(Update: I’ve added CC reader Patrick Bell’s detailed comments on each picture) A nice neighborhood probably built in the 1930’s where the sidewalks are cleaner than the streets. In the foreground a ’63 Dodge Dart GT 2 door hardtop and to the right is a ’64 Mercury 4 door Breezeway sedan that is too far away to ID the trim level. It looks like there might be some weight for traction in the trunk of the Dart. I had one in the 270 trim that as far as I recall did fine in the snow.
#2 The first snow has come and is about gone. On the left is a ’51 or ’52 Chevrolet Styleline Special 2 door sedan with perhaps a sign on the door. On the right is a clean ’53 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe or Custom Catalina.
#3 Looks like fun. On the left a ’54 Packard Clipper De Luxe or Super Touring Sedan and to the right a ’54 Buick 2 door Riviera. The three Venti-Ports tell me it could be a Special, Century or Super trim series.
#4 Springtime, waiting for the snow to melt. In the meantime someone cleaned up their ’53 Buick Super 2 door Riviera so they could take a ski trip. In the garage looks like a ’51 or ’52 Chevrolet.
#5 A Ford family with sequential numbers on their Massachusetts license plates used in ’59 and ’60. On the left is a ’54 Country Sedan with a Fordomatic and chains mounted on the tires. On the right is a ’53 Customline Fordor sedan with a standard transmission, backup lamps, trailer hitch, and snow tires.
#6 It is always fun when the snow plow adds some more to your driveway. A ’58 Plymouth with a ’60 Pontiac in the garage.
#7 An interesting collection of buildings. The license plates may be Oregon. From the left a ’59 Buick LeSabre 4 door sedan, ’53 Plymouth Cranbrook 4 door sedan, ’58 Buick Special or Century 2 door Riviera.
#8 A wet looking snowfall. A ’62 Thunderbird with snow tires and a Massachusetts plate most likely from ’63, with a ’60 Mercury wagon in the garage across the street.
#9 A light snow dusting a ’67 Mercury Commuter wagon with what appears to be a California license plate.
#10 A man working on the roof soffit and fascia of some new construction after a recent snowfall. A ’64 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass Holiday Coupe is parked out front.
#11 Parking lots are hard to keep the snow cleared out because there usually are cars parked in them. The license plates may be from New Jersey. From the lower right a ’65 Dodge Polara, ’70-’72 Mercury Capri, ’68 Camaro hardtop, ’74 Plymouth Gold Duster, ’69 Buick LeSabre or Wildcat 4 door hardtop, ’68 Pontiac Tempest Custom, LeMans or GTO Coupe, and another ’68 Camaro, this one a convertible. On the right side is a ’70-’72 VW Type 1 and a VW Type 3 Notchback.
#12 It is hard to see any details on this snowed in Volkswagen family of two Type 1’s and on Type 3 Squareback. The red one looks like a Super Beetle which came out in ’71, the tan one can’t tell anything beyond the obvious, and the Squareback is a post ’69 model. There also is a snowed in station wagon across the street.
Remember as a kid the sides of the roads, when there was snow was black from the oil of the cars. Today as bad as the cars are for the environment we don’t have that problem. Didn’t see that in the photos, but most are driveways and seldom traveled roads.
Freezing after looking at some a these pics! Especially “#’s 2&11”.
+1!
Snow cougars rust quickly.
There’s one photo who show 2 1970s cars, There’s a Plymouth Duster (or Dodge Demon/Dart Sport) and a European Capri.
Of that photo, I’d love to play with the Capri or the Duster, mainly because I’ve never experienced either of them. The two Camaros and the VW Beetle are also tempting but I’ve owned a Camaro and driven Volkswagens.
My brother had a Capri with the 6 cyl and it was great. I drove it a lot. Even a couple of long trips.
But my mind drifts to the bias ply tires in the snow for the other cars. Eeks.
Worst tires I ever owned on ice/snow were early Radials. This would have been ’77-ish; I bought the tires used, probably OEM-supplied but I didn’t know that then let alone now.
They replaced bald bias-plies with cords showing in one place; and damn near had me sliding into things because the treaded radials were worse than bald bias-plies on ice/compacted snow.
Yes and big rear lights Beetle too.
Those are ’72s .
I’d love to have the A body Dart in picture # 1 .
-Nate
I got my driver’s license in 1959 and lived on the western side of Michigan with lots of lake effect snow. We all drove rear wheel drive cars, most without posi-traction or snow tires. Normally, unless we did something really stupid (which we did from time to time) we did not get stuck. We learned how to get traction from what we had. We learned how to “rock” the car to get it unstuck. We also learned how to do slides and donouts in the snow. Great fun!
My last winter experience in snow was late 1965-early 1966 outside Baltimore. A major blizzard came through. School was out for a week. Town plowed major roads first and then when they did basic roads the berm on either side of the plowed road was five feet high. My grandparents were watching us as my parents were off on a vacation and they returned right after the blizzard. They had to trudge through 4 feet of snow 1 1/2 miles to the house. A friends house was situated just right for the wind and had a snow drift all the way to the roof of a two story house. The drift was there weeks and we carved out rooms inside the drift for ourselves. Quite roomy and I was 12.
