Vintage Snapshots: Parking Lots And Snow In The ’50s-’60s

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– Posted on January 4, 2025

Text provided by Patrick Bell

Greetings to all.  Today we are heading for the slopes, but don’t worry about packing your skis as we are going to stick with the parking lots.  There is a lot of metal (and some fiberglass) to view with some interesting ones as well, so here we go!

This appears to be at Stowe, VT.  There is a three word sign on the building that starts with “Curry’, but I can’t read the rest of it or the license plates.  It can’t be too far off the beaten path as most of the cars visible are too clean.  From the left is a black ’54 or ’55 Cadillac sedan, light blue ’54 Buick 2 door Riviera, tan over brown ’52 or ’53 DeSoto wagon, dark green and white ’52-’54 Ford Country Sedan, white over blue ’54 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight 4 door sedan, light blue ’55 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe, white over black ’55 Buick Special or Century 4 door sedan, and a brown ’51 Studebaker.  In the background above the black Buick is a ’46-’50 Willys Jeep Station Wagon.

This one may be Mt. Baldy in California.  From the left a maroon ’46-’48 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan, grey ’50 Chevrolet Styleline 2 door sedan, in front of it a dark over light green ’53 Chevrolet Two-Ten or Bel Air Sport Coupe, the tail light of a white ’55 Chevrolet, behind the happy skier a red and white ’57 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner, grey ’42 Dodge Custom 4 door sedan, red over white ’56 Ford Fairlane Victoria with a California plate, and the left tail light of a dark ’52 Ford.

Here we are most likely in Pennsylvania as I see a plate from there first issued in ’58 and used through ’65.  First row in the foreground from the left a grey ’53 or ’54 Chevrolet Two-Ten 2 door sedan, a ’53-’55 Corvette, I would imagine that was an interesting winter drive, and a maroon ’54 Ford.  Second row far left looks like either a black ’56 Chrysler 4 door hardtop or a same year DeSoto, grey ’55-’57 VW Type 1, not sure about the white over black one, and on the end a white over blue ’57 Plymouth wagon.  Third row a white ’56 Chevrolet 2 door sedan, and a red over grey ’57 or ’58 DeSoto 4 door sedan.  Up on the hill we have a black ’56 Ford Customline Tudor sedan, dark blue ’54 Ford wagon, and the backside of a black ’58 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan or Victoria.

I believe this one is Bromley Mountain, Vermont.  We have one car from each of the Big Three, with three different body styles and from three different states.  From the left a ’54 Chevrolet One-Fifty Handyman with a New Jersey plate, a ’54 Chrysler with a Rhode Island plate, and a ’53 Ford Crestline Sunliner with a plate I don’t recognize.

This one could be most anywhere as there are no clues.  From the left a ’59 or ’60 Studebaker Lark 4 door sedan, ’55 Dodge Coronet 2 door Suburban, and a ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad.

A view to the Oquirrh Mountains behind Salt Lake City to the west.  From the right lower edge is a black over white ’56 Plymouth 4 door sedan, a dark over light green ’50-’52 Pontiac 4 door sedan, white ’55 Cadillac 4 door sedan, red ’58 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan, and perhaps the right rear corner of a light colored VW Type 1.

In the left lower corner a ’54 or ’55 Cadillac, light green ’51 Buick Tourback Sedan, green over white ’60 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Celebrity Sedan, blue over white ’55 Pontiac 4 door sedan, white ’60-’63 Ford Falcon Deluxe 4 door wagon, another ’60 Oldsmobile, this one a white over blue Ninety-Eight Holiday Sportsedan, blue ’57 Plymouth Plaza or Savoy 4 door sedan, white over black ’55 Buick Special or Century 2 door Riviera, black ’59 Plymouth Belevedere 4 door sedan, and a black foreign looking car I don’t recognize.

On the both sides of the street from the left what I can make out is a white ’59 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner, white over dark green ’60 Rambler Cross Country wagon, black over white ’58 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner with a continental kit, blue over white ’52-’54 Ford Crestline Victoria, further down a white ’60-’62 Valiant V-200 4 door sedan, and the very end the front portion of a Willys Jeep Station Wagon.

I can’t confirm where the Ponderosa Patio was but I will guess California.  They got about a foot of snow and it looks a bit on the wet side.  From the left a ’54 Chevrolet, ’60 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan with a California plate, ’53-’58 Opel Kapitan with an Oregon plate, and a ’58-’60 Rambler American with likely a California plate.

Again, not much for location clues, maybe someone will recognize the building.  But, hey!  Have you ever seen a Super Sonic Jeep?  From the lower edge a ’60 Ford full size, ’57 Chevrolet Two-Ten 2 door sedan, the aforementioned Jeep, likely a CJ5, ’63 Buick Skylark convertible, white over brownish ’59 Buick 4 door sedan, and the white over red convertible has the look of a ’63-’65 Ford Falcon or Mercury Comet.

This one is quite likely Colorado as there a two Colorado plates issued in Denver in either ’67 or ’69.  And what an interesting line up!  A ’65 or ’66 Ford F-series with an interesting box for a bed that may have been home crafted, a ’67 Shelby fastback, and a ’66 Pontiac LeMans Coupe.

Our last stop is at the Brighton Ski Resort near Salt Lake City, Utah.  This poor A frame looks like the victim of too much snow.  There is an interesting variety of vehicles here.  On the first row a gold ’71-’73 Opel 1900 Manta, second row left side a ’67 Mustang, white over green ’55 Buick 4 door sedan, ’63 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 door sedan with a Utah plate used from ’68-’72, and a white ’64 Dodge Dart 170 4 door sedan with a fancy bumper hitch and a Utah plate.  Third row a well used Dodge A100 van, white Mercedes W114, and perhaps a Mercedes Fintail through the glass in “63 Bel Air.  On the back row is a snowed in Porsche 356 Cabriolet and a ’66-’73 Jeep Jeepster Commando wagon.

 

Thanks for viewing and have a great day!

 

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