General Motors

[Rztrike]

So being today was such a nice day in southeastern PA one of my car buddies stopped in to see progress on my Buick. We always have wonderful in depth conversations. Today was car that take on a magical or special direction as your working on or building. Almost as if there talking to you.

Secondly, So we all know that the different divisions of General Motors outranked others, but the question we had was, Of the different Brands in the mid 1950's was there a personal status with the brand of car you had. Cadillac always come up top, but how would Oldsmobile, Buick and Chevrolet  fit in with status or did it even matter.

Love to hear your thoughts 

[John_S_in_Penna]

General Motors considered the ranking to be:

Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac.

 

Some people gradually moved up the ladder over their lifetimes;

others switched allegiances and bought a Ford Motor, Chrysler Corp., or other product.

However, I think that lots of people didn't care about such an artificial status.

A Pontiac guy, for instance, may have loved Pontiacs and not even

thought of moving to a Buick or Cadillac.

Edited July 19, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[retirednow]

I agree with the above ranking. Weird that Oldsmobile got a V8 4 yrs. before Buick though

[DonMicheletti]

When I was a kid, most thought that Olds was GM"s experimental cars.

[Rztrike]

My life has always had farming in it. Most times the tractors or equipment we had depended on what the closet dealer was. Sales and service.

We're families and cars the same?

[Rztrike]

Correction: Closest dealer

[60FlatTop]

From age 11 I grew up in my Grandfather's used car lot. Any status attached to a new car was obvious on the original price tag. Once out of the hands of the new car buyer and in the wannbe market the value of everything dropped like a rock. The only ones that held value were used Chevies.

 

In my area so many cars carried payment books it didn't matter.

 

I could write a book on the personalities that gravitated, predictably, to the individual makes. What had to do with social status was more between father and son (shared traits) than a family and the outside world.

[Rztrike]

Lets break this down a little farther if we can. Its a little before my time but who in your neighborhood or town drove the Cadillacs, Buicks  and so on and do you remember what they did for a living. Here as i remember,  the better off self employed business people drove the Cadillacs, some Buicks. and then the employees of these businesses

drove the Olds, Pontiacs and Chevies. Most families seemed to have just one car per family. Then sometimes it seemed how well you were doing even determined if you had a garage or not. i don't want to seem to get stuck on the social status or how much a person made. Just wondering was it just a generational thing. Parents drove Buicks so we will too as 60FlatTop stated.

Thanks for all the feedback

[JohnD1956]

My dad drove Buicks and Oldsmobiles.  My dad was a civil servant.  His cars were always used and the newest one he ever bought was a 1960 Olds 98 4 dr hardtop, at the end of the 1960 model year. His last car was also used, and in 1981 he bought a 1972 Mercedes Benz.  For my dad that was a status purchase. 

One neighbor always drove Buicks.  It was rumored that the guy was rich, but I have no idea what he actually did for a living. His last one was a 59 Invicta convertible, white with red interior and white top.  I was head over heals infatuated with that car! But he passed away in the mid 60's and his wife sold the house to a guy who thought his Fiat Spyder was a status purchase.

The other neighbor was a pharmacist, and he owned a used 63 Lincoln Continental. He had that so long, and eventually they sold that house and moved away with that car.   After those two folks, other cars I recall were another 60's Fiat, a few Volkswagons, multiple Chevies, and Fords. A few Plymouths and Dodges.  A few other Buicks including 56 Special convertible, a 62 Electra convertible, a 65 Riviera,  and the guy who gave me his 56 Roadmaster.  The Roadmaster guy owned a restaurant in town, one of the few high end places, from what I know. For him it was just a reliable car! 

The Special owner was some kind of contractor. Had a backhoe in his garage. There was one guy who bought a used 1960 Cadillac 4 door.  That car had airbag suspension and the air bags leaked out each night.  It really looked sad when I'd ride my bicycle past it.   Not really sure what else the neighbors did for a living.

It was a working class neighborhood.  Firemen, police officers, and some small business owners.  While status may have been a consideration in a purchase then, I really think it was more about what people thought was a reliable car.  And if status was involved, it did not play a role for very long in my area.  Most people bought a car and kept it for many years. Status was out the window if you did not have a new car each year.

[Rztrike]

Thank you all for your feedback. These were all the different things  my buddy and i talked about also. Make me think I'm using the wrong words.

It wasn't about your status as is was more prestige. Everybody grew up in the small towns and neighborhoods  knew each other, they just had different jobs. All positions paid differently.

