Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[2jakes]

?????????????

That ought to be good for some discussion, if nothing else.[emoji14]

Fins on cars = An era when they were built huge & thirsty.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The only fin I ever really liked on a car was the one on the Batmobile.

 

[Fading Fast]

The only fin I ever really liked on a car was the one on the Batmobile.

No argument - that is one awesome fin. But this will always be, IMHO, the defining Batmobile, fins and all. Even though I was incredibly impressed with the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, I thought the Batmobile in those was unimaginative and boorish - but they did have a cool Bat-cycle).

 

[dh66]

I totally agree with Fading Fast.


And for the record....I LOVE cars with fins. They are the pinnacle of coolness, except for luminas.

 

[vitanola]

I totally agree with Fading Fast.


And for the record....I LOVE cars with fins. They are the pinnacle of coolness, except for luminas.

Fins? Hmmph!

Running Boards!

 

[Stearmen]

For the record, Frank Hershey got the first generation of fins just right! Modeled after the tail of the P-38 Forked Tail Devil! Unfortunately, it was all down hill after that. [video=youtube;EWZ_uunLSSQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWZ_uunLSSQ[/video]

 

[2jakes]

 

[AtomicEraTom]

With you on all of this.

I know fins serve no purpose, but to look cool. Neither does chrome, or flamboyant colors, but boy they sure make a car look good! I've owned plenty of classics, but I always liked the big-finned behemoths the best.

My dream car is a '59 Eldorado Biarritz Convertible, in fire engine red:

I totally agree with Fading Fast.


And for the record....I LOVE cars with fins. They are the pinnacle of coolness, except for luminas.

I can't figure this one out, either. Now, you can't even buy Crown Victorias, Grand Marquis, or Town Cars, which at least were reasonably sized sedans.

As most know, I'm a Cadillac guy. I get asked all the time when I'm going to "upgrade" from my '96 Fleetwood Brougham to something newer. My answer is always the same, "When they make a better car than what I have, I'll buy one." I can't think of a single sedan on the market measuring over 19 feet, seating six, and can still fit six foot fence posts in the trunk (believe me, I know.) Not to mention that it came from the factory with real chrome bumpers and a vinyl top.

Also, I'm over 6 feet tall, and over 200 lbs. I've ridden in newer Malibu's, Impalas, etc, and I feel shoehorned in there. As a passenger I shouldn't be touching elbows with the driver.

What mystifies me is that in this day of jumbo sized Americans, the American car seems to be sized for midgets, even the so called luxury models.

 

[MelancholicNostalgic]

1955 Lincoln Futura

In regards to fins and the batmobile, I've always been a sucker for the car before it became the batmobile, as it was in all its former glory as the 1955 Lincoln Futura.


An ideal "daily-driver" in my honest opinion!

 

[dh66]

In regards to fins and the batmobile, I've always been a sucker for the car before it became the batmobile, as it was in all its former glory as the 1955 Lincoln Futura.


An ideal "daily-driver" in my honest opinion!

Yesss!!!!

And what a soul crushing disappointment that here we are 60 years into "the future" and we end up with this instead.....

 

[BobHufford]

I love fins. I used to daily drive a '57 Sedan Deville. Maybe not the best fins ever, but one of the best grilles.

I once saw a '57 Eldorado Seville at a hot-rod show that had the fins shaved!

 

[dh66]

I love fins. I used to daily drive a '57 Sedan Deville. Maybe not the best fins ever, but one of the best grilles.

I once saw a '57 Eldorado Seville at a hot-rod show that had the fins shaved!

Please tell me it was that color, too!

As for shaving the fins off a 57 Eldo......what a sacrilege! But there's no accounting for tastes, I guess, and if everyone's was as good as mine and yours, then we really wouldn't be that exceptional. [emoji14]

 

[Big Man]

Yesterday, on the way home from Church, my old '65 Ford Custom 500 turned over 300,000 miles.

