Too Much Exposure - the effect of media on our image of certain cars

[Guest BJM]

I was reading the latest Hemmings Classic Cars and there were a couple of cars in there that about 10 years ago I really wanted to own BASED ONLY ON PRINT MEDIA IMAGES OF THEM.

That's important, because we hear about collectors stating they wanted to own their car BASED ON SEEING IT ON THE STREET AFTER NEW - DRIVING BY.

That got me thinking that because most of my old car hobby is print and internet image based I may be over-exposed to some cars and sort of not as interested in their shape or form.

This is similar to hearing "pop" songs over and over for years. My co-worker next to me plays an 'oldies' station at work and I am sick of many of those songs I could not get enough of 30 + years ago. My mind (what's left of it) has relegated the melodies I enjoyed to numbness.

I think the remedy for collector car interest remains in DRIVING the cars or getting owners to offer rides from car show contacts. I think I will try that on the car show circuit this year. See if owners will give me rides or let me sit in their cars (respectfully speaking of course) either at the show (sitting) or afterwards (information exchange).

How many "general" shows have you been too with several tri-five Chevy's you see in a row to the point that by the 20th one you are numb to it's beauty. But how about riding in one? Wow. I've never been in anybody's old car but I think I would have a new appreciation for the excitement of them if I could sit in the back of a 55 Chevy Bel Air 2 door hardtop with all the windows down, smelling a fresh cut lawn.

Just a thought, too much media. Photos are one dimensional.

[poci1957]

Hello again BJM, I have thought about this myself. Being a Pontiac guy I have always been very conscious of the popularity of iconic Chevys compared to similar Pontiacs and other cars. The ultimate example to me was when I had a casual old car fan visit and we went to the garage. My 1957 Pontiac body was sitting there in primer and in discussing 1950s cars he asked me how great I thought it would it be to have a 1957 Chevy. I kindly stated that of course it was not a desire for me as my Pontiac was the same body and a similar but bigger and better car. He could not really fathom such a comparison as to him a 1957 Chevy was the icon 1950s car and nothing else was on the radar.

Your comparison to oldies radio is an interesting thought, in fact it parallels my own old car experience just as you suggested. 30 years ago oldies by, say, the Beach Boys were of interest to me as I was just freshly exposed to them, just like 1957 Chevys and early Camaros. Now after 30 years of exposure I cannot bear to hear a chorus of Surfin USA or see another amateur-modified 1957 Chevy or Camaro. I have always liked something a little different and that was how I got into Pontiacs, an upgraded car that was a little bigger/better/faster/etc just like they were originally marketed. But they have no public image.

Media influence seems HUGE in drawing people's interest in a given old car. In 1980 my dad bought a red 1955 Thunderbird and at the time the TV show "Vegas" famously included a 1957. A red Thunderbird gave you instant celebrity status and it even spilled over a little into interest in 1955-56 Fords. Both cars still have their fans in the hobby, but they are rarely identified by the general public. And why is this? The cars are still the same, but they are not a TV star anymore.

Media images are indeed one dimensional but influential, and the cable old car shows and auctions affect people too (I will resist bashing street rods here). I think you are right about real visibility and driving old cars. Lucky for us, here in the midwest we do not have the same traffic issues as Duckfur so we can still enjoy two lane Sunday drives. But people's perception of "icon" old cars are probably here to stay. I guess all we can do is try to show old car driving and ownership as a fun, rewarding activity and hope that interest in the icon cars can trickle down over the whole bunch.

(PS--the recent kids movie "Cars" has made early 1950s Hudsons interesting to todays kids, who would have thought THAT could happen?)

[Restorer32]

I find it amazing how much better cars (and more valuable) Tuckers became after the movie debuted.

[poci1957]

I find it amazing how much better cars (and more valuable) Tuckers became after the movie debuted.

Exactly right. Of course given the subject there were not many for people to run out and buy afterward. But the general public learned what a Tucker was.

Now if only I could get someone to put George Clooney on screen in a 1957 Star Chief..................

[Bhigdog]

Yup. When I was 22 and newly married We bought a brand new 62 Pontiac convertable that we could not afford but bought anyway. I still say it was the best car I EVER owned. I still cherish memories of warm Sunday afternoon rides with the top down and a cooler of cold Schmitz beer and a pack of marlboros helping the scenery slide past.............Bob

[oldcarfudd]

I live in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the union. I wanted to buy a pair of bicycling gloves, so today I drove to the local cycle shop and did so. In a 1913 Model T. What's the problem? (I'll concede that there are parts of NJ where I would not do that. There are also parts of NJ where I will not go in any car without a police escort. But even so - - -.)

