The 1960s American Car And Road Trip In Kodachrome

FlashBAK ^ | February 25, 2019 | By Paul Sorene

[vannrox]

These Kodachrome slides are from when go-ahead Americans believed a flying car was just around the corner

Well I’m not braggin’ babe so don’t put me down
But I’ve got the fastest set of wheels in town
When something comes up to me he don’t even try
‘Cause if I had a set of wings man I know she could fly
– Little Deuce Coupe, the Beach Boys

 

1965 Amphicar, Model 770 — 1965

 

You like our post ‘The 1950s American Car And Road Trip In Kodachrome‘ so much that we combined our wit and came with another: ‘The 1960s American Car And Road Trip In Kodachrome.’ This one. Although who needs roads when you have an Amphicar (see above)?

The headline might be familiar, but the images in this great set of Kodachrome slides from when Americans in American-made cars explored the country are original.

 

Yellowstone 1967

 

 

Homosassa Springs — December 1968
Feeding the Buick.

Las Vegas at Night — 1967
Under the Fremont Hotel marquee

Having a Wonderful Vacation — 1969

Tiny Trailer — 1965

Bandshell, Sanford, FL – Early 50s
Bandshell on Lake Monroe (St. John’s River) in Sanford, Florida. Submarine Chaser SC679 sits ready.

Andersen’s — Buellton, CA 1961

San Francisco, California — 1966
Corner of Powell and Ellis looking down Powell towards O’Farrell.

Times Square, New York City – 1964

In the Driveway, Middletown, NY — 1960

Las Vegas — 1961

Teepee Drive-in / Buffalo Burgers

Elmhurst Blizzard 1967

Leaving L.A. — 1962
Stretch of coastline near L.A. lined with petticoat palms.

Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco — 1962

General Motors Concept Car — 1964

Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, Hawaii, 1967
A cream 1955 Chevy Bel Air with surfboards in tow is braking as it crosses Lewers St. on a green arrow. The Ala Moana Building’s “Top of Waikiki” rotating restaurant can be seen above and behind the distinctive Bank of Hawaii / Galleria tower.

41 Buick — Clearwater Beach, FL Causeway
Period photo taken on Clearwater Memorial Causeway (or RT. 60/Gulf-to-Bay) facing east from Clearwater Beach.

Corvette, Middletown, NY — 1960

Mid-Century Motels, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida — 1969

Pioneer Auto Museum, Murdo, South Dakota — 1965

Badlands Petrified Gardens — July 1965

Ranch Store, Cactus Flat, SD — July 1965

Dunedin Beach, FL — 1966

Escondido Bowl and a Red Ford Galaxie – 1966
A fire-engine red 1962 Ford Galaxie rinses off at a Chevron under a googie-riffic sign in Escondido, California.

1956 Chevy Bel Air at Spring Break, Ft. Lauderdale 1966

Photos and captions via ElektroSpark

[Regulator]

Was this guy following me around?!

Stopped at Andersens all the time going North, and the Union station was near my Grandfather’s old house in Escondido. I dunno, maybe it’s still there. Haven’t been there since ‘69.

Note the gas prices then. They had been between 18 and 26 cents a gallon since the ‘40s. Inflation was something you did to a balloon.

[garryowenartillery]

Someone time traveled a 1973 taillight onto that 1965 VW.

[Ancesthntr]

“It weird looking at these pictures, knowing that all of those cars are probably crushed.”

---

It is also weird looking at these pics, knowing that a large number of the people in them are gone.

Sad to think about, but those were some good times. Yeah, no tats, no pussy hats, no hippy hair, and people actually loved their country.

[wally_bert]

Before my time.

Looks better than society today.

It wasn’t perfect either I know. No era was.

[cymbeline]

“Clean looking folks there. No tats....no hippie hair”

You made me think of something barely related. There have been complaints that there aren’t enough female pop singers today. I started listening radiotunes.com, “American Songbook” a week or so ago (they have dozens of music categories).

Lots of women singers of that type of music. Beautiful, feminine, fetching, very musical, lyrics without social commentary. Contrast that with the gritty type of music that is popular today. Women singing that material are hiding their female side. Who wants to watch a half-woman?

I could make the same observation about women actors.

[John Milner]

That’s actually the only one I said,”That may not be right.” I’m not an expert on VW Beetles but that looks like a much newer than 1965 model. I drove both a 1960 and a 1963 and they both had different bumpers and much smaller tail lights. And no amber on the taillights. That looks to me more like a 70’s model.

