Daytona Beach 1957, in color.

[Paul Dobbin]

 

 

 

  I saw a lot of old cars on Daytona Beach in 30 years of The Turkey Rod Run, this is better.

[padgett]

Just think, those teens are now 70 & collecting soial security & the converible is like new in a collection. (of course the ones on the right in the surf disintegrated before 1960).

[John348]

sadly, how many of those people are departed

[Guest AlCapone]

Great memories, great photograph! Wayne

[sebastienbuick]

verry nice !

[Phillip Cole]

Just think, those teens are now 70 & collecting soial security & the converible is like new in a collection. (of course the ones on the right in the surf disintegrated before 1960).

Like the cast of Where The Boys Are, which came about three years later....

Edited November 2, 2015 by Phillip Cole (see edit history)

[capngrog]

As a kid, I spent many a happy day playing on the beach at Daytona.  One of my prominent memories is of people washing their cars with SALT water.    Others would leave their cars between the high tide mark and the surf line (at low tide) only to return a couple of hours later to find their cars sunk to their frames in the sand and partially awash in the SALT water.    As padgett  pointed out, those cars had probably become "of the earth" by 1960 or so.

 

Thanks for the memories Paul.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Guest]

1957 a big year for Pontiac at the sands of Daytona. Pontiac's first Grand National victory.

[Guest]

That really was the good old days, when every single thing in that photo was "Made in America".

[padgett]

Suspect the red bike is probably Italian.

[Guest]

Suspect the red bike is probably Italian.

Or a Puch

[John_S_in_Penna]

That really was the good old days, when every single thing in that photo was "Made in America".

 

Every decade has its good points and its severe challenges.

Decades that are, years later, remembered as peacefully blissful

are seen in a more realistic light when you read the magazines

of the times.  (And old magazines can be truly interesting!)

 

The 1950's had a dangerous and real threat of Communist

infiltration, and serious concerns with Khrushchev and nuclear proliferation.

Labor relations were not all that good, and many companies suffered

major disruptions from strikes.  A recession hit in 1958.  The quality

of Detroit cars was criticized back then, and people accused the

car makers of "planned obsolescence."

 

I don't want to throw salt water on everyone's party, just a dose of realism!

Decades from now we may look back on 2015 and remember its glories, too. 

[Guest]

Every decade has its good points and its severe challenges.

Decades that are, years later, remembered as peacefully blissful

are seen in a more realistic light when you read the magazines

of the times.  (And old magazines can be truly interesting!)

 

The 1950's had a dangerous and real threat of Communist

infiltration, and serious concerns with Khrushchev and nuclear proliferation.

Labor relations were not all that good, and many companies suffered

major disruptions from strikes.  A recession hit in 1958.  The quality

of Detroit cars was criticized back then, and people accused the

car makers of "planned obsolescence."

 

I don't want to throw salt water on everyone's party, just a dose of realism!

Decades from now we may look back on 2015 and remember its glories, too.

I agree. It must be something in us that in looking back we only remember the good. Reminds me of my kidney stones, God has a way to put that pain out of recall. One thing I can recall from the 50's was a attitude of a CAN DO America in contrast with today's CAN'T DO America. As heard on today's news about a trans gendered kid being told today by the White House it's now OK for you to shower with the girls. Kind of like the 50's better where my compass always would always point to north.

Edited November 4, 2015 by helfen (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

I do think that in the 1950's, there was a more

widely recognized sense of morality and family values.

And large families were popular in the 1950's too--

maybe that's why station wagons soared in popularity

from utilitarian vehicles to everyday family haulers.

[padgett]

Was a simpler time but then 1957 was when I played my first computer game (tic-tac-toe at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Was a good room heater.)

 

Had 7 channels on TV but ones from Miami were not clear even with rooftop antenna. Color TVs had green people. Pontiac had a Sportable radio. Only imported cars had full guage sets. Only the rich had ACs. Florida rooms were on the second floor and open on three sides to catch any breeze. I used to shower at bedtime and go to sleep wet.

 

Social media had two forms then: the Shiney Sheet (newspaper) and the telephone. Oh and gossip. Now there are over a thousand channels on my midline 55" TV some from 1957. Am typing this with three 24" monitors that are 5 years old. Have a 27" 1080p in the trailer (as late as 1973, 25" was a big TV - paid $500 for an Admiral then).

 

Of course back then I'd be either ded or blind and deaf, am a prothetic marvel.

 

So these are the good old days and will have even more toys in the future. Or not.