Doctors, Lawyers, Executives - Better pay, nicer car- Prestige

Family Business -  doing well- Buick, maybe even 2 cars, or even better a convertible- Prestige

 

Keep the comments coming

So is the person making the car or is the car making the person?

[John_S_in_Penna]

I never put "prestige" in high regard.  It's an artificial quality.

Driving a longer car, with some extra pounds of sheet metal

and chrome, and maybe a more powerful engine, doesn't make

anyone superior to another!  We might enjoy the driving experience

and appreciate the artwork of the styling, but it's character

that lifts up a person. 

 

I know a man who grew up with a butler and numerous servants.

He lives in a house that is easily 30,000 or 40,000 square feet,

on 500 acres in the Northeast.  He's probably more modest than you and I.

In 1956, working for a Fortune 500 company that bore and bears

his family name, he bought a Volkswagen (Bug) convertible and drove

it as his regular car for 24 years.  In 1980, he replaced the VW with a Chevette.

Edited July 20, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Rztrike]

I know people like that too, although far and few it seems. Yet people will sometimes say "Look such and such is driving a Cadillac. The car seems to put a value on the person. The Cadillac may not really have anything different in or on it then any of the other cars other then name.

I believe you have all answered my question, back in the 1950's the cars people drove

were just cars. Special to the owners for their own reasons. Just like in our relationships, what one person likes another might say "not for me" 

Through the years not much has changed 

 

Thank you all for all your input

[John_S_in_Penna]

8 minutes ago, Rztrike said:

I know people like that too, although far and few it seems. ...

 

And what did they drive?  Did they have chauffeurs or drive themselves?

Did they provide cars for their household staff?

[60FlatTop]

I grew up in the 1950's on the edge of town with an apple orchard across the street, more orchards, cabbage fields, corn, and a few more big farms and orchards farther out. The most Cadillacs, Pontiacs, and Lincolns I remember were parked on the edge of the fields when the workers came up from the south at picking time. Sometimes there were churches associated with or near the farms. Those ministers usually had a late model Cadillac. Otherwise we didn't see many.

 

We had one doctor on Main St. who parked his '56 Continental in front of his office. All the other business owners I remember favored a Buick if they had an upscale car. My Grandmother drove a late model Buick once they moved into town. Lots of mattress money available to the farmers. When I was in High School the farm kids always drove better cars- if they wanted to-.. They'd raise a couple of cows or cultivate 40-100 acres and have that high performance Ford or Chevy. A lot of farmers worked at Rochester Products or Delco when the employee discount really meant something. Two good streams of income got them into pretty good stuff.

My Dad had a regular factory job and bought a new car every three years from 1953 until he died in 1978. First he bought Chevies, then got suckered into a '62 Ford and never had the trade value to get back into Chevies.

 

I always bought, used, what my Dad would have liked new. He always liked trying out any of the Buicks I picked out. I am sure there are some perceptions of me that I haven't heard. Of the 50 years I have worked, the first 30 were running power plants at night. I drove a fairly new Buick and always had a couple of old cars. The night work had me riding around town and having coffee at the diner during the day fairly often. I am sure there are people who have observed that I never worked a day in my life. Like a few other things that are a surprise in conversation; "they never knew that"

 

So those perceptions of buyers and markets with vague facts and foggy memories can be a bit misleading. Over the years I have made one observation that consistently proves itself: the less money a person has, the better they can read minds. I rarely hear wealthy people say "They think" about someone. Others say that all the time.

How'd I do? That must have offended at least four groups of people. Maybe six.

Bernie

[Rztrike]

John, Not far from us were wealthy horse people with old money. They always had the higher end cars and were chauffeured. Most times staff lived on the property but did not have their own cars that i recall.

 

60FlatTop- You did good. Hoping everyone keeps an open mind, there shouldn't  be anyone offended.

I've alway said 90% of the work gets done by 10% of the people when the 90% of the people are sleeping.

 

Back in the day and even today there are people we look up to whether it be movie stars, musicians, top business people and think they did well for themselves and because of that we hope maybe someday that we could do as well as them. We look at the houses they live in, cars they drive, clothes they wear.

We go to neighborhoods that we may want to move in or even visit friends and we look to see what people have in their driveways or how well kept their properties and make our decisions accordingly.

Used to be a time when only wealthy cut or manicured their grass. If we could have our grass cut we must be doing something.