I don’t miss snow!
My dad passed on to me, many snow shovelling shortcuts, and timesavers, over the years. Techniques learned by him, over the course of his lifetime. As he recruited me at a young age, to help him clear our driveways. Back when blizzards, and deep snow, was still common in Ontario. Was also such a great bonding experience, for both of us.
One of the nastier snow clearing scenarios, was when the municipal snow grader, would refill the end of our freshly shovelled driveway, with a large mound of slushy snow. That could soon freeze solid, if we didn’t remove it fast! As seen in photo six.
He’d use a relatively heavy steel snow shovel, with a sharp forward edge. Slicing downward into the snow/ice mounds. While removing large cubes of snow and ice, using his legs to lift. As he removed each of these ‘cubes’, it made it possible to get the car out fast. With very little mess. A tidy technique, that impressed his neighbours.
If it wasn’t a school night, he and I would work until after midnight, under the streetlight.
As his car, would be free to go, first thing in the morning.
The ‘D’ handled Western Scoop shovel remains a favorite ~ I still use a steel one although Aluminum ones are *much* lighter .
The ‘D’ handle allows better sideways control of the load .
-Nate
(who doesn’t miss the freezing slush nor the rusted out vehicles)
The station wagon is a 1967 Mercury Colony Park, under that snow. My Dad drove one. I still remember the seats in the back that flipped up facing each other, unlike the Chrysler’s which faced the rear tail gate. The faux wood grain also had these black lines, I suppose that was to indicate a wood board as opposed to a wood panel. What an era.
Great photos, but are we all supposed to just know all the makes and models on our own? Captions would be REALLY nice.
Stay tuned, Ken.
More great photos. These are especially memorable for me as I spent my first 22 years in Alaska.
#1 A nice neighborhood probably built in the 1930’s where the sidewalks are cleaner than the streets. In the foreground a ’63 Dodge Dart GT 2 door hardtop and to the right is a ’64 Mercury 4 door Breezeway sedan that is too far away to ID the trim level. It looks like there might be some weight for traction in the trunk of the Dart. I had one in the 270 trim that as far as I recall did fine in the snow.
#2 The first snow has come and is about gone. On the left is a ’51 or ’52 Chevrolet Styleline Special 2 door sedan with perhaps a sign on the door. On the right is a clean ’53 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe or Custom Catalina.
#3 Looks like fun. On the left a ’54 Packard Clipper De Luxe or Super Touring Sedan and to the right a ’54 Buick 2 door Riviera. The three Venti-Ports tell me it could be a Special, Century or Super trim series.
#4 Springtime, waiting for the snow to melt. In the meantime someone cleaned up their ’53 Buick Super 2 door Riviera so they could take a ski trip. In the garage looks like a ’51 or ’52 Chevrolet.
#5 A Ford family with sequential numbers on their Massachusetts license plates used in ’59 and ’60. On the left is a ’54 Country Sedan with a Fordomatic and chains mounted on the tires. On the right is a ’53 Customline Fordor sedan with a standard transmission, backup lamps, trailer hitch, and snow tires.
#6 It is always fun when the snow plow adds some more to your driveway. A ’58 Plymouth with a ’60 Pontiac in the garage.
#7 An interesting collection of buildings. The license plates may be Oregon. From the left a ’59 Buick LeSabre 4 door sedan, ’53 Plymouth Cranbrook 4 door sedan, ’58 Buick Special or Century 2 door Riviera.
#8 A wet looking snowfall. A ’62 Thunderbird with snow tires and a Massachusetts plate most likely from ’63, with a ’60 Mercury wagon in the garage across the street.
#9 A light snow dusting a ’67 Mercury Commuter wagon with what appears to be a California license plate.
#10 A man working on the roof soffit and fascia of some new construction after a recent snowfall. A ’64 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass Holiday Coupe is parked out front.
#11 Parking lots are hard to keep the snow cleared out because there usually are cars parked in them. The license plates may be from New Jersey. From the lower right a ’65 Dodge Polara, ’70-’72 Mercury Capri, ’68 Camaro hardtop, ’74 Plymouth Gold Duster, ’69 Buick LeSabre or Wildcat 4 door hardtop, ’68 Pontiac Tempest Custom, LeMans or GTO Coupe, and another ’68 Camaro, this one a convertible. On the right side is a ’70-’72 VW Type 1 and a VW Type 3 Notchback.
#12 It is hard to see any details on this snowed in Volkswagen family of two Type 1’s and on Type 3 Squareback. The red one looks like a Super Beetle which came out in ’71, the tan one can’t tell anything beyond the obvious, and the Squareback is a post ’69 model. There also is a snowed in station wagon across the street.
I miss the beauty and wonder of the snow, but not the work and cold that goes along with it. I am now a happy southerner. Thanks for the photos.
#2
#1 looks like my old neighborhood in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan; those houses were built around WWII and right afterwards.