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

[john2dameron]

One of the earliest rides I had in a '57 Chevy was in the backseat of a new 4-Door hardtop with all the windows open @ about 85 mph. The wind tried to beat me to death. It was not a good ride. I have never been enamored of the styling of '57 Chevys. I think the '55'-56's and the '58-59's are much better looking. Reggie Nash gave me a ride in his 1910 original Nash last spring. That ride I really enjoyed.

[Dave@Moon]

I dont see a solution to the problem you have indicated. I bet people who liked to go out for a nice Sunday drive with their horse and buggies, felt the same way as we do, when a Locomobile or Crane-Simplex blew by them throwing dust and fumes all over the place....!

Tempus Fugit......!

Those 2 lane roads still exist. Much of the roadside attractions and services are still there as well. My local club makes good use of them several times a year. We all should. :cool::cool::cool:

Oh yeah...., THE BEACH BOYS & BRIAN WILSON STILL ROCK TOO!!!

[Guest]

Those 2 lane roads still exist. Much of the roadside attractions and services are still there as well. My local club makes good use of them several times a year. We all should. :cool::cool::cool:

Oh yeah...., THE BEACH BOYS & BRIAN WILSON STILL ROCK TOO!!!

Here is a interesting thought, At the age of eight (1958) my dad finally bought me my first surfboard after having to pass many test, swimming, body surfing, belly boarding, knee board riding. My dad had been surfing since the mid thirties. In 1958 the surfing world was about the size of a be be, and we knew surfers from San Diego to San Francisco. The great thing about surfing (besides riding waves) was that it connected all the generations and races together in it's own culture. Hawiian, west coast jazz, some r&b was the music that we all listened to. Bruce Brown's Surfing Hollow Days movie sound track was almost all music from the Peter Gun TV series (Henry Mancini) BTW you can still by that in CD. and it's great West Coast Jazz.

When all this so called surf music started, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Chantay's, Ventures ect. WE SURFERS HATED IT. First, it wasn't surf music surfers listened to and second everybody else started to think "they" were surfers. We called them kook's. I had seen Malibu go from 12-15 guys out on a perfect point to pit 400 yard ride with a ten foot swell in 1958, to 200+ KOOKS crashing into each other with boards flying all over the place and no etiquette at all by 1962. The movie Gigit didn't help either.

Fifty two years later and I've still got my boards and get wet, and play real surf music. Funny the perception people have of things, where they had never been there-done that. Imagination is great. Reality was a nightmare our culture had been invaded and it killed the Aloha spirit.

Don

[Restorer32]

Actually, with the construction of the interstate highway system many roads that were very heavily traveled suddenly became back roads. We live in fairly densely populated South Central PA a mere 35 miles or so from downtown Baltimore but I would have no problem mapping out a 50-100 mile route where I would feel comfortable driving an old car. You just have to get off the main roads and explore a bit. You might have to watch for Amish buggies in the Southern part of the county but that's just part of the ambiance.

[Guest 36chev]

Here is the southern Appalachians there are still plenty of slower 2 lane roads to drive on with great views. Just have to pull off every now and then to left faster cars pass. The Blue Ridge Parkway is close by, and although it can get crowded in the Spring and Fall, an excellent scenic drive.

[TG57Roadmaster]

There are plenty of two-laners around Upstate SC where I live,

so there's never a problem taking one of the oldies out for a spin.

I'm quite sure there will always be two-lane country roads for the

remainder of my lifetime, and thankfully, they're almost all paved.

As for Bryan's original query, in rounding up the usual suspects,

the list would include '57 Chevys, '59 Caddys, and any early

Mustang. I have no issue with any of them, but my eyes do

tend to glaze over when hobbyists start in on them.

But with the incredible variety out there to choose from...

My major problem is with the color red, Re-sale Red. I can't count the number of really

pretty cars that I've seen over the years that have been bastardized by a color change to

that hue. I used to even like the color, but now I tend to pass them by as if they're plastered

with radioactive warning signs.

Larger, click once after opening.

Add red to the afore-mentioned cars, and I start looking for the exits,

or eye patches to momentarily blind my aching eyeballs.

TG

[Reatta Man]

The discussion reminds me of a couple of things:

1. New car introductions (to car nuts, Christmas in October) were big deals. Paper-covered windows hid new, bright chrome-covered rolling art. High school kids talked about them for weeks before and after the intro dates. Moms and dads sat at the kitchen table, convincing themselves their 2-3 year old car 'needed to be traded in.' Search lights, dealerships bringing down the local radio station, and late-night 'Midnight Madness' sales made seeing a new car a BIG DEAL.