Fortunately or unfortunately debt has allowed make a move forward in life although the struggle can be the same as where we were.

Cars for the most part were something all families could afford and needed

 

Thats when I come full circle in the conversation given all the input and ask "How and what type car distinguished who you were as a person and the people around you or did it?"  Leading back to the ranking of the GM vehicles which I feel you all have hit spot on.

Thank you all

[Rztrike]

I also have always bought used except for one time and I went completely outside my comfort zone for make and model  28 yrs ago and I'm still driving that vehicle everyday.

No doubt some people will buy what is best for them no matter what the brand is, where others want to keep up with the "Jones".

It take everybody to make the world go round, and being honest, it took me a long time to learn that one. 

Really enjoying all the input, Thanks

[Thriller]

I’m younger than many of y’all, but I didn’t pay much attention to cars in my youth overall.  I grew up in a small farming community of about 1600.  There were probably more pickups than anything else.  We had Ford products primarily...1969 Meteor, 1977 Mercury Marquis (demonstrator) and I think Dad replaced that with a 1992(?) Crown Victoria.  There was a bank house down the street (we have effectively 5 big banks in Canada that operate branches across the country...the bank owned the house and transferred managers in every number of years)...I remember them having a New Yorker or similar.

 

When it comes to wealth, you may want to read The Millionaire Next Door.  It was written in the 1990s if I recall.  They examined millionaires in the US and drew some conclusions.  Most were self-made and typically business owners.  However, one way they kept their wealth was by being frugal and not spending it.  So, they tend not to have the ostentatious show of wealth like the proverbial Jones’.  They would buy used cars or something practical rather than spending a lot on something considered more prestigious.  I recall one gentleman who owned a cement company.  He could easily have afforded a BMW or MB, but drove a 10 year old Cadillac.  He had practical reasons - in the construction world with concrete dust, gravel lots, and so forth, it was hard on a car.  Why subject a nice car to something like that when the environment would ruin it.  By keeping a “nice” car, he didn’t feel too bad about the conditions it was in while he still had a fairly nice, comfortable ride.  

 

One conclusion - if someone is trying to impress you with “stuff”, they probably aren’t wealthy...if they are, it is very new money and they haven’t adapted to keeping money yet.

 

 

 

[60FlatTop]

3 hours ago, Thriller said:

if they are, it is very new money and they haven’t adapted to keeping money yet.

 

That's how the popularity of Bentley and Rolls-Royce badging worked for a couple of decades. They kept crossing the beam, port to starboard depending on where the money came from.

[Barney Eaton]

_{My family never owned anything but Chevrolets.......dad was a machinist on the railroad, worked on steam then diesels.}

_{For new cars, my first two new cars were Chevys, then a 67 Pontiac, then a 73 Olds, but the first new Buick was not until 2005.......never had a new Cadillac.}

_{Also have only owned 1 foreign car,  a 1962 Austin Healey Sprite.    My downfall was Corvairs,  I have owned 34.....still have one.}  

[Joseph P. Indusi]

A co-worker of mine , a physicist, had a pre-med roommate in college many years ago.   He said his roommate told him that as they were nearing graduation to become MD's, one of their professors told them to buy a Buick when they opened their practice.   A Cadillac would infer that their fees for medical service were too high and anything under a Buick might raise suspicion that the young physician was not successful.

The hierarchy of the GM line was largely due to Alfred P. Sloane Jr., chairman and CEO of GM for many years.  He stated that GM had a car for every purse and purpose.   The other US Manufacturers essentially copied GM in their product lines.

Joe, BCA 33493

[Rztrike]

Thank you all again for your responses. Like my friend and I, we were left with more questions then answers because there is really no one real answer, which is why I wanted to post this topic. Whether it be from marketing, envy, family loyalty, peoples cars that stuck in are minds that were good or not so good, or just personal taste and preference as people have posted above.  There are many reasons why we choose the brands we drive. Whether the Company ranking of the car we drive sets the stage of how we fit in seems based more on other peoples thoughts of how they perceive us, not how we see ourselves. 

I have really enjoyed all the feedback. 

 

P.S. I think I need to talk to my buddy about our conversations.

[39BuickEight]

Always been a Chevrolet family.  I get grief because my wife drives an Acura now.

 

I always saw it as Chevrolet/Oldsmobile/Pontiac/Saturn were equal in status, then you stepped up to a Buick and, finally, a Cadillac.

