Old gas stations

[2jakes]

It’s not complete without a steering / “suicide” knob
& it has to be Marilyn!

 

[tmal]

What is it about old cars? Modern cars are objectively probably better in every way. And, yet......yet....old cars hold our attention. Is it a sense of true style? A sense of romance of the open road when it was, at least in legend, still open.? A sense of the romance of the early 20th century when everything seemed possible? The response to an aura of mechanical honesty? Perhaps it is an atavistic response to when an automobile, any automobile, promised freedom, a certain societal cache be it Ford commoner or Dusenberg elitist. Perhaps the heart-felt emotion of the common man – I've made it! - I have a car!-Freedom!

What is interesting is that almost everyone seems to respond this way, with more than passing interest they will watch one on the road; they will stare at an auto show. Put a classic Dusenberg, or Studebaker ,or Plymouth next to the modern stuff. Who draws the most rapt crowd? I cannot explain it. I cannot explain these people. I am only glad that I am one of them.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The main thing I like about my old car is that I can always find it in the parking lot.

 

[2jakes]

What is it about old cars?
For me it’s a road back to my youth.
Weekends driving out to small towns helping dad with deliveries & great lunch treat
at the local diners.

Drive-in movies with my sisters or riding in the back enjoying the nice breeze.


And my first date!

The list goes on!

 

[Trenchfriend]

The main thing I like about my old car is that I can always find it in the parking lot.

The opposite to the silvergrey Kia Rio II (Rio 5), I'm driving.

 

[Fading Fast]

What is it about old cars? Modern cars are objectively probably better in every way. And, yet......yet....old cars hold our attention. Is it a sense of true style? A sense of romance of the open road when it was, at least in legend, still open.? A sense of the romance of the early 20th century when everything seemed possible? The response to an aura of mechanical honesty? Perhaps it is an atavistic response to when an automobile, any automobile, promised freedom, a certain societal cache be it Ford commoner or Dusenberg elitist. Perhaps the heart-felt emotion of the common man – I've made it! - I have a car!-Freedom!

What is interesting is that almost everyone seems to respond this way, with more than passing interest they will watch one on the road; they will stare at an auto show. Put a classic Dusenberg, or Studebaker ,or Plymouth next to the modern stuff. Who draws the most rapt crowd? I cannot explain it. I cannot explain these people. I am only glad that I am one of them.

There are a lot of soft reasons for me - style, vibe, feel, connect to the past, weight - but the one that really does it is that I can pretty much understand how a pre-'70s car works, what each part does and why. And while I might not be able to fix all of it - I probably could with time and study - I can at least understand how it needs to be fixed. Today, cars are computers with wheels and a lot of "solid state" hardware - with many of the problems requiring software diagnosis leading to the "switching out" of a "component -" sigh.

 

[2jakes]

There are a lot of soft reasons for me - style, vibe, feel, connect to the past, weight - but the one that really does it is that I can pretty much understand how a pre-'70s car works, what each part does and why. And while I might not be able to fix all of it - I probably could with time and study - I can at least understand how it needs to be fixed. Today, cars are computers with wheels and a lot of "solid state" hardware - with many of the problems requiring software diagnosis leading to the "switching out" of a "component -" sigh.

True about older cars. I can understand
and appreciate the simplicity.
But found out without the right tools,
the task is impossible in certain situations.

Such was the case with my ‘63 VW
beetle.

My brother being a pilot helped me
to remove & replace a part with the
machine equipment at the hangar.
Otherwise, it woulda sat there in my
garage for a long period - double sigh!

 

[Fading Fast]

True about older cars. I can understand
and appreciate the simplicity.
But found out without the right tools,
the task is impossible in certain situations.

Such was the case with my ‘63 VW
beetle.

My brother being a pilot helped me
to remove & replace a part with the
machine equipment at the hangar.

That is very true. I have a long story about replacing a taillight on an old Buick (short story, it was a double screw, that screwed in on both sides - first time you encounter it, it is not intuitive), but, big picture, the cars were analog and you could understand them with time, patience and study as they made "physical" sense. Now, of course they make sense, but in a dramatically more complex, computer software way.

 

[2jakes]

When products came with instructions.
Although there were times where two hands was not enough!

 

[BlueTrain]

One factor in the appeal of older cars to me is the simple fact that I wanted certain cars (not just one, of course) and never had them. Well, as it happens, I still want those same cars. Mostly they were new at the time but there were a few that were no longer in production by the time that acquiring a car was a realistic possibility for me. One such vehicle was a Willys Jeep Station Wagon. Another was the Dodge Power Wagon (the 1950s version). I did have a Land-Rover, though, and the other vehicles I just mentioned were of the same variety, if considerably different.

Otherwise, not many old cars appeal to me if I didn't see them in my "formative years."

 

[LizzieMaine]

The car I really wanted as a kid was a 1948 Crosley. Somebody in town had one and whenever I'd see it parked on the street I'd marvel at it, and figure it was the only car around that was actually my size.

Years later I found out a good friend was raised in a family that had owned several Crosleys, and her memories of them were not fond. That put an end to those aspirations.

I disliked most of the cars I saw on the street at a young age because of the evil expressions on their faces. I always figured if Satan drove a car it would be a 1950s Buick.

 

[Fading Fast]

As a teenager and, even, young man, I definitely had a passion to own some out-of-my-reach cars. All were older, mainly '30s - '60s sports cars (foreign from any of those decades or domestic muscle cars) with some one-offs, like woodie wagons. But, then, I owned two not-special cars and the first one was stolen (a '66 Chevy) and the second one (a used firebird) hit (twice in three years in two different parking lots - neither time did the person leave a note) - that combined with insurance and repairs slowly turned me off to cars. Then I sold my car, moved into NYC in '89 and have not owned a car since.

