What Were Youre Neighbors Driving?

[junkyardjeff]

The neighbors two houses away got a new 67 Country Sedan that I got in 2000 to use the drivetrain for my 65 Country Squire.

[John S.]

Great topic! I would pick 1959, as I started grammar school, and was aware of the cars in my neighborhood. On the corner , an elderly couple owned a 1949 Plymouth, that was always garaged. Even in 1959, the Plymouth looked brand new. Mr. Winney always owned Chevrolets. He had a 1958 Bel Air 4 door sedan, 6 cyl. stick. Mr. Hogan had a 1951 Mercury 4 door. Mr. Johnson  just bought a 1956 black Plymouth Savoy 4 door sedan. Mr. Driscoll, owned a 1957 Oldsmobile 88 2 door hardtop. The Augustine family had a 1952 Brown and Tan Bel Air hardtop. The Horton's owned  two cars, 1955 Buick Special Hardtop, that Mr. Horton would paint the tires with Blackwall paint to make the tires look new. Their second car was a 1950 Studebaker Champion Convertible. The Meyers had a 1952 Packard, 1956 Oldsmobile, and there son owned a 1939 Packard sedan. The Dyakoff's had a 1953 Desoto 4 door. and that was just one side of the street. 

[Harold]

45 minutes ago, John S. said:

 

 

This topic really brought back some memories....

I lived in a lower class neighborhood as a kid in Brooklyn in the 1950's-'60's and there was always a street full of interesting cars.  I've always been partial to early fifties Plymouths and, in addition to my father's '52 Cambridge, there was a light green '50 4-door, light gray '51 Cranbrook, and dark blue '51 Cranbrook that was always polished to a high shine.  A middle-aged neighbor, who never got his driver's license, was given a brown '49 DeSoto that my father taught him to drive.  His kids were real happy to finally have a family car!  One neighbor had a black Studebaker Starlight (?) business coupe with the huge wrap-around rear window.  There was a black '53 Chevy sedan that the owner stored in a rented garage across from our house.  The owner of the garage had a '54 Chrysler.    Another neighbor had a green '59 Chevy wagon and another was into '55-'56 Fords (I recall quite a few of them cycling in and out), the people on the corner had a '54 Plymouth followed by a '61, then two leased '66 Fords.  One of the neighbors in our apartment building was in the paper bag business.  The first car I recall they had was a green '51 Pontiac, then they splurged on a new '59 Plymouth wagon.  I'm sure there were others but these are the ones that came to mind.

 

Harold

Edited July 16, 2021 by Harold (see edit history)

[Terry Wiegand]

When I was growing up in South Hutchinson, Kansas, our one neighbor in the next block had a 1954 Buick.  Mr. McBride worked for the telephone company and his oldest daughter was in my class at school.  The Buick was a 1954 Super 2-Door Hardtop.  It was that Robin's Egg Blue with the White top.  I remember that he washed that car every Saturday and it still looked like brand new when they traded it in for a new 1963 Buick.  Many years later I asked him about that '54.  He told me that that car was the best automobile that he ever owned.  He said that he wished that they could have kept it and I always thought that that car was the sharpest thing on 4 wheels.  It started my life-long love affair with Buicks.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[JamesR]

Quote

What Were Your Neighbors Driving?

 

I was born in '58, so I grew up in the 1960's. It was cool to see all the cleanly styled American cars of the 1960's when they were new...and all the "old looking" cars of the 1950's and earlier when they weren't very old. The neighbors had some interesting cars. Immediately to the east of us (across the driveway) the neighbors had an old '59 Edsel. It was the only Edsel I remember as a kid. It was pretty rusty and seemed to reinforce the notion (for us kids, anyway) that Edsels weren't the greatest cars. My friends who lived behind me had folks who always seemed to own Plymouth wagons. They bought them new, as I recall, and they were a neat shade of light green.

