Text by Patrick Bell.
Spring is about a week away in the Northern Hemisphere, at least according to the calendar. Winter is losing its grip so today let’s hit the road. We have a nice gallery of images that show a glimpse into some private road trips.
This ’61 Ford Galaxie Club Victoria has a full load of people plus whatever luggage and/or gear they may be carrying. It looks like three generations of a family perhaps with Grandpa as the photographer. The car has aftermarket front fender mud guards and a bumper mounted trailer hitch.
Colorado isn’t too colorful in this late spring or early summer photo with a bit of snow leftover from winter. This ’53 Ford Customline is one of the two door models, but I can’t tell from this angle whether it is the Tudor Sedan or the Club Coupe. Either way, it does have the Overdrive transmission and is from Wayne County, Michigan, the home of Detroit.
Here we have a ’49 Oldsmobile Futuramic 76 4 door sedan out on a country lane on a warm day. The 76 was the six cylinder model and 95556 units of all body styles were produced. For $401.00 extra you could step up to a Futuramic 88 4 door sedan with the new Rocket V8. There were 99276 of the 88’s produced that year. Going by the look of the tires this driver may not be used driving in the city where there are curbs to deal with.
Time to stretch the legs at this roadside pull off. The travelers have a ’53 Buick Roadmaster 4 door Riviera Sedan with possibly an Illinois license plate. I am sure it was a fine road machine in its day.
Another roadside stop, this one in a ’49 Ford Custom convertible from New York. It looks like a windy, damp, late summer day.
Now we are at Needles Eye Tunnel in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This ’56 Lincoln Premiere 4 door sedan from New Jersey is leaning, perhaps it has a flat tire. The tunnel is eight feet wide, which of course is only one lane. This Lincoln, at just under 80 inches wide, would give you 8 inches clearance on each side as you pass through.
A ’56 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe with a license plate I do not recognize off the beaten path. There are some clothes hanging in the back seat, maybe he is taking a shortcut.
A scenic lake in the background with a ’56 Dodge Custom Royal 4 door sedan stopped on a dirt road. It is equipped with three tone paint and dual fender mounted mirrors. The narrow white walls indicate it may be a later photo as they weren’t readily available until the early sixties.
This ’58 Pontiac Chieftain or Super Chief 4 door sedan is passing through a covered bridge in the late summer or early fall.
It is a windy day at this campground and likely cool as well. A ’58 Ford Country Sedan pulling a Sportcraft camper is in the foreground with a ’59 Plymouth wagon and a ’57 or ’58 Mercury wagon in the background.
Out on a country dirt road through a forest in a ’59 Chevrolet Impala convertible with a V8. And apparently near a creek with the bridge in the background.
Here is another narrow tunnel, this one on a dirt road. A ’61 Ford Galaxie sedan From El Paso County, Colorado, the home of Denver, may be about to proceed through. It looks like a mother and son posing, with dad likely the photographer.
This highway is cut through a thickly wooded area with a ’70 Ford Galaxie 500 parked along the side of the road.
This looks like Agathla Peak in Arizona, where a ’78 Plymouth Fury Salon sedan from Texas has stopped at milepost 401 for a photo opportunity. What an interesting first half of the license number.
Thanks for joining us and to all good day!
Good Morning, Rich and Patrick! I always enjoy these photos and commentary on Americana. That lady in the blue dress standing with her son probably lost the height race two years later when he shot up a good height!
Denver is in Denver County, also the Metro area of Jefferson, Arapahoe, Adams, and a few others, but certainly there’s no El Paso County… wrong state?
The background of the ’56 Dodge pic I’d guess to be one of the beautiful Finger Lakes in New York. Cayuga Lake & Ithaca is about an hour from our house, it’s a wonderful part of the country.
El Paso County, Colorado most certainly does exist and is the most populous county in Colorado. It is south of the Denver metro area and home of the United States Air Force Academy. If you’ve been to Pikes Peak (elevation 14,115 ft/4299.8m) then you’ve been in El Paso County, Colorado.
“A ’61 Ford Galaxie sedan From El Paso County, Colorado, the home of Denver”
Last I looked El Paso County is not “the home of Denver” which is how I read that sentence. I think everyone knows already that Denver is in Colorado, if that was what was clumsily meant to be implied. And yes, I’ve been to the ” Springs” many times since 2 of our “kids” live near Denver.
I love these pictures, they remind me of my younger days .
I can’t make out the license tag on the beautiful blue Fury sedan…..
-Nate
A fine selection of travel shots. Somehow I didn’t know about the needles eye tunnel when we went to the Black Hills last year.
Could that 56 Chevy be in front of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument?
Wow, this is really well-presented, many excellent pics here.
Of the various modern generations of cars photographed in open landscapes and nature, I find early 1950’s design and styling, integrates best. The soft, organic shapes, and clean lines of early ’50s cars with muted colours, don’t clash the way late ’50’s styling does. Colours also blend well, in most geographic regions. For example, the ’49 Ford convertible in photo five, appears very natural in that foggy, early Fall morning setting. The bight powder blue paint of the ’78 Fury, clashes with the Southwest desert colour scheme.
Looking at the width of the paved roads back then. I forgot how narrow they were. No room for error in those lanes.
I made the same observation. An uncle of mine was a road engineer, and I’ve always had an interest in highway design, and engineering. Until the 1960’s, many paved secondary highways, lacked the modern safety standards, we have come to expect.
Highway 60 is a paved secondary highway In Ontario’s Central region. Today, its width and geometry is similar to other highways in the province, and North America. This photo represents an alignment abandoned in the 1960’s. The narrow highway width, and sharp curve, would make it less safe with ’50s cars.
Narrow bridge on former Highway 62 alignment. These were not quiet local roads, as they are now. These were full highways, with truck and bus traffic.
The taller boy in #1 is already looking at his phone.
#2 is very evocative, as our first trip to the Rockies in 1961 was in a very similar Ford sedan and I remember those “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” signs so well.
The season the yellow Ford convertible looks to be in is more likely early spring, as the trees are all bare and the bushes in front are in bloom. A wet windy day in March?
The tunnel in Colorado is certainly a former narrow-gauge railroad tunnel. In fact it looks very familiar, a former rail line near Buena Vista, CO.
The “49 Olds”, and the “50ish, Ford” convert are my two favs. The “Pontiac” disappearing into/onto the bridge is just plain, cool. Makes ya want a view of the whole, long, car.