Life got better without the burden of owning a car and, in general and over time, my passion for owning out-of-reach cars faded, but I've noticed lately a little spark of interest in cars again (in part, I blame Fedora) in theory (no interest in practice). But I would not want anything that was expensive or attracted a lot of attention (even if money was no object) as I like being as unnoticed as possible.

The idea of owning a '36 Ford Coupe (beautifully simple lines), any Woodie or even a late '50s Karmann Ghia appeals to me - along with a country road and nice weather. Unfortunately, I'm old enough to know that along with that rarely occurring moment of joy, comes repairs, insurance, breakdowns, funny noises from the engine and on and on.

I'll continue to treat car ownership as a spectator sport for me.

 

[2jakes]

Ever since I saw this film, I’ve had a passion for this woodie.

Some favorite films with woodies from different years
which I enjoy.

Bringing Up Baby ~ Grant & Hepburn.
Out of the Past ~ Robert Mitchum & Jane Greer.
Dark Passage ~ Bogart & Bacall.
White Heat ~ James Cagney.

It’s only shown briefly but it’s in color from the ‘40s.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I am fascinated by the older cars in part because I built plastic models of them in the Sixties. Some of the kits, the Lincoln Continental, the Mustang, the Corvette Sting Ray, were current cars then. But Revell and AMT among other companies also offered the 1940 Ford, the 1941 Willys coupe, the 1936 Ford coupe, the 1958 Chevy Impala, the 1955/56/57 Chevy, the 1950s Mercedes 300SL "Gullwing," and others -- many of which came with extra parts so you could customize them or make them into racing style cars. My creativity found an important outlet as I matched body color to the style of the car and interior color usually as a contrast (which I still like in my full-size cars).

 

[2jakes]

I am fascinated by the older cars in part because I built plastic models of them in the Sixties. Some of the kits, the Lincoln Continental, the Mustang, the Corvette Sting Ray, were current cars then. But Revell and AMT among other companies also offered the 1940 Ford, the 1941 Willys coupe, the 1936 Ford coupe, the 1958 Chevy Impala, the 1955/56/57 Chevy, the 1950s Mercedes 300SL "Gullwing," and others -- many of which came with extra parts so you could customize them or make them into racing style cars. My creativity found an important outlet as I matched body color to the style of the car and interior color usually as a contrast (which I still like in my full-size cars).

You have my sincere respects!
I started, but not once did I fully complete one of those Revell plastic
models from my yute.

My uncle worked on model airplanes that were made out of balsa wood
before plastics became more commonly used for building model things.
Still remember the smell of that glue!

 

[Fading Fast]

Ever since I saw this film, I’ve had a passion for this woodie.
View attachment 91916

View attachment 91915


Some favorite films with woodies from different years
which I enjoy.

Bringing Up Baby ~ Grant & Hepburn.
Out of the Past ~ Robert Mitchum & Jane Greer.
Dark Passage ~ Bogart & Bacall.
White Heat ~ James Cagney.

It’s only shown briefly but it’s in color from the ‘40s.
View attachment 91923

Also,

"Dark Victory"


"Leave her to Heaven"

 

[2jakes]

Also,

"Dark Victory"
View attachment 91931

"Leave her to Heaven"
View attachment 91932

I haven’t seen “Dark Victory” or perhaps right now, I’m not 100% alert.

I did mentioned “Leave Her To Heaven”.
I love the colors of that film.

 

[Fading Fast]

I am fascinated by the older cars in part because I built plastic models of them in the Sixties. Some of the kits, the Lincoln Continental, the Mustang, the Corvette Sting Ray, were current cars then. But Revell and AMT among other companies also offered the 1940 Ford, the 1941 Willys coupe, the 1936 Ford coupe, the 1958 Chevy Impala, the 1955/56/57 Chevy, the 1950s Mercedes 300SL "Gullwing," and others -- many of which came with extra parts so you could customize them or make them into racing style cars. My creativity found an important outlet as I matched body color to the style of the car and interior color usually as a contrast (which I still like in my full-size cars).

I made a lot of those ⇧ and also, do you remember, Hubley? They made metal car model kits which were much more substantial (and expensive) than the all-plastic ones.


I made this exact model ⇩ (didn't have the fancy base though)

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I grew up building those plastic models, too...I still have a few vintage ones in my collection, most still in their original packaging.

When I grew up, I graduated into buying old cars, anywhere I could find them, and usually for cheap. My younger brother and I would wrench on them in the evenings after school and on the weekends, building all kinds of hot rods...we must have owned. 15 or 20 different makes and models, eventually selling them all.

As we grew older, got married and had kids, the hobby slipped to the shadows...I went into a technical drafting field, and he stuck with mechanics. I still own 4 vintage/antique hobby vehicles (in various stages of completion), not including my daily driver '05 Dodge Magnum R/T with the 5.7 Hemi...I still like to go fast, lol.

One of these days, when I retire and complete the massive Honey Do List tasked to me, I hope to finish those backyard automotive projects of my yesteryouth.

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

I haven’t seen “Dark Victory” or perhaps right now, I’m not 100% alert.

I did mentioned “Leave Her To Heaven”.
I love the colors of that film.

Sorry re "Leave it to Heaven -" did you add that one later or did I (most likely) just miss it the first time I looked at your post (as, had I seen it, I wouldn't have posted it)?

"Dark Victory" is a really good movie that, IMHO, seems to get no notice, but is well done.