'56 ChevyPosted on 08/16/2012 2:44:55 PM PDT by djone
"Most of us don’t spend much time listening to vinyl anymore, but just like that DJ spinning records in a trendy nightclub, there was a time when you could cue up some 45s in your Chrysler. In 1956, you could get an optional record player in Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth vehicles......Years ago, automakers used to hide gas caps in stealthy locations. Cars like the ’56 Chevy Bel Air had the gas cap hidden behind a taillight, which would swivel out of the way, while numerous cars from the 60’s and 70’s had their fuel fillers located behind the license plate.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.allstate.com ...
And the dimmer switch on the floor where you could find it.
Yes, I had a car with the gas cap there too. The annoying thing was I was driving an old Delta 88, so if the car at the pump in front of me didn’t pull up far enough, I had to sit and wait for them to leave. Otherwise, I could not pull up far enough to get the stupid hose all the way to the back of the car.
The richest guy in our HS had a new midnight blue 1964 Impala with a 45 rpm record player where the glove compartment usually was. Kewl!
YES, but while crusing slow or parked, very “functional.”
To this day I can’t see a 64 Ford Galaxy without thinking of the high school beauty I had a crush on.
Her Father had a 64 Galaxy 4dr. hardtop. It was yellow. I think I somehow transferred her beauty to the car as I still think they were a striking car.
How do you like it? They look like fun.
Family had a 1960 DeSoto which had front seats that would swivel when the doors opened to allow easy exit.
Was it this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXotL1EtbKk
My first car was a 1953 Plymouth with a flat head 6 cyn
and a power glide transmission that was a standard or and automatic. Neither of which worked very well.
The weirdest car I had that really hid the gas fill was a 69 Renault 10. It was in the rear inside the engine compartment. The battery though was up front in the trunk. Very cheap car. Very expensive to keep running afer 30K miles.
In Miami 1950s, 79 Street Causeway, small islet called Giraffe Point (Lotta neck no tail)!
Room for 5-6 cars only.
Dad had a big old green Chrysler that had “a kids play area” in the back. I told my cousin Mike about it and he said, “You idiot! Your Dad locked you in the trunk.”
I had my son convinced that the jack and spare tire were toys in the kids play area up until he turned 12.
My Dad likewise had a ‘51 Buick ‘Super’ with Straight-8 and Dynaflow, back in the day before seat belts and car seats were mandatory, he took a wooden crate, reinforced it and upholstered it with blue corduroy, and I sat on that box in the back seat while we were all going down the highway, so I could see where we were going, and not be sitting low behind the seat without any view at all.
The safety-first freaks will of course shriek about how dangerous it was, but it was a different time in America and it couldn’t have been too dangerous, as I’m here to tell the tale.
Good memories Venturer.
I was just thinking of the place where the teenagers would hang out.
In my small town it was the “Parkway”. It was sort of like Arnolds in “Happy Days” except it was just grass outside and you pulled your car up and when you wanted service you flashed your lights.
There would be kids hanging around mostly sitting or leaning on cars etc. Now that I think about it, I can’t recall ever buying a hamburger tho I must have.
That sounds very messy...
))))sigh(((( Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I weep for our country as it is now.
Similar memories here. When we went on vacation, it was by car, in the station wagon. My parents would get up before dawn, load the car, and put blankets and pillows in the back for us kids. Then they would carry us to the car and lay us in the flattened rear area, still asleep. We wouldn’t wake up for 200 miles, which gave our parents 200 miles worth of peace and quiet before the whining started. Most of the driving was on two-lane highways, since this was mostly in pre-interstate days. And look, we’re both still alive! It must have been a miracle!
Too bad this generation of children, and even my own kids’ generation, never knew what normal American life is supposed to be like.
In 1957-8 (for two years)my 34 Packard 4 dr. Phaeton had that and thermostatically controlled grille vents, push button lube and Shock absorber control from inside car.
The engine was a straight eight with an aluminium block, aluminium transmission case and a stainless steel head. The differential was huge but tilted to achieve a lower body height!
From a dead stop in third gear it had torque enough to walk away and up to speed!
Mercury Turnpike Cruisers (57-58) had air intakes in front roof pillars.
My daddy had one of those, his one and only hotrod before all the kids came along and he had to get responsible...with a black (white-roofed) ‘60 Kingswood wagon...not entirely uncool, that’s for sure...wish I had it now.
My girlfriend had one of those.
Only not on her dashboard.
Gee I miss her sometimes.
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