This looks to be from 1967 or 1968. What do you think?
Vintage Snapshot: Lake of the Ozarks, 1960s
– Posted on December 4, 2024
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Curbside Classics Archives
This looks to be from 1967 or 1968. What do you think?
I’m going to say 1968. I see a 1968 or 69 Mercury Montego. Also there is a 1967 or 68 Plymouth that looks more 1968 to me. As well the two Chrysler Town & Countries look more 1968 than 1967.
I also think it’s 1968. It looks like the Oldsmobile has a 1968 Missouri license plate (a distinctive plate because it’s green with thick white dies for the letters & numbers).
Whoa, Nelly! That’s an overdose of pure CC goodness right there! 😉
Yeah, that is quite a sight from a CC viewpoint, but I sure wouldn’t want to spend any of my vacation time in such a place. What a tangled up mess!
Sadly, here on Vancouver Island we have a couple of well known tourist destinations that trade on thier reputation as natural wonderlands that don’t look much different in the summer, just much less interesting vehicles!
That’s quite a shot! I’ve heard Lake of the Ozarks described as a man-made lake surrounded by naturally-occurring honky tonk. This picture seems to agree.
Here’s a lower-key vintage shot from Lake of the Ozarks, to balance out the scene above:
Around the same timeframe, Eric… the Chevy is a ‘68, similar to our family car back in the day.
At 9:00 there’s a green truck with a wooden roof rack. At first I thought it was a Chevrolet Suburban, but it might just be a fairly rare Chevrolet Panel Delivery from ’67 or ’68.
Nope. On second thought, the Panel Delivery only came with swing-out rear doors, never a tailgate. Must be a Suburban.
The two oldest cars I see are the ’57 Ford Fairlane and the ’57 Chrysler New Yorker, under the Skelly sign that is identical to our family car in the late ’50’s to ’65. I’m going to agree this picture was taken probably in 1968 or ’69. And, it does look like a “tangled up mess!”
Above the green Bug near the center of the picture (and behind the woman in a pink dress) is a blue car with a white roof — it appears to be a mid-50s model; maybe a ’55 Mercury or a ’53-54 Chrysler?
All this scene needs, are Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper riding through town, on their choppers.
Great find Jason.
The modern scene from this vantage point looks a lot less hectic than the vintage shot.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3ZDhpsPsT38xoB4s8
That there is a nightmare summer scenario. CC’s aside the Skelly sign drew my attention, reminding of a childhood cross-country trip where I became interested in the gas stations we didn’t have in the northeast (part and parcel of my map reading assignment). Skelly, DX, Enco, Union 76, Conoco and others. We made the trip in a ’72 LeSabre and I would dutifully clean the bugs off the front fascia at each fill-up. Ugh.
Look at all the color on the cars. Today almost everything is some shade between white and black on the gray scale. how cool that sight must have been!