 

Some of the cars I remember most vividly weren't daily drivers, but seemed to sit in the same spot year after year. They may have had mechanical problems or the owners were elderly and rarely drove them or there was some other issue, but they sat outside too long and probably needed work just from exposure to the elements. One was a '50 or '51 Studebaker four door with the outrageous bullet nose styling. It's possible that one wasn't driven much because the kids of the family (who were friends of my older brother and sister) may have embarrassed to be seen in such an odd looking car (the family had a second newer car that they drove more often.) I've mentioned this before, but many people forget that there was a time when it was EXTREMELY UNCOOL to have a rounded and flamboyant looking car from the 1950's. (Everyone wanted a Mustang instead 😉.)

 

Another rarely driven car was one that my brother and I really liked - a dark blue early '50's two door Chevy fastback (sedanette.) It sat back off of the curb on a concrete slab. I loved the flowing lines of that car, and the color, too, but dark blue pigment kind of faded from the sun over the years.

 

One car I was really impressed with was one I saw my fifth grade teacher driving away in one nice afternoon (our family lived across the street from my school.) It was a '66 or '67 Pontiac Lemans convertible. It was red, I think, and it only would've been a year or two old at the time. She had the top down and looked quite striking with her sun glasses and long blond hair flowing in the breeze. She waved as she drove by, and I was amazed that a school teacher could seem so stylish! I had her as a teacher again the following year (no I didn't flunk...she started teaching sixth grade 😝) and the student teacher for her class had a new '69 Impala which my dad ended up buying.

 

The best looking car in the neighborhood, however, was probably my oldest brother's 1962 two door Impala hardtop. It was in beautiful condition, factory white, with the red accented chrome spear trim on the side, and a red interior. The color scheme seemed like perfection, to me. It had chrome reversed wheels, were very popular at the time.

[Str8-8-Dave]

8 hours ago, John Byrd said:

Str8-8-Dave, you definitely win the most interesting stories to this ole' boy !!!!   That Comet wagon must have been a hoot with the 289 Hi-Po

My mother was a bit of a daredevil.  She was a tiny school teacher who liked to drive fast cars.  She made her bones in the 1955 Skyliner which my dad nicknamed the night fighter because you could see the stars and moon thru the glass front top.  She took that car out Van Born Rd. which was good smooth asphalt out in far country and ran that 312 4bbl Skyliner up to 112mph and brought back home and told my dad it had a slight shimmy at 100 that went away at 105...  She would be sitting at the light and some high school kid would pull up next to that Comet wagon expecting to blow her off.  Boy did they get a surprise when she stood on that thing.  It was the only car I ever remember my dad leasing that would light the tires by just stomping the loud pedal...

 

In 1969 she announced she was gonna spend her summer driving to Alaska from Michigan, took my then 15 year old sister with her while I worked at Cadillac Motor on Scotten Ave in Detroit.  She asked me for advice on a car.  We went to North Bros Ford and I ordered her a 1970 Falcon wagon, medium blue metallic, plain wheels and dog dish caps.  It sported a 351 Cleveland 2bbl with a C-6 automatic and a 2.79-1 single track axle with power steering, power brakes, heavy duty suspension and battery.  It had an AM radio, no A/C, cheap cloth and vinyl seats, black rubber floor mat and not a sign of bright exterior trim save for the skimpy little chrome bumpers.  We put a rubber stone guard under the gas tank, clear lexan headlamp covers on it, equipped it with 6 ply Kelly Springfield tires with 2 spares, 5 gallon Jerry can for emergency fuel and 3 oil and air filters.  At the time the Alcan highway was 1300 miles of gravel over perma frost.  She was gone for 6 weeks, flew a Ford Tri-motor from Juneau to Sitka that crashed 3 days after their trip and made the news in Michigan.  I spent a couple of days trying to contact her to make sure they weren't on that doomed flight.  She finally called home from Anchorage that they were ok.   I have 3 fund-raiser Morley candy boxes full of slides she shot in her Kodak Instamatic camera in my basement to prove it LOL...