 

My wife's 80 year old grandfather was a retired steel mill worker in Pittsburgh.  He was about 75 and told us that he always wanted a Cadillac.  We asked him what he was waiting for, and he bought one that he enjoyed for 10 years before he passed.

 

My grandfather, retired from IBM, told me he always wanted a Packard.  He always drove Chevrolets and never did get his Packard.

 

Dad likes my Buick because it has a Body by Fisher tag on it and says Delco all over it like his Nova.

Edited July 21, 2018 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[Elpad]

I grew up in Cuba, back in the island, the GM model line up was believe to be Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, Buick & Cadillac. My father, now 96 in exile since the 60’s, always had Chevy’s. That I can remember, he had a 54 Chevy that he bought new and drove it all the way to Pennsylvania via a Key West ferry when it was new. I was a year old but grew around the car until my teens when he got a 57 model 2-10. He was an MD and possible could afford the middle of the GM line up but I think that US export models were base type vehicles with Chevy’s on top of the list. That being said I remember neighbors Pontiac and Olds parked on the narrow streets of my hometown. Learned to identify these cars very early by the specific features we all know as the Pontiac’ s chrome moldings across the hood to the portholes on the Buicks. This I tell you while my sister grew up with paper dolls, me on the other hand played with my advertisement paper cars that I cut from Old National Geographic magazines that I have stacked on a shoe box. I could ID these cars even by the headlamps and shape while dad was driving at night on country roads. He once asked me how would I think the cars of the future would look like and I remember responding that they would run out of designs and start all over again. Partially true with some retro models. This is how I became a cars guy and specially a Buick man due to my first old car that I restored. Thanks GM and you guys  in the forum for letting me transport to my childhood.

[Rztrike]

Elpad, Thank you also for your family story. I still question my use of words. Thinking maybe being able to reach the goal of getting a certain car means accomplished for for whatever the underlying reason.

I can't thank you all for the responses. I was just telling my wife how great it is to hear all the responses

[old-tank]

11 hours ago, Joseph P. Indusi said:

one of their professors told them to buy a Buick when they opened their practice.   A Cadillac would infer that their fees for medical service were too high and anything under a Buick might raise suspicion that the young physician was not successful.

I got the same advice from a banker when I came back to town in 1973 to start a business.  While the wife drove a 71 Delta Custom, later a 76 Royale, and last a 80 LeSabre...I continued to drive my 55 Special (customized by 'crunch' on all panels) until 1976 and then drove a 51 F-1 'patina/work clothes' hunting truck.

[Rztrike]

Here I thought it was just an ethnic thing in our area. A well know business man in our area actually helped this gentleman expand his business many years ago. Now here was a man who worked full time at our local car manufacturer and farmed on the side. With help from an idea from the businessman the farming side took off big time which in turn helped the businessman's needs. Now one day, the man pulls into the place of business with a new pickup truck he is very proud of and wanted to show it to the man that helped him. Taking on massive debt to start, the payback was returning. Now he worked hard for this truck working a full time job plus the farm, used his employee discount in order to save money, etc.Now what do you suppose the businessman said to his friend. Be very careful coming around with a new vehicle, were going to thinking your making to much money and will want to cut your price. Then the businessman drove away in his Lincoln

[Rztrike]

Thinking about this some more and it may need to be another topic. Was there a car, and lets still try to keep in in the 1950's, that either did or would have made you feel accomplished in your life, in work, or as your parents son/daughter and why?

[Barney Eaton]

Billy........your grandfather worked for IBM....in Lexington ....what was his name, maybe I knew him.

I went to work for IBM in Lexington in 1966,  moved with a product to Austin in  1970..... lived in Paris for two years then on the West side of Lexington.

[Rztrike]

I hope you will excuse me. I asked the last question and realized I didn't have an answer for it myself. Like many here I never put any status of who I am by the car I drive.

But this afternoon I have been pondering the question if there was a car or even cars that could have made me feel accomplished as I have gotten a little older.

For me its three cars, two of which I have gotten and still have,  the third is always on my mind.

 

One of them is a VW trike with a chopper front end. My neighbor and best friends father was a excavator and his employees were building these trikes and i was totally infactuated with and always wanted one.

 

Second is  a chopped  49 to 51 mercury. I have a 51 Mercury These were just one of the iconic cars when I was growing and thought how cool would it be to actually own one.

 

Third and still on my mind is a Ford T bucket. Same kind of deal, just one of those iconic cars and its hard for me to describe how i would build it when the time comes. I've seen pictures of T buckets and its one of those things that you know it when you see it.

