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Magnolia Car Show 2012, Part 6: Cars from the 1960s and later

Written by Domesticus on September 24, 2012 · Leave a Comment

In the 1960s, cars were still interesting and pretty to look at. After that, it all went downhill.

At least that’s my opinion. But for all your die-hard car fans out there, here are the later-model cars from the show.

1960 Lincoln MKv 430 V8

1960 Lincoln MKv 430 V8 – Side View

1970 Dodge Challenger

: 2009 Dodge Challenger

1977 Pontiac TransAm

: Hood ornament, 1988 Rolls Royce Silver Sprint. This car’s for sale for just $24,950.

2004 Ford Thunderbird

2004 Ford Thunderbird. Notice the art-deco-style circular rear window

That’s all folks! See you next year!

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Magnolia Car Show 2012, Part 5: Classic Car of the 1920s – the “Strawberry Alarm Clock”

Written by Domesticus on September 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The car show had only one car from the 1920s this year, but it’s a beauty. This car, which the owner has dubbed the “Strawberry Alarm Clock”, makes the show every year.

1923 T-Roadster, the “Strawberry Alarm Clock”

1923 T-Roadster, the “Strawberry Alarm Clock” – the innards

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Magnolia Car Show 2012, Part 4: Classic Cars of the 1930s

Written by Domesticus on September 19, 2012 · 2 Comments

1930 Ford Model A Coupe

1930 Ford Model A Coupe – Another View

1930 Ford Model A Coupe - Gleaming Carburators in a 394-cubic-inch engine

1930 Ford Model A Coupe – Gleaming Carburetors in a 394-cubic-inch engine

1932 Ford Roadster

1932 Ford Roadster Interior

1932 Ford Roadster Interior Detail

1932 Ford Roadster – 330 hp under the hood

1932 Ford Victoria

1932 Ford Victoria – Front View

1932 Ford Victoria – Grille and headlight

1934 Ford

1936 Ford pickup

1939 Studebaker pickup

: 1939 Studebaker pickup – not as pretty from the side

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Magnolia Car Show 2012, Part 3: Classic Cars of the 1940s

Written by Domesticus on September 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Under the hood: A clear, simple design

1948 Ford 2-door sedan

1948 Ford Coupe

For more cars of the 1940s, see the first classic car post here.

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Magnolia Car Show 2012, Part 2: Classic Cars of the 1950s

Written by Domesticus on September 17, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Ah, the 1950s, era of black and white TVs with not much to watch, of drive-ins and sock hops and hamburgers and Levittowns.

But they sure knew how to make cars. Here are some beauties from this year’s car show:

1956 Chevy Bel-Air

1956 Chevy Bel-Air – Interior

1957 Chevy Bel-Air

1957 Chevy Bel-Air – Another View

1955 Mercury Montclair

1955 Mercury Montclair – 2-Tone Interior

1955 Mercury Montclair – Detail

1956 Nash Ambassador ’56 Nash Ambassador was the official car of Disneyland.

Cinderella’s coach? The owner said the 1956 Nash Ambassador was the official car of Disneyland back in the day.

1954 Chevy 3100 Pickup

1954 Chevy 3100 Pickup with hood open

1954 Chevy 3100 Pickup – And Away We Go!

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Classic Car Pictures! Magnolia Car Show 2012, Part 1

Written by Domesticus on September 14, 2012 · 2 Comments

THe 2012 Magnolis Car Show – Classic Cars all in a row

We did it again–went to the Magnolia Car Show, where Bigfoot took marvelous pictures but kept them hidden away in his camera for weeks while we strolled through Discovery Park and lolled around our back yard, enjoying the all-too-short season of Seattle sun. As the French say, Il faut profiter du soleil quand il y en a, you gotta catch the rays while you can, and nowhere is that more true than here.

Which is a long-winded but true excuse for not publishing these photos sooner, but for the classic car fans who seem to find their way to my blog even though I only wrote one other post on the subject–here they are at last!

I’ll divide the show into several posts so that the photos don’t take too long to load.

Enjoy!

1956 Ford Fairlaine Town Sedan

The owner of this car spent three years restoring it. It was worth the time to him because it reminds him of the 1955 Fairlaine his mom used to drive.

