john2dameron

I saw what appeared to be a 1958 retractable at the International Edsel Owner's meet in Charlottesville, Virginia I in 1989 but it appeared to have the instrument panel, steering wheel, and rear seat of a 1957 Ford. The owner claimed it was built at the factory but I leave you to draw your own conclusion. I know what I think I saw and it was not a 1958 Edsel. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong but that's the way I see it. I was also at the 1984 meet and the 1999 meet and saw nothing like that at either one.

Only the Country Squire wagons had the wood trim. Parklane wagons were built only in 1956. They had Fairlane side trim and were 2-door, six-passenger autos, and IMO were one of the best looking wagons ever built.

Maybe bodied by an European coach builder.

The one that sticks out in my memory was a black '47 or '48 Chevrolet with blinds in the back window. Mom's cousin and her husband and the cousin's mother stopped by to see us on their way to Indiana to visit relatives. That car had blinds in the back window. I believe the car was brand new and had been purchased to make the trip to Indiana. Our neighbor also had a black '48 Chevy coupe and I believe it also had blinds in it but not sure about it. I would have been about 8 years old then.

The first pickup I bought was a 1960 Chevy C-10, manual transmission and without power brakes or power steering. I bought it so I could leave my new Ford convertible home and not let fallout at the job site destroy the paint on it. A few nights after I bought the pickup I drove it to work on the night shift. Came out the next morning and started it but could not get the transmission in gear. No clutch. Shut the engine off, put the truck in reverse, and started it in reverse. When It got far enough back for me to go forward, I cut the engine off again, put it first gear and started it back up; then shifted it in to second without the clutch and drove off the parking lot. I made it through the first traffic light but the second one caught me. I hit the brake pedal and had no brakes. I eased into a service station and discovered the truck was out of brake fluid. I put brake fluid into the truck and lo and behold the clutch worked. I only kept the truck about 3 or 4 months and had to put brake fluid in it periodically. I never wanted another hydraulic clutch.

When I was a small boy I had a neighbor who was credited with starting the U.S. Navy flight program in World War I. Later on I went to work for his wife. He was Rear Admiral P. N. L Bellinger. Whenever I was up there working, I'd see him going out to feed his birds. He raised some kind of exotic quail and they would have them butchered and sell them to the Greenbrier Hotel. Never had much conversation with the Admiral except one time he took me down to see his birds. Apparently he was very proud of his birds. When I first became aware of them Mrs. Bellinger drove a postwar DeSoto sedan. It was maroon and quite attractive. I went to work for them in 1958. I don't recall what she was driving then but she soon got a new '59 Mercury and the farm help drove a 3/4-ton '50ish Chevrolet pickup. The Chevrolet was traded in on a '59 Ford pickup and the '59 Mercury was traded in on a '62-63 Mercury Meteor. At that time the Ford pickup was the newest thing I had ever driven and I was quite impressed. I think I first drove it maybe the day they got it. I did not tell her but I did not have a driver's license. We were in the hay field working one day and she drove the pickup out to the gate and hollered, "John, come over here." He started mumbling and started toward the gate but she hollered, "Not you, I want John Dameron." Turned out she was bringing her daughter and new grand daughter home from the hospital and wanted to show the baby to me. I was very surprised.

What they called "Necker's Knobs" were right popular in the early 1950's. I wonder if that is what the guy had and no, I never heard of them being an option on any auto; they were after market things.

Yes, ATCA (Antique Truck Club of America). I try to attend Friday and Saturday before Father's Day. There is no spectator fee but there are parking fees. I usually park on a lot owned by the Boy Scouts. Their fee is $5.00 a day but I like to give them a little more because they are nice boys and put in long hours there.

Frantz, I really don't care what the general public thinks. I am a dues paying member of the AACA and I don't think other organizations have to right to do business under our name. As I said before, I hope the museum continues to thrive but I don't think they have the right to steal our name. And yes, "Steal" is exactly what I mean.

Steve, I don't wish the museum any harm. I intend to continue to visit it when I am in Hershey. However, I have an enormous file of auto photographs I have taken at many venues, including the museum. I always tag them with the vehicle name, where I took the photo, and the date, and there is no way I will tag photos taken at the museum, "AACA Museum, Hershey PA."

Is the AACA still working on getting the museum in Hershey PA to stop calling themselves the AACA Museum? I don't see where they have the right to use our name and don't understand how they would have the gall to do so. They have misled people long enough.

I like continental kits on some cars; mostly convertibles and 2-Door hardtops. Some of the best were -46-49 Town & Country's, 56-57 Fords, 51-56 Packards, -55-56 Cadillacs, '57 Oldsmobiles, and especially '57-58 Pontiacs, to name a few. What I never did like and still don't was those cheap looking kits used on '55-60 Chevrolets where the bumper started out right at the end of the fender, just like bumpers on cars that did not have continental kits, and then stuck out right in the middle to accommodate the tire kit. Gross. I grew up during the '40-50's and only remember two cars in our neighborhood with blue dot tail lights, a light blue fast back '49-50 Pontiac and a '50 Ford. Didn't Packard have a self-leveling suspension in '55 or ''56 or both?

Thanks George. My thoughts exactly. Wish I had looked and seen if it had the Impala tail lights. Don't know why I did not.

July 15th I was at a car show at Bridgewater, VA and there was a 1960 Chevrolet 2-Door sedan there with Impala trim. I do not recall Chevrolet offering a 2-Door sedan in the Impala Series until 1961. I looked it up in the Standard Catalog of American Cars and they do not list an Impala 2-Door Sedan for 1960. Does anyone know for sure if Chevrolet offered an Impala 2-Door Sedan in the 1960 model year? Thanks for your responses.

A friend of mine is looking for an ID on the car in this photo. I can't help him. To me it looks like a combination of features from several different cars. Thanks for any help you can provide.