[Guest]

So here's a house-by-house snapshot of a short street in the East Bay suburbs of San Francisco, circa 1972. The location is important to note, as there were some foreign anomalies in the mix. 1968 International Travelall (five-kid family) & 1970 Mercury Capri, 1964 Chevrolet Station Wagon & 1965(?) Peugeot 403, 1964 Chevrolet Impala Sedan, (2) 1971 Volvo 1800E (his & hers, only one kid), 1970 Datsun 510 Station Wagon, 1972 Cadillac Sedan De Ville (local bank branch president) & 1968 Toyota Corona Sedan, 1965 Plymouth Barracuda, 1969 International Travelall (another 5-kid family) & 1970 Toyota Corona Wagon, 1972 Ford Torino Station Wagon & 1968 Pontiac Lemans, 1968 Ford Station Wagon & 1967 Pontiac Firebird Convertible, 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III & 1955 Ford Thunderbird (believe he was the original owner), 1970 Pontiac Lemans Sedan & Wagon (seems like they had new Pontiacs nearly every other year, my Dad thought they might have been related to the family that owned the local Pontiac dealership), 1971 VW Bus & 1970 Mazda RX-2, 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 & 1956 VW Beetle, 1972 Chevrolet Nova & 1968 VW Beetle, and 1965 Volvo 122S & 1968 VW Beetle.

 

The T-Bird was red and it was kept in immaculate condition. I think there was a hoist in the garage for removing/storing the hardtop, though I can't remember ever seeing the car with the convertible top up, it was either hardtop off and convertible top down, or the hardtop was on.  The Volvo 1800Es had consecutive license numbers, and I remember I could barely fit seated cross ways in the back seat, even as a skinny short thirteen-year old.

 

 

[Angelfish]

The one I remember most was the little old lady at the end of the street.  Actually it was my brother who remembered and related it to me.  She had a red car that she traded in on a 6th generation Riviera.   
 

My brother asked me, “Do you remember that red car Georgia had?   That was a Hemi Cuda.”

[ScarredKnightfan]

Zomigosh! What an awesome topic. I can't be the only one who has thoroughly enjoyed reading all the memories sparked so far. My goodness.

 

Let's see ... I was born in 1973. As I grew up, I came to be known as the kid who knew people by their cars, not their names.

 

Of our neighbors cars, the one I remember the most is the 1976 Buick Regal sedan the lady next door owned for a while. Sometimes, she would see me walking to school carrying my cello and she'd have me hop in and she'd drive me. Before the Regal, I think she had a green early 1970s Impala. She replaced the 1976 Buick with a 1987 Celebrity, which she then replaced with a 1995 Lumina. I wish she'd kept that Buick, tho.

 

 

Cort, pig & cow valves with pacemaker
2003 MGM LS + 1981 cmc SC; need 1975 Chrysler Cordoba
"Don't you remember?" | Starship | 'We Built This City'

[f.f.jones]

Dad had a '36 Ford sedan, bought new, and driven through the war years. I came along in '43. The ford was replaced in '48 by a black '41 Cadillac fastback sedan. Ever class-conscious, Mom felt the Cad was too ostentatious, so it was replaced by a '50 chalky blue Buick Super sedan. On it's demise, the replacement was a finned '59 Invicta. That lasted till '68 when a Dodge Coronet 400 took its place, their first 2-door car. The Dodge gave way to an '80's Firebird when a cousin couldn't afford the payments after purchasing it.

 

In the neighborhood in the mid '50's, (California, of course) various cool high school guys drove a bronze Deuce coupe, a lowered chartreuse '49 Ford convertible, a chopped, primered '50 Merc coupe, a '50 Olds 88 coupe, a '40 Ford Deluxe, among others. My generation in the '60's tended toward later model Chevelles, GTO's, an occasional Mopar, a 4-speed Wildcat, a hot rod Model A, and "sleepers", plane Jane sedans ('55 - '57 Chevy 150's) with hot engines, factory paint, black wall tires and low gears, designed and built for stop light to stop light street racing.  One kid talked his folks into an Alpha roadster, but foreign cars were the rare exception.