My aunt Sara bought the car brand new in 1965. She was a teacher and drove the car from her house to school - a distance of about 1 mile each way. Other than that, we took an occasional trip in her car "exploring" across the back roads of the county and, in the summers, almost daily trips to the lake for swimming. When my aunt passed away in 1983, the car was given to me. It had a little over 40,000 miles on it at that time.

For all but about 10 years since I've owned the car, it has been my "first out" vehicle. Its been well maintained and serviced on a regular basis, and excepting me having had to rebuild the transmission about six or seven years ago, had no real major work done. It's going in for a re-paint job in a couple weeks, and should be back to its former glory.

This has been, and continues to be, a great car!

 

[BobHufford]

Please tell me it was that color, too!

No ... it was Copper Iridescent.

 

[Fading Fast]

With you on all of this.

I know fins serve no purpose, but to look cool. Neither does chrome, or flamboyant colors, but boy they sure make a car look good! I've owned plenty of classics, but I always liked the big-finned behemoths the best.

My dream car is a '59 Eldorado Biarritz Convertible, in fire engine red:

...

Great point on "the purpose" of fins etc. - many aesthetically pleasing things exist simply to be aesthetically pleasing. The old Soviet Union gave a window into what life looks like when everything is "practical."

I'm hoping you get your dream Eldorado one day - it's a full-throttle fins car.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Great point on "the purpose" of fins etc. - many aesthetically pleasing things exist simply to be aesthetically pleasing. The old Soviet Union gave a window into what life looks like when everything is "practical."

1959 Gaz -- the Soviet equivalent of the Cadillac. The Cold War, deep down, was nothing more than nations comparing the length of their -- fins.

 

[Fading Fast]

1959 Gaz -- the Soviet equivalent of the Cadillac. The Cold War, deep down, was nothing more than nations comparing the length of their -- fins.

If fins are a metaphor for the Cold War, then comparing the '59 Eldo and '59 Gaz, it's no wonder the US won.

I will admit, the Gaz has more styling than most USSR cars I've seen. While Cadillac was hardly a car for the masses, they did sell a lot of cars and you saw them in a few driveways in neighborhoods like mine (think "Wonder Years" - not rich, just regular guy middle class - when my dad saw it in a neighbor's driveway, he'd say they probably owe more on the car than the house) - did the Gaz make it to the people or just the nomenclature?

 

[dh66]

No ... it was Copper Iridescent.

Still just as sweet!

 

[LizzieMaine]

If fins are a metaphor for the Cold War, then comparing the '59 Eldo and '59 Gaz, it's no wonder the US won.

I will admit, the Gaz has more styling than most USSR cars I've seen. While Cadillac was hardly a car for the masses, they did sell a lot of cars and you saw them in a few driveways in neighborhoods like mine (think "Wonder Years" - not rich, just regular guy middle class - when my dad saw it in a neighbor's driveway, he'd say they probably owe more on the car than the house) - did the Gaz make it to the people or just the nomenclature?

The top of the line Gaz was built as a limousine, intended for official use, but civilians could rent them for special occasions. There were more middle-brow Gazzes which were available to the public, which were about the equivalent of a Buick or a DeSoto, but styled more sporty, sort of along the lines of a Studebaker.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If fins are a metaphor for the Cold War, then comparing the '59 Eldo and '59 Gaz, it's no wonder the US won.

I will admit, the Gaz has more styling than most USSR cars I've seen. While Cadillac was hardly a car for the masses, they did sell a lot of cars and you saw them in a few driveways in neighborhoods like mine (think "Wonder Years" - not rich, just regular guy middle class - when my dad saw it in a neighbor's driveway, he'd say they probably owe more on the car than the house) - did the Gaz make it to the people or just the nomenclature?

The top of the line Gaz was built as a limousine, intended for official use, but civilians could rent them for special occasions. There were more middle-brow Gazzes which were available to the public, which were about the equivalent of a Buick or a DeSoto, but styled more sporty, sort of along the lines of a Studebaker.

I never saw a Cadillac in my neighborhood until 1972, when a neighbor traded in a 1952 DeSoto toward a new Sedan DeVille. The only time I ever rode in it I threw up in the back seat, and I've never been in any Cadillac since.