[Joe in Canada]

In 1957 you did not have someone apologizing or offending some one or some group in the news every day.

[Ed Luddy]

I first drove on the sands of Daytona Beach back in the mid 70's, didn't look much different than that pic except for the newer cars.

 My grandmother had a motel on the main drag back then. Sold it in the early 80's. I haven't been there since about 92.

[JACK M]

Its been about ten years since I was in Daytona.

I agree, it looks very similar.

I tried to find the boundaries of the old race configuration and did find a restaurant on what I think would be the south turn that claimed to be the place. There were some pictures of the old days there.

I would have been a kid in a candy store if I had been there in the fifties.

I was an old guy at the Daytona 500 which was a big thrill for me any way.

But being an old school guy I spent a lot of time imagining how it must have been. I am afraid things will never be the same.

[John_S_in_Penna]

It's nice to see old pictures like that:  They show

the car models and colors that were prevalent.

 

Today, many people restore the top-of-the-line models,

leaving every other model pretty much ignored.

Yet in that picture there may not be a single

1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible or 2-door hardtop!

[padgett]

True, for the most part cars have been built for anyone to afford (and in '57 a four door cost more than a two door & was considered "upscale"). There were some bright spots for the entusiast since the HP wars had begun: Corvette, Chevrolet, and Pontiac all had the Rochester Fuil Injection available, Stude and Ford both had superchargers, Olds had the J2 and Cads had dual quads. And then there was the english invasion: Jags, Austin Healeys, MGs with a few Gemans and Italians. Even a Das Kline Wunder popcorn popper.

 

I remember the family car was a Ford Country Squire station wagon that I was told had a Lincoln engine dropped in (dealer engine swaps were common then) & came from Charlotte. It did have a strange idle.

 

In many ways 1957 was the peak of an era just as 1967 was and fed the doldrums when being a gearhead was not politically correct (many knock the cars of the 70s and 80s when it was really the buying public that accepted them. This was the era when the gov insisted on a 200 hour garentee on a fighter aircraft so it had to have a governor. Right. That attitude culminated in the desert of Iran and hopefully is not going to happen again.

 

So now we have fun cars again. Be glad. Be very glad.

[ScarredKnightfan]

What an awesome photo!  Those cars ... that beach ... what a combination.  Not to mention the WARMTH ... lol.

 

 

Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com

pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve | 1979 Caprice Classic (awaiting new owner)

"There's no better time than today" __ 9 Days __ 'Good Friend'

[Joe in Canada]

Here is the 1957 Pontiac win at Daytona video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMf_98Fk8NQ

[junkyardjeff]

Speaking of the colors of the 50s vehicles,I was at the Crown Victoria associations convention this summer with my 55 sunliner and someone who was much younger then me came up and asked if all the cars from the 50s were that colorful and I said yes.  He must have only seen the drab not so shiny colors from the 80s and up,I told him they aslo had nice colors up through the 60s too and I wish I was going to be able to be in Daytona over thanksgiving but will not be able to make it. It's nice to see old pictures like that:  They show

the car models and colors that were prevalent.

 

Today, many people restore the top-of-the-line models,

leaving every other model pretty much ignored.

Yet in that picture there may not be a single

1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible or 2-door hardtop!

[John_S_in_Penna]

What year do you think the picture was taken?

(At least, what is the newest car in the picture?)

[padgett]

All the colors were a reaction to the black and whites.

[real61ss]

I started going to the races in Daytona in 1962 and somewhere I have similar photos taken of that beach. I remember seeing a new 62 Impala being towed out of the ocean, the owner parked the vehicle near the pier and the tide came in while he was gone. I remember them having teen dances in a building on that pier on Saturday night before the race.

We still go to the Turkey Run every year and I still drive my car on the beach every year but the crowds aren't out there now like that photo shows. Maybe it's because it cost 5 bucks to go out on the beach with your car now

Edited November 8, 2015 by real61ss (see edit history)

[Guest]

Here is the 1957 Pontiac win at Daytona video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMf_98Fk8NQ

Pontiac Chieftain 860 2 dr. sedan, 347 cu. in. Factory Tri-Power ( Three - two barrel carburetors) 317 HP, prepped by Ray Nichols engineering and driven by Cotton Owens. The next year Smokey Yunick switched to a 58 Pontiac, 370 cu. in. and his driver Paul Goldsmith took the win. That was the last year on the sand.

[Guest]

What year do you think the picture was taken?

(At least, what is the newest car in the picture?)

 

The newest car in the photo appears to be the yellow 1957 Ford in the foreground.