I believe I found that house, and the address was 9802 Yorkshire Rd. in Detroit. This house, and most of the neighborhood is now demolished, but the below StreetView image from 2013 shows it while it was still standing.
Here’s what the scene looks like now, with the houses demolished. StreetView link is here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KBsAJxkPpxsCfxGn6
Very impressive investigative work. Sadly, many properties or neighbourhoods you research in these vintage photos, have taken an often dramatic turn for the worst. I follow most of your work on this subject, and understand prosperity moves to other regions. Would be nice to see more successfully preserved homes or buildings.
Thanks Daniel. This neighborhood then-and-now comparison is particularly depressing. The vintage shot is the type of neighborhood I’d have loved to live in.
Thank you for your painstaking work Eric. Without you doing this research, the decay of so many of these once sound and appealing looking neighbourhoods and homes, would not be made so clear.
Because of your work, making these bad transitions appear so consistent, I’ve come to expect the worst. When seeing your before and after imagery. Yes, the former middle class-appearing immediate neighbourhood, seems almost idyllic.
I will add my +1 for Daniel’s comments.
Thank you Patrick as always, I appreciate the knowledge
You are welcome, Troy. I enjoy the challenge.
I like watching vintage TV just to admire the cars.
Always a pleasure to see the pictures you post.
I’m probably going to be disliked for what I am writing here but here goes : I was born and raised in Newport Beach, California. No clue about snow, shoveling, icy roads, slush, intense cold or blizzards. Can’t help where I come from but I can read and learn from you guys who’ve posted about your experiences, which makes for interesting reading.
Great pictures. More please.
Brings back memories of plowing an Old Look GM bus down streets like this during college. Some mornings the bus stops were buried by the overnight work of the plows. I’d have to look for cleared areas near the stops that would allow passengers to board.
I left Wisconsin after college. Since I had never experienced winter without snow before leaving, I didn’t know anything else. My first winter in a warmer state was a revelation. While I have many fun memories of snow and still enjoy a white Christmas, I can’t say I ever wanted to go back to living in it for 1/2 the year.
Yes, #2, is a 53 Chieftan Deluxe. I owned one that I bought in 1976, with 36,000 original miles. I’ve never owned a smoother driving car!
I was going to guess that #1 was Bayside Hills in Queens NY. A company called Gross-Morton developed the area in the mid-thirties. Perhaps too level.
Pretty cool photos remember those scenes as a kid in Youngstown Ohio
These photos are just dripping with nostalgia. It makes me recall my dad towing my brother and I through the snow covered streets with our sled ropes attached to the rear bumper of a ’57 Caddy.
So unbelievably dangerous, thinking back on it. In North Jersey eveybody switched to snow tires in the winter. It seems unnecessary in today’s world. Nice pictorial; thanks!
These winter vehicle photos from up north are so reminesant of the Cleveland blizzard aftermaths I helped digout our driveways and the neighbors back in the 60’s&70’s.dad always had the tires with 1/4 steel rounded lil nubbi/spikes, on his 68 impala,he never missed a day of work. I would make a lot of$ shoveling sidewalks and end of driveways.I remember getting wacked on the head with those long icicles hanging like in that one photo. Decades later I still miss winter snow around thanksgiving and Christmas / newyears,but the warm sunshine of florida remindes me how horribly cold it was there. great photos,thx u.
Great pics and definitely enhanced by the script for each.
Digging out of snow.banks and the like brings back memories (most of them not good.)
After a snowplow had re-filled the entrance to the driveway, the resultant blockage turned immediately to a rocky barricade which one could not clear with the snow shovel – it had to be broken up with a spade first. Some sort of chemical change in the snow? I don’t know but it was a back-breaker.
Just getting out of the driveway didn’t solve the problem as the rear-wheel drive vehicles of the time became frequently stuck and had to be pushed to get un-stuck. Fortunately, other motorists were always ready to help with a push. Ah, the good old days!
Sorry My friend, but in the second pic’ The car on the left looks like Hudson? I can tell by the front grill. Correct me if I’m wrong, but please don’t be too harsh! Lol.
P.S. I love all the C.C. pics! This is my favorite Car Buff Platform!
Happy New Year 2025!
God Bless America 🇺🇸
I’m always open to discussion, Raul, but in the second photo you can’t see the grille on the left side car. Please clarify which one you are talking about. Thanks.
Love the pics, grew up in that upstate ny environment… Still here at 73… Still dreaming of the southland…My grandfather’s shop. They were in Fla every winter
It’s funny, although I have just as many fond winter memories of growing up in the late 70s & early 80s, the one that came to mind was a transmission job on a late 70s T-Bird. I can’t even tell you what was wrong with it but, I’m thinking it was the torque converter. Anyway, I vividly remember being on a slopped driveway laying in the cold & slushy snow… the two of us manhandling the tranny back up into that beast. I think the Good Lord was looking out for us both because we accomplished it without anyone getting injured & when I crawled out from under it, it had just begun to snow. I distinctly remember looking up at the streetlight out front of his house & watching the big flakes as they swirled around and gently fell to the ground.