Proof that the CC Effect takes all forms, I saw this picture of a streetscape under water, in my home town of Santa Cruz, California in the 1940’s, just a few days before Jason posted his own Vintage Flood Snapshots. Though it’s only one picture, I though the prominent placement of a Packard and a Studebaker warranted sharing it here.
Unfortunately, it was a more typical sunny California day when I rode my bike over to try to duplicate it. Ebert’s Department store is now an Italian restaurant, but has also been a Harley dealer and a sporting goods store in my memory. And the Ace Hardware in the background, which was a drugstore in the first picture, is where I shot this CC a while back. Unfortunately there were no real CC’s driving around when I took this picture, but I was able to capture an uncharacteristically domestic flock of vehicles, for fitting comparison to the 1940’s picture.
It was generally safer to drive older cars through flood waters like that than many newer ones because a lot of cool air intakes are now low enough to catch tire splash, if not actual flood water. Usually there is no direct harm done to the engine because the paper air filter catches the water, but it blocks up and the engine stalls, which could be a problem if the waters are riding. If it happens to you and your engine stalls, remove the air filter element (hopefully the air intake is in air and not water), start the engine and move to higher ground. Better, even: don’t drive in flood waters.
Make that, “…if the waters are RISING.” No more editing option. Also, the display of advertising often covers up part of the Comments pane at times.
In fact, driving through water can lead to major engine damage-
If enough water enters a cylinder, it can “Hydrolock” the piston below the cylinder deck, which not only stalls the engine but can bend the connecting rod.
You can remove the spark plug and blow the water out of the cylinder, but this type of damage reduces the compression ratio of the cylinder, which creates driveablity issues in the short term. In addition, the damage also weakens the connecting rod and screws up the piston motion. Over time the damage can scuff the cylinder walls or break the weakened connecting rod.
Thank you for saying to not drive in flood waters. I have been on television saying “turn around, don’t drown” more times than I can count. Hearing stories of young people perishing due to flood waters isn’t fun.
Do you think the guy in this Chevrolet pickup intended for this to happen?
That reminds me of that submerged car in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005.
Looking closely at both photos, it seems that the third utility pole from the left might still the same one, 80 years later. Does anyone know how long these things typically last?
Good catch on the utility pole. Indeed, they seem to be long-lived and one wonders what’s entailed in making them so hardy. In this instance, I would imagine a friendly environment has helped a great deal. Maybe somewhere there’s a utility pole that’s documented as the longest one still in service.
Drunk drivers are especially hard on them.
30-40 years is the normal lifespan. They get replaced with another immediately next to it. I’ve been watching them replace the older ones in my neighborhood the past few years.
You are right Tom. It looks like the pole in the first picture has three transformers on it and the second picture has two transformers. In both pictures the pole has 3 cross arms near the top. The first pic has a cross arm well below the top 3 while the second pic has the lowest cross arm removed. Poles can last a minimum of 50 to 60 years. Probably part of an upgrade as power companies quit using cross arm construction 30 to 40 years ago.
G.Poon:
Having grown up in the 50s I would have to disagree that driving through water was less problematic back then. First of all, with all wheel drum brakes once the linings got wet they stayed wet and your brakes were much less effective. Then there’s the ignition system. Lots of parts compared to today’s systems, with very poor sealing. Water getting into the distributor through the cap could stop a car at the most inopportune times.
Finally, standing water can hide a lot of things that could burst a bias ply tire.
Probably the only advantage older cars had, until about 10 years ago was their height/ground clearance. But that has given way with taller and taller vehicles.
Interesting picture, a parade of cars from 3 now defunct brands that at the time of the picture were some of the oldest brands in showrooms….the march of progress?
Is it me, or does it look like the building in the background has lost its second story?
All true, of course…drum brakes were ineffective when wet but we learned that if they were already warm, they worked better if you rode them through deep water. Ignition systems got sprayed with WD-40 (WD = “Water Displacer”) which would help a lot. Also cars with distributors up high, especially to the rear of the engine and spark plugs high up, shielded by exhaust manifolds, were less susceptible (example: Chrysler LA engines…the 318, 340, 360.). Worse: many inline sixes.
It is also unsafe to drive where you can’t see the surface under the water.
It is not ever a really GOOD idea to drive through flood waters. One thing the local police department learned from one of their unpaid volunteer reserve officers, is to remove the detachable snorkel from the intake to the air cleaner housing if they had to drive through flooded streets…which as emergency responders, they sometimes had to, previously resulting in cars stalling out due to water in the air cleaner element. At least that way the engine was breathing drier air from higher up, not from an intake low in the wheelhouse.
And here is an example of what can happen to a non-sensible driver…
Weird how the column at the left side of the Ebert’s has become two-dimensional in the later pic.
The link to your earlier CC is broken – I’m getting a logon screen if I click on it.
That column was an advertisement/beacon for Ebert’s. When that store went away there was no longer a need for the advertising.
It’s clear that the most recent picture is taken from a slightly location than the flood picture. The older picture shows part of the backside of the (triangular) column that has the clock on it. The different angle on the newer image shows only the face. To confirm this, take a look at the utility pole in front of the “Ebert’s” building.
Here’s a current Google Streetview. You can see that the column has a triangular section, and the newer photo caught it at just the right angle to make it appear flat.
Here’s a Google Street View photo that I cropped and framed to match the original picture.
Good catch – didn’t realize it was triangular; thought it was square.
Good ’40’s image, the Packard is a 1941 110 coupe leading a 1948 Studebaker Champion convertible. The Oldsmobile is also in the 1946-’48 MY series.
California used to have water?
(Sorry, couldn’t help it)
Another kind of bathtub Packard?
I happened to eat at Lillian’s last summer when we were visiting my wife’s family—it’s very good.
The biggest flood of the last century in Southern California was in 1938.
As a former cable television technician, I can tell the telephone plant has been upgraded and cable tv has been added in the roughly 70 years between the pictures.
Great shot, and I also like your “then and now” comparison. That frowny-faced Oldsmobile is too much. Here’s a similar shot I sold on eBay many years ago. Garberville, California in the 1950s.