Dosmo
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Posts posted by Dosmo
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While the Power Wagons are beautiful and highly desirable, my personal preference would be to own a truck like this. I just love the styling of this era of Dodge trucks. Ironically, this truck might not be much, if any, faster than the power wagon, but it just seems like it might have nicer road manners.
But, it's that beautiful front end styling for me.
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Love this 1952 Chevrolet, though I believe the grille is from a 1951. Oops - the next poster correctly notes that grille teeth are missing.
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3 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:
Thank you, Dosmo, for a detailed first-hand
account--on TWO cars even! You didn't mention
any of the digital displays, if the cars had them.
Were those problem-free? If the speedometer,
gas gauge, or other displays failed, it would be
at best an expensive nuisance.
As I recall, both Eldos had the digital displays. Miraculously, I recall NO issues with those. I remember that they both had very finicky security alarms that beeped very easily and unexpectedly. We had mounted a car seat for our newborn son in the back, so it was sort of a hassle to open the long heavy door, hold it open, and then fold the front seat forward and lift the child into the back seat into the car seat, get him fastened in, and then fold the seat back and enter the driver’s seat. The wife took the baby with her to the grocery store. After loading the groceries in the trunk and getting the child secured in the back seat, she was about to get into the front seat - WHERE SHE HAD ALREADY PUT HER PURSE WITH THE CAR KEYS. The parking lot was on a grade, and with the door being so heavy, it just got away from her and slammed shut. For some reason, it locked. She called me upset since the baby was locked inside the car along with the keys. And the hated alarm was beeping without end.
To this day, when we hear a beeping car alarm, we laugh and say “I hear a Cadillac”. In all honesty, I just used bad judgment thinking that two door Cadillac would be a good family car. It was simply not practical in that way.
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I had negative experiences with two of these - a 1984 and a 1985. Now, to be honest, both of them had been sitting without being driven for some period of time. Oddly enough, I had twin uncles who each bought white Eldorados. No real difference in the exterior, one had red interior, the other white.
Problems? Yes. The '84 developed a leak in the gasket where the intake mounted to the top of the engine. Not a cheap repair. Both cars were around ten years old by the time I became acquainted with them, and this was in the 1994 or so era. I can't recall just how many things happened to either car, but it was constant. Our son was born in 1993, and I had gotten the '84 for my wife to drive. I can't tell you how many times she had to call me when the car let her down. I poured money into it, and it was a bottomless pit.
On the day I listed it for sale in the newspaper, I decided to pull it out of the garage to clean it a little. Got into the car, started it, backed it out and shut off the engine. Grabbed the handle to open the door from the inside, and the damn thing wouldn't work. I couldn't open the driver's door from the inside. Had to lower the window, reach out and open the door, climb out, raise the window back up, and then shut the door.
The '85 became my mother's car after my Uncle Joe passed in 1992. She loved it and it was a beautiful car with low mileage - around 35,000 miles for a 1985 car in 1992. She didn't drive it much, but she did park it under the carport. Drove it to church on Sundays - I kid you not. She probably didn't put 5000 miles on the car between 1993 and 2000 when she became disabled.
I drove the car a little bit from 2000 until 2005 when my daughter got her driver's license. By this time, the vinyl top was starting to come loose around the rear window, and it was pretty stained. Gave it to my daughter to drive and she drove it for a month before pulling out in front of someone at an intersection. Dinged up the LF fender, otherwise okay. The same sort of stuff started happening to this car just like the '84. Nickel and dime you a couple of times twice a month - not a car you could depend on. I got my daughter another car, and gave the Eldo to my wife's nephew. He & his buddies got a huge kick out of it, nicknaming it "The Hoopty". By the time he was through with it, it was still running, but not well, and it was beat up from one end to the other. He finally got rid of it.
I understand the sentimental feelings you have for the car in the photo - it looks nice. My advice - take some more photos of it, make one of the photos your screensaver on your computer, and let someone else deal with the issues it has - because it will surely have them.
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Another favorite TV vehicle was the 1941 Ford Police Panel Van from the show "Ironside". I found this pic on the IMCDB.org website message board. I did not realize that the van was a replica on a Chevrolet frame.
From the poster "14stutz":
"It's a 1940-41 Ford Police wagon replica.
According to "The Legendary Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield" by David Grant. Motorbooks, 2008
The producers rented an old truck for use in the pilot film...the trouble is it was so underpowered it could not easily go up the hills of San Francisco, where the series was set and where they did location filming.
It was decided to have AMT (the model kit firm) Speed and Custom Division, headed by Gene Winfield build a new truck that looked like the old Ford.