When he bought it, he found a brochure tucked in the trunk that described the car’s color as “meadow mist green and Colonial white.” He researched the old Ford colors and had the car painted to match them. Notice the slim “meadow mist green” circle inside the tires’ whitewalls. Adding one of the colors of a two-tone car to the tires was common then. Isn’t it an elegant touch? The old cars had so much class.

The toothy grin of a 1949 Buick Roadmaster

And here’s one of our favorites: a 1949 Buick Roadmaster just like the one Bigfoot’s own mom used to drive. What a beauty! How come these moms didn’t think ahead and hang onto these treasures for their kids? They had no idea they’d have any value, that elegance and styling would be replaced by aerodynamics and fuel economy. Just like they had no idea that the gorgeously illustrated Donald Duck comic books of the ’30s would become valuable collectors’ items. Yes, Bigfoot’s mom got rid of those too.

Makes you wonder what we casually toss out today that will make the next generation scream. It’s hard to think of anything in this age of disposability and fast-moving technology. Would anyone ever pay money to collect one of those early brick-like cell phones? Ginormous stereo speakers from the ’70s? A boxy old Macintosh computer? I don’t think so.

But those old cars really had something going. It’s like Joni Mitchell said, though, you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.

1949 Buick Roadmaster – AnotherView

1949 Buick Roadmaster – Detail

If we had to choose a favorite based on looks alone, with no sentimentality entering into the picture, it would be the 1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe below:

1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe

1941 Plymouth under clear skies

1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe – An Open-Air Blast

1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe – Front View

1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe – Interior

1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe – Rear View

1941 Plymouth Special Deluxe – Detail

Those are the cars that felt the most special to us. But you might have another opinion.

The next posts will feature shots of beautiful old cars from the ’50s, the ’40s, and the ’30s.

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Magnolia Car Show

Written by Domesticus on March 16, 2012 · 1 Comment

Aren’t they magnificent! Those old guzzle-boats.

In person, they’re much bigger than you imagined. Even some from our own youth, like ‘70s Mustangs, which were cool little hotrods back when. They look like big boats now.

Every year Magnolia has a car show. It’s mostly rare old birds, though this year they also had a Nissan Leaf for contrast.

The car above is a 1937 Cord. No, not Ford, Cord!

We never heard of it either.

But the guys at the car show know. They can tell you all about their shiny, meticulously maintained vehicles, inside and out.

We have to admit, it is kind of interesting to peer under the hoods back to simpler days. Even someone like Domesticus, who doesn’t know what a spark plug is (Do they even exist anymore?), can see there was a beauty to the uncomplicated inner workings that made these big lions roar.

But even more fun for us was a 1932 black car, we think it was this one:

whose owner let us climb inside and breathe in the past from the original interior. Most of the cars had re-done interiors, but somehow this guy managed to preserve the Depression-era layer of beige plush all these years. We felt like Bonnie, as in Clyde. If we’d been in there long enough, we might have gotten into the times even more and transformed ourself into Jean Harlow or Greta Garbo, but we worried about overstaying our welcome.

Because Domesticus could have sat in that car all afternoon. We were even tempted to ask the guy to drive us around the block in it, but, really. It’s a car show, not a dealership.

Here’s another model that will interest our friends from Hawaii – a ’51 surfer’s car (no, we don’t know the model, but maybe some of you guys can help us out):

And here’s Domesticus’ favorite, a ’49 Buick Roadmaster just like the one Bigfoot’s mother used to drive:

These old car guys are serious, passionate, and willing to spend as much on their cars as some people spend on a home. (But then, they probably live in their garage.) According to our little local Magnolia News, one of them spent $130,000 on a 1937 Packard, including restoration. Another spent $180,000 on a 1939 Chevy Town Sedan.

In contrast, the Nissan Leaf on display starts at $35,000 and costs two and a half cents a mile to run with electricity.

As for the Old Guzzlers, well Domesticus doesn’t know the stats, so we asked our friend www.anythingaboutcars.com, who said:

A new car back in the 1940s cost about $800, and for 18 cents, you could buy a gallon of gas. On average, most 1940s cars got about 15 to 20 miles per gallon.

Not as bad as we thought. About the same mpg as an SUV. You don’t have to charge it up either. But of course gas is super expensive now, and Evil compared to charging up in your garage.

So.

We are forced to conclude that owning a Classic Car, while it may provide a few hours of fun, is an expensive, time-consuming, gas guzzling misuse of resources.

And we want one!

How about you?

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