 

Cars owned by the adults (relatives and neighbors) would make another long list - best left for another time.  

[SC38dls]

My dads first NEW car was a 55 Pontiac. Mom drove a yellow & white Metropolitan. They traded the 55 in on a 58 Ford with the Interceptor V8 Engine  (don’t know size) that my older brothers wrecked three times then came a 62 Chrysler Newport with the 383 and I had a ball in that car. 
Neighbors had similar cars but two stand out. One was a 63 Split window vett and the other was a 56 T-bird. They were the cool parents in the neighborhood. 
Some of the older guys had hot rods and a few early 50’s chevys and fords. The $100 or less type cars. 
My brother did have a 49 Plymouth convertible 6 cylinder he bought for $29 !  He was very proud of his negotiating skills talking the guy down from $50. When we decided it needed major engine work we pulled the head and found it was a four cylinder as two pistons and rods were totally missing. Didn’t get very good gas mileage either. 
Have fun 

dave s 

[TAKerry]

I will add a couple. In keeping with some of the above, Mrs. Love drove a 71-73sh dodge charger. Plain jane blue, it was a nice car, but was def a family car sport coupe. Every time I see one of these at auction hot rodded up I think back to her car. 

Around 1973 my uncle won a car by hitting a hole in one during a golf tournament. The prize was ANY brand new  Chevrolet from the local dealer. Everyone was telling him to get a corvette, but his son (my cousin) was just coming into driving age and my uncle figured that he would take over the new car and wreck it, so he opted for a fully loaded Impala/Caprice whatever they were then.  They lived right up the street from us. My other cousin was dating the son of a Pontiac dealer and she had just bought a new 73 Firebird, green.

[junkyardjeff]

I still live in the house I gew up in and there is still one car still around in the neighborhood that has been there since I can remember and its my 55 Ford Convertible and still sits in the garage it always sat unless its in the big garage to be serviced.  Non of the original neighbors still live here and I am the last holdout.

[TAKerry]

1 hour ago, junkyardjeff said:

I still live in the house I gew up in and there is still one car still around in the neighborhood that has been there since I can remember and its my 55 Ford Convertible and still sits in the garage it always sat unless its in the big garage to be serviced.  Non of the original neighbors still live here and I am the last holdout.

I only live a few miles from the house I grew up in. I have lived in 7 places in 57 years all within a 3 mile radius. But my original street of probably 50 houses there are still a few families that are original owners, one is the son of the original (my best friend growing up). I suppose that is a whole different subject matter though. People used to buy a house and live there forever. My 'hood now is only about 20 years old, out of the 15 or so houses I can think of 4 (me included) that are original owners. Some have had multiples. The house across the street is only about 10 years old and its working on the 3rd family.

[KVP]

Growing up in rural northern Michigan in the fifties and early sixties, there weren't a lot of close neighbors.  The widow lady across the road had two memorable cars - a mint green and white 1957 Ford two door sedan and a 1960 Pontiac two door hardtop with a burgundy bottom and white top.  Her downstate brother, who occasionally visited, had a 1959 Olds convertible and a 1961 Olds Starfire.  Both of those cars were black with white tops and red interiors.  The rest of the cars in the area were pretty much four door family sedans.  

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Some family cars late 60s, early 70s, great uncle had a 54 or 55 Buick sedan, I of course thought it was cool.  A tile setter, it was his work car.  I remember he bought 2 brand new caddys, the last one a 73, a true person who showed up in tradesman clothes got cold shoulder till he paid cash for them at the Cadillac dealers.  Dad and my grandfather drove Pontiacs, 66, 67 two door hardtops at one time, later in the 70s, Oldsmobiles. I had an aunt who drove Lincolns, her husband sold them, but I remember I really liked the 73 Caddy best at the time, dark green sedan deville.  One of my dad's friends from work had a white 65 or 66 Mustang with a red interior, I loved it.