 

For me that would be a feeling of accomplishment at least when it comes to automobiles

[60FlatTop]

In the context of the topic, I think you could move in next door to the Grand Torino guy and fit right in pretty good.

 

Bernie

[EmTee]

"Get off my lawn!" 

[NTX5467]

In the '50s, especially the middle '50s, many (unknownst to them) "baby boomers" (who grew up in some shadows of the Great Depression, typically) were out of college and into their professional lives and futures.  It was also a time when "What You Drove" could be an indicator of your aspired-to place in your future.  I found an old VHS tape of car commercials, years ago.  One Buick segment was of a newly-minted school teacher buying her first car.  A "value--priced" Buick Special 2-dr sedan.  The salesman went over the value of her purchase rather than of a less expensive car (i.e., Chevy or Ford).  "For a few dollars more . . ."

 

As many came our of their military time or college, they were upwardly-bound and wanted others to know it.  Hence, Ford Fairlane 500s over a Ford Custom, Chevy Impala over a Biscayne, or Plymouth Belvedere over a Savoy.  But once you got into the "middle-priced" cars, it was more about brand than model.  Buick, Olds, Mercury, DeSoto, Chrysler, or Packard.  In the case of Buick, it wasn't specifically that you had a Roadmaster or a two-tone Special or Century, just that you had a BUICK.  For people who made money off of other people (bankers, business owners, etc.), a Cadillac was not acceptable, but a Buick/Olds/Mercury/Chrysler was.  People with established "Fortunes" could do Cadillacs and Lincolns with no question, though.

 

It was kind of interesting how the owners of those brands tended to vary!  Each had a personality which tended to compliment the car brand's orientations, it seemed.  A local attorney drove a black Lincoln in the earlier '60s, so he was successful and sought-after.

 

An article in "Old Cars Weekly", decades ago, recounted the differences in a Cadillac customer and a Lincoln customer, from the perspective of a small rural town service station mechanic "on the main highway" between population centers.  He recounted that every Cadillac owner wanted a "cheaper price" on all he did, parts included.  As if they were straining to afford that Cadillac when they should have had something less expensive.  The Lincoln owners, as he recounted, wanted an estimate, didn't quibble with the price, as they went to the local diner for a meal as their car was fixed.  As if the Lincoln owners were more comfortable financially and had enough "space" in their bank account to get things done right.  Kind of went along with what I'd noticed of Cadillac customers who bought gas at local stations . . . although the cars were 10.0CR, spec'd for :Premium", almost all of their male owners requested "Fill it up with Regular", over the years.  Once, I asked on how it worked on Regular, he replied "just fine".  Didn't clatter as he drove off, so I guess it worked for him.

 

Back then, many owners were brand loyal.  I figured out that this got its seed in their youth, depending upon vehicular ownership of "the family" or "trusted others".  Aspirational vehicles existed then, to a big degree.  Ford 4-seat Thunderbirds, Buick Rivieras, Chrysler 300 Letter Cars, were some.  But Chevy Impalas, Ford Galaxie 500s, and Plymouth Furys were there for a less expensive demographic, too.  Hang a big 4bbl engine in them and it helped more!

 

But everybody wanted something "affordable" and "reliable", too.  Didn't matter what brand it was, if it wasn't reliable and "easy/cheap to fix?, they got something else at the next trade cycle.  Until they "found a home" and that's where they usually stayed.

 

Each brand usually had their own "feel" and sounds back then.  If those didn't feel right, it was on to something else later on.  If it did feel right, with a good dealer nearby, then that corporation could have a long-term customer.  LOTS of variables, back then!

 

Seems that lots more went into designing those earlier cars than happens now!  Flashier interiors!  Distinctive styling!  Didn't need to look for brand logos to know what kind of car it was, even blocks in the distance!  Buicks were very recognizable back then!  AND, it seemed that almost everybody had a neighbor, distant well-off relative, or friend who had some relationship with a Buick, one way or another.  THAT could not be said for other brands of vehicles, to the same extent (except Chevy/Ford/Plymouth), by observation.

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467

 

[Rztrike]

NTX5467, Thank you for that very detailed response. In a nutshell, thats what my friend had said from his accounts also. The post war boom had such an effect on everyone.

I don't think you could have phrased it any better

[RivNut]

Dad always drove a Buick, maybe not new and more than likely a Special.  I don't know if he did this because he worked for Buick or just liked them.  He continued to drive them after he quit Buick so I'm guessing he just liked them.  When he died, mom bought a big Ford Galaxie. ??????