So they purchased a new Chevrolet heavy duty chassis cab and made new fiberglass and wood body for it.
It had an electric lift in the rear for Ironside's wheelchair.
About three years later, it was destroyed in an episode when it was decided to give the character a new custom Ford van with a wheelchair lift and raised roof."
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I watched the Robert Mitchum movie "Thunder Road" for the first time when I was about 10 years old, ca. 1963. I was electrified by the opening scenes when the cops were chasing the 1950 Ford when the Ford executed a perfect barrel roll and took off in the opposite direction. Needless to say, I was glued to the screen for the rest of the movie.
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From the late 1980s - my wife's nephews playing in & around some old Studebakers I used to have.
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Rarely does a week go by without my learning some new fact in this forum. Thanks to all who contributed to answering my question.
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I'm not at all familiar with these cars. I'm looking at the tranny shifter coming through the hump in the floorboard. Would a factory 4-speed transmission have been an option on an economy car like this with a 170 cubic inch inline six?
I would have imagined that the shifter, whether for an automatic or a manual transmission, would have been on the column. I was hoping to get a look at the right side of the steering column to see if there was evidence of a former shifter location. No such photo to offer that view.
In this era of the American automobile, I would have figured that the 4-speed manual transmission would have been an option for more performance-oriented models, rather than a somewhat Spartan 6 cylinder station wagon.
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This guy is on it!
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Here is an ad for the 1940 version.
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2 hours ago, c49er said:
This is a 1951-52 Chrysler Imperial...or possibly a extremely rare Crown Imperial 8 passenger or limo 145" WB car.
But I think just a 131" WB Imperial sedan.
Chrysler did not make a 1951-52 Imperial station wagon.🙂
Around 1989-90, it was advertised as a 1951 Imperial station wagon. We were not very familiar with these cars at the time. Shortly after buying it, we realized that the VIN went with a 1951 Windsor wagon. Apparently, someone had mounted the Windsor wagon body on an Imperial frame.
We were pretty sick upon realizing that we had made a huge mistake.
Live and learn.
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1951 Chrysler Station Wagon & 1955 Buick 2dr hardtop - New Market, TN - 1991
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1951 Chrysler Station Wagon - Hershey, PA - 1991
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1934 Ford Phaeton - Weaverville, North Carolina - 1963
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54 minutes ago, 8E45E said:
What I get out of this is your hearing is still fantastic for your age. Just be thankful for that!
Craig
Yes, I am very thankful that I can still hear pretty well, although I don't know about it being fantastic - I would probably describe my hearing as mostly adequate. On this, my wife would heartily disagree. 😄
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Admittedly, I'm not a knowledgeable person about such matters. I have no idea why that beautiful Imperial sounds the way it does, but I think something is amiss here. I don't believe a car of that age with a recently replaced exhaust system by a professional company should sound like that.
Heck, the Charger is noticeably quieter than the Imperial. I did hear the clunk of what I would guess to be the exhaust when you pulled the Charger into the driveway. But, the exhaust note of the Charger sounds mostly like what I remember these cars sounding like when there were plenty of them on the road.
The Imperial sounds like there is something causing a nasty exhaust leak under the hood. The sound I hear doesn't match the image I see. The exhaust note is reminiscent of the dogged out 90s pickup trucks that populate a good part of the traffic where I take my household trash.
Boy, that is one nice Imperial, regardless of how it sounds. 👊
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Thanks for braving the heat to get these shots! 👊
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I'm a huge fan of the 1949-54 Chevrolets. Every time I see a duded-up Pontiac from the same era, I realize what a difference there was between the two makes. The Chevrolets are dear to my heart because there were so many parked in the driveways of my newspaper route.
But, there can be no denying that the Pontiac was a step up. Especially true with the new 1954 Pontiac Star Chief.
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I think Walt Disney may have barfed on this thing.
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My uncle had a ‘65 Riviera GS with what sounds like the same 425 cubic inch 360 HP engine, though it was paired with an automatic.
The four speed manual sounds pretty cool 🆒.
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This was my Uncle Jack's stuff that he collected and traded on for well over 50 years. The auction will take place on July 13 at Bear Land Real Estate and Auction Company in Sevierville, TN. I'll include the Facebook link. Check out the photos. This is a small part of what will be there.
https://www.facebook.com/bearlandrealtyandauction
Period images to relieve some of the stress
in Period Photos - Pre WWII
Posted
This is my great-uncle - he joined the Knoxville TN Police Department in the mid/late 1930s. I guess it's possible that this photo could be post WWII. Anyhow, I believe the patrol car to be a late '30s/early '40s Ford.