….creepy….
Well I’m manning the Upstate of S.C. looking for all of the strange and wonderful cars that I assumed I was the only one interested in.
I believe that I was researching a car, for the heck of it, and came across C.C. I’m now addicted to it as it features a lot of the less popular, yet most interesting cars and trucks I’ve experienced in my life.
As for the big Ford above, I know they relocated the lights to the grille to meet regulations but it looks like that headlight/grille was borrowed from another common Ford product? It looks familiar but I can’t place it.
I think it bears a resemblance to the 1957 pickup grille. Here’s a pic of one that I googled.
I stumbled across this website one night just clicking around, and have not been able to stop reading. Thank you all for such an excellent place to spend time on the net. I live in St. Louis, Missouri. Land of rivers, rust, bricks and beer.
I sometimes provide a link to an article on Facebook.
I’m from Melbourne, Victoria Australia. I came to CC via TTAC too, the articles and comments are more interesting than the minutiae that makes up so much new car news.
I don’t think they had these trucks out here, but I did see a few of the modern equivalent in a yard a while ago. Between the 4×4, the cranes and the rest (they were double cabs from memory) they must have been hellishly expensive!
I found CC just by way of an internet rabbit hole a few years ago. I was trying to find the history behind GM’s FWD 80s lineup and naturally I stumbled upon the DS series, I think the 86 Riviera one to be specific, and eventually started seeking out Paul’s articles on TTAC just because I found them enjoyable reads. That was the most time I spent on TTAC since those sites are a little too much focused on new cars and the industry at the present, which I couldn’t be more disinterested in.
Inevitably I think I got led here trying to find an article I hadn’t yet finished via Google search and found out the same article that I previously read on TTAC was on this site called Curbsideclassic, which I promptly clicked on and ended up killing a few hours reading the entire Complete Cutlass Chronicles, from title to the very last comment, article by article(it’s been enjoyable rereading those as they’re being reposted recently btw). That pretty much got me hooked, and normally I try not to read or let alone post in the comments sections of these kinds of sites, but I really enjoy seeing other people’s perspectives on the cars I loved, hated or just plain ignored.
I too came here via TTAC. I hail from NE Florida: where the cars rust from the top down. my wife is always amused to see whatever off vehicle I am ogling on here, on CL or on the street. I always had a CC problem, but it never had a name until I found this place. Thanks!
Probably my favorite website. Check it in the morning at least five days a week even have adblock disabled on the homepage. I get a kick hearing about many of the unsung autos and trucks that probably weren’t posters on a wall but transports to school, practices and kept the power going and the groceries coming.
I found CC while at work bored and surfing the web. Im always googling car stuff when Im slacking off, and I absorb gearhead pyschobabble like a sponge. So here I am….
I live in Beaverton, OR…just outside of Portland. The writing and comments are great here. And while on one hand I go ga-ga over a ’68 Hemi Charger in resale red just like any gearhead would. I could care less if the numbers match or not, its just a badass car. But on the other hand, Im the type of dude who says ‘why not’ while looking at something obscure, unloved and with hidden appeal. Subaru BRAT? Sure. VW Thing? Absolutely. Dodge Mirada? Hell yes! Those can be hot-rodded and made cooler too so I say bring it on. Other CC’ers tastes may be off of my own but whereas once upon a time the idea of loving a malaise-era luxo barge would make me laugh and go ‘who the hell could love that?!?!”….some very good writing, honest perceptions and pure passion have made me at least see that perspective.
Ever since Nov ’13 or so, I pull up this site pretty much every day…and plan on continuing to do so.
” I absorb gearhead pyschobabble like a sponge. So here I am….”
You mean like ‘ Valve In Head Is Ahead In Value ! ‘ ? .
=8-) .
-Nate