2. When you shopped, you drove downtown, parked at a 45-degree angle in front of 'Bob's Hardware' or while mom went into the 'Smart Shop' to buy a new dress and hat for Easter. You saw the new car the Jones bought, waved at your friend Billy in the back seat of his dad's new Bonneville, and everyone commented on your (freshly washed and waxed) car as you walked down the sidewalk. (Think 50's scene from 'Back to the Future.')

Nowdays? Well, here we are in late March and some of the 2011 models are already out. The rest of the new models trickle in between July and December. New models look like last year's grey, dark grey, silver or dark blue four-wheel appliance. The only so-called excitement is someone offereing 0% financing for 60 months (yawn.....)

And shopping? You drive as many mentioned at 60-75 MPH to the mall or the big box store. The only looking you do is for a parking space or to see if any suspicious characters are loitering around the parking lot. You rush in, then back out with your plastic bags, pop the trunk, throw them in and drive to the next big box store or mall. If someone talks to you, you make sure your door key or remote is close by in case you need to make a quick exit....

In other words, as the great B.B King once sang, "The Thrill is Gone....."

Joe

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

I have never been enamored of the styling of '57 Chevys. I think the '55'-56's and the '58-59's are much better looking. QUOTE]

I'm really glad to hear someone else express this sentiment...

'57 Chevies are ok, but they are not my favorite Bow-tie... I too prefer the '55 & '56, and '58... over the '57...

I'm still baffled by the dash re-design for '57... I think the designers junked-up/chunked-up what had been a very neat, clean, stylized dash... IMHO.

Acres and acres of any given make & model get boring... when I go to a show, I always go looking for the HPOF / survivors, orphans, and pre-war cars first, then come back to the tri-fives and Mustangs (if I still have the energy).

I would get a lot more excited over a '57 Nash Ambassador than a tri-five Chevy, if for no other reason because you almost never see Nashes (of any year...) these days...

When I was a little kid (still in single digits, early 1970's), my folks took me to a couple of antique car museums in Southern PA, one was possibly off US 30, near York or Lancaster, the other was Zimmerman's Automobile-A-Rama, near Harrisburg. Those visits made a huge impression on me... and Zimmerman had a world-class collection.

A few years later, we attened a fall harvest festival at the Carroll County Farm Museum; lots of antique steam and gasoline tractors, hit & miss engines, and antique cars... three cars that made a lasting impression were a blue '24 Nash coupe, a beige '47 Frazer ( with painted grille ! ), and several Model A Fords... one of the things that hooked me about the Ford was the sound of the exhaust as they pulled up the hill towards the main road...

Around the same time, I got a ride in a neighbor's 1934 Packard V-12 "opera coupe" (?)... any Chesapeake Region members might remember Joe Perna - this was one of his cars... it was gorgeous... I wish that I have been a little older, so that I might have remembered more details.

In between museum visits and car shows, I read car books: old MoToR's and Chilton's manuals, and Tad Burness's "American Carspotter's Guide", vol I: 1920-1939, and vol II: 1940 - 1965; I read the Carspotters so much that they are literally falling apart now !

I think the biggest impressions have been from seeing / experiencing these things alive and up-close. Actual hands-on experiences are almost like "dying and going to heaven"... certainly that was how I felt when I got to DRIVE a 1924 Chrysler B-70 touring car at a Chrysler club meet in Scranton a number of years ago...

I get my greatest delight out of driving my old iron... and a lot of postive response from "the average Joe"... many are surprised that I "actually drive that car"... on "regular unleaded gas"... etc.

I'm surprised at the positive repsonses I've been getting from teenage skate-board "dudes" ( among other youths) when I'm out with my '28 Ford... so I now find myself going out of my way to be personable and answer any questions they have about the car... (within reason... )...

Seeing them out there, being driven and enjoyed is definitely the best "adverstisement"...