Again, I’m no expert on VWs.

[1Old Pro]

And note their weights, as compared to today.

Yep, kids would eat a balanced dinner at home at 5:30pm with the family, now they suck down some burgers and fries.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Gives us those nice, bright colors
Gives you those dreams of summers
Makes you think all the world
Is a sunny day

[Dilbert San Diego]

Looking at the cars, I notice that cars had more style to them. I know those old cars didn’t get the gas mileage of today’s cars. But, they had certain design elements to them, not sure how to describe.

Back then, you could easily tell a Ford from a Chevy from a Pontiac from a Buick. Today, maybe just me, but so many cars look alike to me today. I could never tell a Hyundai from a Honda from a Toyota from a Buick today.

[shelterguy]

Back then, you could easily tell a Ford from a Chevy from a Pontiac from a Buick. Today, maybe just me, but so many cars look alike to me today. I could never tell a Hyundai from a Honda from a Toyota from a Buick today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yup. Back in the day I knew what every car was. They had some real style. Now they are all just round and plain.

A Jaguar looks just like a Taurus except for the hood ornament.

[jjotto]

Cars pretty much looked alike in the ‘20s too.

Today, front ends have to account for pedestrian safety, rollover standards require big door pillars, and side impact safety means higher beltlines. Aerodynamic demands make the general shape.

But makers miss the mark by not making premium vehicles that are more distinctive, as the higher prices allow for more expensive engineering instead of taking the cheapest route that’s going to look the same as everything else.

[V K Lee]

PP, thanks for the memories.
Though I was blind at the time, my parents are owed a debt
of gratitude that they drove the family over the miles of the USA. In youth, we saw beautiful landscapes, dirty Detroit, the majesty of the mountains and met Americans from all parts of the nation. A hands-on education.

[Vaduz]

Indeed the pre stoner era was the good old days and not the price of gas 29 cents.

[sparklite2]

The fun part was identifying the locale of the outdoor pictures before reading where they were taken. Got a surprising number of them right.

[doorgunner69]

Noticed a lack of obvious smoking, though back then most adults seed to be smokers.

[minnesota_bound]

25.9 cent gas!

[poconopundit]

That's great you could travel as a youth. My family with 8 kids was a bit more difficult :- ) I remember us going to a drive-in to see the black-and-white The Longest Day (John Wayne) and It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World with Jonathan Winters.

Never laughed harder in my life at the scene where Jonathan Winters destroys a garage. The scene was hilarious, but also the thrill of this new experience of a drive-in and watching such foolishness on a big screen through the windshield of the Oldsmobile.

Such a great memory. I'm going to ask my brothers and sisters if they recall it...

[doorgunner69]

My father's first duty station at the beginning of WWII was on a subchaser in Florida. Too bad he is gone, that one in the picture might have been it. He got shipped to the Pacific right after for Guadalcanal and more.

Parents took us up to Andersens's a few times when I was a kid, good times though a long drive before 101 was a freeway.

The road with palms and beach looks like Cabrillo Blvd in Santa Barbara.

Poor red-headed kid, somone already stole his hubcaps......

[V K Lee]

8 KIDS!
Myself - only 3 siblings=4
Every summer we’d travel in the station wagon on 2 to 3 week vacations. Normally to see Dad’s family (N.D., Minn) planned trips to other parts of the nation along the way. Usually we’d camp along the route, spending one night in a motel, for a break in a long week.

LOL at your story of the drive-in. Remember Dad being out of town and Mom took the 4 kids to the drive-in to see McClintock.

When relaying the story to dad, upon his return, brother told him it was a movie with bad language. Reason: it had 2 damns and a hell (spoken by whom, not quite certain, probably JW.)

A nightmare at times, the camping portion was a learning experience. Camped in Canada for a week and fished every day. BEST FISHING EVER! Caught a large Northern Pike. After placing him on the rope stringer, sat and watched him till we landed on shore once again. By that time, he had bitten the stringer almost in two. Made arrangements to ship the fish home, in ice, and when the family made it back to Dallas, we had a huge fish fry. Still have that fish head. Dad had it bronzed (similar to Baby Shoes). How we managed to keep it was a miracle. The tear in his mouth is easily seen and he might have easily escaped.

[poconopundit]

Great story, VK!

That’s quite a fish story... but I believe you!

Fresh seasfood and shellfish is what i miss most about living in the cold Northeast.