 

The dad of my best friend in high school owned an oil well drilling company. He could have driven anything he wanted.  He wouldn't drive a Lincoln, but he always had the biggest, best equipped Mercury that he could order.  My girl friend's dad ran the mill in town (the only business in Buhler besides the grocery store, lumber yard, and bank.)  He bought a new Electra 225 every otner year for as long as I knew him.  He too could have bought anything on the market.  Neither one wanted to "put on airs." Perhaps that's just life in the Midwest.  The only people I remember driving Cadillacs were the rich widows in town and the owner of the Cadillac dealership.

[Rztrike]

I have re read this post (as I hope you all will too) and have enjoyed all the responses. We know where General Motors ranked their brands when it came to marketing.

The questions comes back, how did the Brands rank from a individual standpoint? Please elaborate

Thank you all again 

[Barney Eaton]

Not too long ago a retired dealer said something I never considered.......many car owners think of a car as an appliance,  and buy them like they would a new refrigerator or furnace.

Consumer Guide rates things for people and they buy accordingly.    We car people seem to have a different prospective on autos so buy differently than the non-enthusiast.

 

When my daughter got married, her husband worked for a bank and one of the stockholders was the Lincoln - Mercury dealer.   So the bank had Mercurys for officers and bank use.

Sure they could have had Lincolns but how would that look?

Edited July 24, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)

[Rztrike]

When we look at the average income in 1956 was $3,500/$4,000 and the average car price was $2,000. In my mind, that is a substantial purchase right up there with buying a house ($12,000). Would think considerable thought would have been put in to the decision more so then today which seems to be "just what my payment will be".

Thinking that media was just beginning to have an effect on our decision making,  another close persons input on brand would be very important. As we can see there are so many variables. 

 

 

Thoughts for today, How you thought then

 

Keep them coming

[NTX5467]

GMAC's new, longer-term car financing of '1955 plus the popularity of the new '55 Buicks, allowed Buick monthly payments to be very close to those of "common cars".  In a society seemingly filled with upwardly-mobile citizens (OR those who desired to appear to be that way), Buick leapt to #3 in national sales that year.  There seemed to be lots of "Keeping up with the Jones'" going on back then.  To the financial detriment of some who were trying to play that game!

 

AND . . . then along came Volkswagen!  Some for the best automotive advertisements ever!  Look for them on YouTube.  There's one where two families are in new tract homes in a new middle class development.  One family has a middle-class 4-dr sedan.  The other one comes home in a VW "bug".  The one family kind of sneers at that small car, compared to his larger Detroit product.  Then, a few days later, the VW family receives a new washer and drier . . . as the Detroit family comes out, the wife with a plastic laundry container in her hands, as they are getting ready to go to the new laundromat.  The Detroit lady sneers at her husband for spending all of that money on a new car, as he tried to not watch.  LOTS of unspoken messages and signals in those commercials!

 

That was also in a time when car commercials could be a mini-show in themselves!  Olds really made some producti0on numbers for their later-1950s tv commercials (check YouTube for them too).  Glitz, glitter, nd pizzazzzzz with each new model year's vehicles.  PLUS lots of catchy names for different components on the vehicles, too!

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[61polara]

I grew up in a middle class neighborhood built around 1950.  Most homes were starter homes for young couples like my parents.  The cars I remember in the neighborhood, going up and down the street in about 1964 were a 1963 Pontiac, 1964 Pontiac, 1955 Chevrolet, 1956 Chevrolet, 1961 Dodge, 1955 Buick, 1960 Chevrolet Station wagon, 1962 Rambler, 1963 Buick, 1948 Dodge, 1948 Plymouth, 1964 Chevy II wagon (4 cylinder, manual trans) 1961 Renault Dauphine, 1955 Ford, and 1964 Ford.  There were at least 2 Ford Model A's and a 40 Ford sitting at the back of driveways.

 

The only Cadillacs that were around belonged to a church member who had been a Cadillac salesman since 1932.  I didn't know anyone who owned a Lincoln and rarely saw one around town. 

[D Yaros]

On our block when I was a kid, and even into the early '60s, there were two brothers who lived next to one another who both drove Ford Model A's.  One also had a Kaiser.  The Kaiser was always garaged, whereas the Model A was always parked on the street.

 

Our house was always nothing but Oldsmobile; from 1948 through 1967.