JamesR

Cool car from eBay, but seller doesn't say whether it runs or not...so I guess it's not relevant. Also, I don't know why the doors are ajar in pics. "This original paint car is Ivory White, and the interior is in excellent condition - done in Two Tone Blue. The options on this rare car are equally as impressive. The car has Air Conditioning , Tilt Column Steering, Power Brakes, Power Steering, Rear Air Conditioning, 9 Passenger Rear Seat, Power Windows, Rear Power Window, Deluxe Stereo . The middle seat and the far rear seat fold down for loading things in it. " 1964 Chrysler Town & Country | eBay

That's the most off putting thing for me, at least with regards to my old cars. My '61 is pretty decent in that respect. My '54 wagon has more rattles, but no real squeaks other than a door and window related issue....so I can live with it. My '65 T-Bird is the most bothersome for me. It rattles more than my '61 even though I've put new coil springs in the front and leaf springs in the back as well as new upper ball joints, shocks and changed out upper control arm bushings. I still think I need new lower ball joints and bushings, but if I put those in and still have rattles, I probably won't take my refurbishment any farther than what my mechanical repairs have been so far. Boy, the new suspension parts I've put in so far do make the car ride noticeably better, though.

I agree. Both the '60 Edsel and the '64 Imperial had attractive and somewhat similar front ends. I wonder if Elwood Engel had anything to do with the '60 Edsel when he was at FoMoCo in the early '60's? M-mman, do you know if that's the case or not? I appreciate your knowledge on this stuff.

Since my cars aren't high dollar, I'm worried they'll end up in the hands of the guy who did this to a Mercedes. Guys with high dollar cars and Packards and Ferraris don't have to worry about that.

Yes, the '60 two doors were nice looking...stunning with the Starliner type roof like that other car had. It makes you wonder where the styling would've gone if Ford had hung on to the Edsel a few more years.

My thoughts exactly, Fossil. I don't know if that was an original scheme but it works well. Color coordinating is an art unto itself.

Beautiful cars! I could literally look at C1's, C2's and early C3's all day long! Thanks for posting the ad, George.

In terms of reliability, the newer the better - at least after the 1980's - but in the last 3 years or so new cars have been equipped with enough monitoring and navigation features that I'm concerned about them becoming tools of the surveillance state. I don't want some "official" strangers knowing where, when and how fast I was going. So, reliability is starting to take a back seat to other considerations. My 2006 minivan has 202k miles on it. The time is coming when I'll need to replace it. I'll try to find a lower mileage used car when the time comes. Maybe a 2010-2015 Toyota or Chevy.

I'm thinking the seller should either research this vehicle further, or - if he has info that he isn't revealing - be more forthcoming. It's easy to dismiss stuff like this, but if it's an artifact from the Great Depression it might have historical significance. Could it have been some poor family's full time mobile abode during the 1930's? I have no idea, but that was a time when some Americans lived on the road in third world conditions. With that in mind, I find it kind of interesting.

Good idea! Did any of you folks have diners or lunch counters in your local department stores when you were growing up, like where you'd buy clothing or linens or household items and such? Those kind of eating places mostly pre-dated me, but I can remember a couple that still existed when I was a very small child. People who were older than me used to reminisce about them all the time. I think they were more from the '30's or '40's than the 1950's.

Not trying to start a conflict, but there are some old car owners who don't see their vehicles as all that historically significant. They see them either as a disposable mode of transportation or a style/fashion statement. They are stylish and should be enjoyed, but that needs to be balanced against the need to be a steward, in my opinion. I don't own show cars or perfectly original examples - I can't afford that - but one thing I CAN afford to do is keep them from rusting out. I think old cars can be driven in winter if salted roads are avoided. If your roads are salted, waiting until roads are cleared of snow and letting the melt-off wash the salt from road surfaces is important. Letting it rain first is an even better idea. A few years ago, an old guy at our church could be seen plowing his nice-but-rapidly-declining '73 Riviera through snow drifts and rivers of salty slush. Made me cringe.

I'm guessing there are a whole lot of chevy forums...a WHOLE lot...that could give the OP the kind of guidance he's looking for on that particular issue. Many super knowledgeable engine and hot rod people here but the focus is a little different. We'd love to see pictures of your pickup, though. Those are great looking trucks. Best wishes on the restoration!