:cool:

Edited March 26, 2010 by DeSoto Frank (see edit history)

[Guest]

Even though I'm a Pontiac, Olds, VW, Nissan/Datsun guy, I think for 57 the Fairlane 500 sport hardtop coupe looks pretty good. In 57 the public must have thought so too because Ford outsold Chevy that year. My all time favorite for 57 is the Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

Don

[john2dameron]

I am convinced that the media, and nothing else, is responsible for the popularity of '57 Chevys. The styling looks awful to me. It looks like someone designed a grille, someone else did a tailend, and a third party did the greenhouse and then they put it all together. And then some lawn maintenance person took a leaf rake, bent the teeth at an angle to the handle and put it on the side of the car for a decoration. Thankfully, not all of GM's efforts that year were so atrocious. Pontiac and Ninety-Eight Olds hardtops and convertibles are beautiful cars. The Pontiac was almost overtrimmed but the Olds is a nice clean style, better looking than anything made today.

Edited March 26, 2010 by john2dameron
typos, etc. (see edit history)

[Big Beat]

I tend to dismiss any model that's on the radar of non-car people. Tri-five Chevies, Mustangs, Camaros, hot-rodded 1930's Fords.... All nice cars I'm sure, but overexposure killed them for me a long time ago.

I really hated it when the movie "Training Day" came out, and suddenly my '79 Monte Carlo got on people's radar. My car is a totally stock unrestored survivor, and I intend to keep it that way. It never got too much attention before, but it was different enough to suit me. Suddenly, everybody started telling me what a cool ride I had, and how I should paint it black and turn it into some sort of pimpmobile. Plus it is now far more attractive to thieves, who would probably do just that with it. You can keep THAT kind of appreciation.

Driving an antique car is a sort of subtle rebellion against mass culture to begin with, so wanting to be just like everybody else within the hobby and worshipping the same few icons makes no sense to me at all. The more popular a model is, the less I'm interested.

[poci1957]

I tend to dismiss any model that's on the radar of non-car people. Tri-five Chevies, Mustangs, Camaros, hot-rodded 1930's Fords.... All nice cars I'm sure, but overexposure killed them for me a long time ago.

Driving an antique car is a sort of subtle rebellion against mass culture to begin with, so wanting to be just like everybody else within the hobby and worshipping the same few icons makes no sense to me at all. The more popular a model is, the less I'm interested.

Big Beat, very well stated on all the above. In the 1980s on Letterman or something a comedian made an offhand joke that in the studio he saw "30 or 40 girls all dressed like Madonna to express their individuality". I thought that was a very funny observation on mass culture and has only proven more true since then, even here in our little car world. Like the Madonna girls of the 1980s, we must express ourself as being outside the "mainstream", but we must keep our rebellion within an imagery appreciated by the other "rebels".

I guess I could admit here that I can see where being able to order catalog parts for popular cars could influence one's choice, but I think the above mindset is a bigger influence, whether one admits it or not. Todd

[Richard Lichtfel]

Do you remember years ago when you could tell what make the car was by the tail lights at night. Cars had character then. The Pontiac was called an overgrown Chevrolet with suspenders. When Cadillac put the grille on the side of the back door, every one thought they had a rear engine. It was always exciting when the new cars came out. I remember when a friend of my dad bought a new Cadillac in 1947, he must have been rich, that car cost over $3,000, but it was beautiful. Today cars are generic. My wife wants me to paint her car sublime green or plum crazy so she can find it in the parking lot.

Her summer car is a 48 Jeepster and she has no touble finding that.

RHL

[LINC400]

I tend to dismiss any model that's on the radar of non-car people. Tri-five Chevies, Mustangs, Camaros, hot-rodded 1930's Fords.... All nice cars I'm sure, but overexposure killed them for me a long time ago.

Driving an antique car is a sort of subtle rebellion against mass culture to begin with, so wanting to be just like everybody else within the hobby and worshipping the same few icons makes no sense to me at all. The more popular a model is, the less I'm interested.

I agree. I generally read up on cars I am interested in. I also like to own something to my own taste, preferably something that is off the beaten path whether it is a car, antiques, or just music that is not what is always heard for a particular decade. You find a lot of things that are just as good or interesting if not better than the popular stuff. For example, there is nothing wrong with a 1957 Chevy, but a 1957 Imperial, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Mercury, Nash, etc. are all a lot more interesting, and you don't see 30 of them at every show or cruise night.

Most people are too lazy to look into anything for themselves. They see a car on TV or in a movie, and that is all they know. They think these are the only cars that exsist, or that are of interest. Reading a car book or even researching something on the internet is too much effort. So as a result, they only know whatever is currently popular. And they miss out on a whole lot of interesting stuff.

[mrspeedyt]

I likes them all:rolleyes:...however I really likes the survivors the best. ( i wouldn't mind if the '67 t-bird got some media or movie attention however....since i have one!)

Edited March 27, 2010 by mrspeedyt (see edit history)