Well, the phrase "barn find" might be used loosely in this situation, but it's a pretty great collection for a guy who ran a landscaping business (or anyone, really.) If that '67 Caddy convertible is original paint as stated, it would be a dream car for many of us. The cars don't look like they were used much, but they don't look very neglected. Hopefully they were started now and then to keep the engine internals good. Thanks for posting!

Sorry to hear about places like this closing. The '50's was the most famous decade of the 20th century for most of my adult life, but it's gradually fading from America's memory. Not so long ago, there was a place in my city that had pretty young blond waitresses who served food while on roller skates, but it eventually closed. There's still a market for this stuff, though. There's a local chain that has '50's decor, and the last time I was in they still played oldies on the radio, so that's good. Some locations host cruise nights, I think. And of course there's the Sonic chain, which might have a few car related events at some locations, but the chains don't have the charm of the independents.

That really is amazing...a great story. What a moment that must've been. When I told my wife that the Yahoo article I linked to mentioned something called "reminiscence therapy", she said, "Oh, that's a real thing!" She's a speech pathology professor, and is familiar with a lot of these conditions and treatments. For people who love old cars, an exhaust note or exterior color or maybe even some aftermarket accessory could be the key to bringing back a memory. I think most of us come across something now and then that makes us remember something from way back when. It surprises us because it seems like a lifetime since we'd thought of it.

This car is extremely cool. I didn't even know they made these. I may like the styling even better than the '60 Ford Starliner. If I was looking for - and capable of - an early '60's FoMoCo project, this would be it!

VERY cool. And unique. Condition is a big part of the appeal. I wouldn't think the price is too bad for as nice as it is. Thanks for posting.

My wife and I thought so, anyway. We both lost our dads to Alzheimer's and progressive aphasia, which are very related. An extremely nice old Suburban is featured in the ad. Kudos to Chevy for putting out an ad that connects to people in a meaningful way. Warning: it's a tearjerker. Sorry if this has been posted already, but maybe some folks haven't seen it yet. Chevy's emotional holiday ad features a grandmother with Alzheimer's engaging in reminiscence therapy. Here's how it works.

I love your car, 41 Fleetwood! Thanks for the photos. Trunk looks nice!

Oh my...How I would've loved to have seen that car in its original silver. I may be one of the few people on the planet who prefers the first gen Charger to the second. I like both, but prefer the first. This particular car has seen a kind of substandard semi-refurb, but a second gen in this condition would probably cost a lot more.

My '78 Mercury Zephyr had plaid seats, too. Must've been a thing back then. Maybe car makers of the '70's were trying to get in on the Herb Tarlek craze. 😄

Joe Blow - Yeah, but how dead is he?

Very nice! In case you're interested, my birthday's coming up (soon) in July...and I'm thinking about turning 40 again. Coincidentally, I like Mustangs, too.

Thanks for the info and insights, guys! I think I prefer the look of the green '59 in Skyliner form, but the '58 looks good, too. Yes, I can now see that the '58 looks like a modified Ford. I wonder if that's also what happened with the '59? I'd guess that converting a Ford into an Edsel would be easier than converting a non-retractable into a retractable, but I could be wrong. The Edsel Rancheros that Dave posted are cool - better than some other attempts at a "ute" conversion. My all time favorite non-production sedan-pickup is the prototype that Pontiac built in '59. I personally think it looked even better than the '59 El Camino (which looked good.) I think Pontiac may have missed out on an opportunity by not building that one. I mentioned I didn't care for the tri-five Chevy El Caminos, but that's not entirely true. The ones made out of Nomads look pretty nice, but modding a Nomad into a ute is an idea I find a bit troubling.

I know we focus on unmodified old cars, but sometimes there are modified cars that don't try to look like customized cars. They try to look more like concept cars that never were, with features that the originals never had, but maybe could've had. Some don't look quite right (tri-five Chevy El Caminos) but some are pretty cool and make you wonder if such a car could've been successfully marketed by the factory way back when. I posted a T-Bird station wagon and a late '60's Cougar fast back a few years ago, and we had some interesting debates about those cars. Here's another one I found on Curbside Classics - an Edsel Skyliner. Of course, the Edsel was a sales flop and Ford didn't make many Skyliners, so I doubt the idea would've been a "success", but I still think the retractable top looks pretty good on the Edsel. What do you folks think? Cohort Sighting: 1958 Edsel Skyliner - It Should Have Been An Edsel All Along - Curbside Classic