 

In 75 dad bought a chevy pick up, short bed step side.  Ordered, we ended up with a 76 after a long wait. He didn't need or use it often but the whole truck thing was taking off.  He/we kept it so clean I eventually took it over and in 85 I sold it for darn close to what he paid for it!

 

I remember the pontiacs ran really well, as did the Olds.  But they liked to rust.  We bought a Monte Carlo that was a total POS.  He thought it was attractive and somehow I ended up with that one as well, yuck!

[car crazy]

Had a neighbor,Warren Porter, who drove a '64 Imperial Crown, Sequoia Green in color..Thought that car was the most beautiful car ever, and I still think of that car to this very day..Mr Porter's nickname to all of us kids was "Moneybags Porter".

Edited July 17, 2021 by car crazy (see edit history)

[Dave Henderson]

When America entered WWII in '41 I was 10 years old and already very interested in cars.  My neighborhood was middle class Arlington, Virginia, a Washington, D. C. suburb then with a population of 40,000 (now about 200,000 and the second home of Amazon with 25,000 new hires projected).  Many living there were workers for the federal government, and drove late '30's and a few '40 and '41' cars, not any pickups.  Chevy and Ford predominated, with more GM cars than other makes.  Except for one '39 Studebaker and a '34 Nash I don't remember any  that were not "big three" marques.  The oldest was a '30 Model A Tudor, owned by a maiden aunt, and the most prestigious was a '39 Buick sedan owned by a Physician.  I can still remember the cackle of the A when it was started up.  Next in line was a '39 Olds and a '39 DeSoto.  Immediate neighbors had a '36 Plymouth and a '37 Chevy, the coolest car was a '39 Plymouth woody owned by another doctor's wife across our back fence.  My dad bought only Fords or Chevys, a new one every 5 years with a '41 Chevy being the last before we entered the war.  These cars remained and served all through the duration years, some not being replaced until the early '50's.  It was on that '41 Chevy that I learned to drive.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Dave Henderson (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Early to mid 1950s,  Mr. Gillespie lived across the road. He, infrequently, drove what Dad said was a 1934 Dodge.  May have been a few years older.  It had wood spoke wheels.   Dad drove a 1941 Buick.       My daily driver  is way older today than Mr. Gillespie's Dodge was then.

  Times have changed.

 

  Ben

[car crazy]

Had elderly neighbors who bought a '55 Chevrolet new, a twin to the one pictured (from BAT). He did not drive, and, on the few occasions his wife drove the car, she rarely went over 25 mph. They would periodically ask my Dad to take the car out and "gun it" , to blow out the carbon buildup that would inevitably occur.

I'll never forget seeing the smoke coming out of the back of the car that would eventually clear up.

What a great thread this is!

[TAKerry]

When I was a kid in the 70's people didnt drive pickup trucks. One neighbor had a 50s era ford that he used on saturdays to take trash to the dump. He later upgraded for a 70's model. Dad worked construction and even drove a station wagon, which was pretty typical then. One neighbor, that worked at Chrysler drove a 70 el camino. We loved that thing. Seemed like the coolest vehicle around. The old guy that had the 53 chevy would drive his car back and forth for what seemed like hours in his drive, which was all of 30 feet long.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

46 minutes ago, car crazy said:

Had elderly neighbors who bought a '55 Chevrolet new, a twin to the one pictured (from BAT). He did not drive, and, on the few occasions his wife drove the car, she rarely went over 25 mph. They would periodically ask my Dad to take the car out and "gun it" , to blow out the carbon buildup that would inevitably occur.

I'll never forget seeing the smoke coming out of the back of the car that would eventually clear up.

What a great thread this is!

 

 The FIRST 1955 Chevrolet I remember seeing was this color.  

 

  Ben

[Rusty_OToole]

Some other memorable cars come to mind. One of my school mates who lived a couple of blocks away, his dad drove a red 1957 Buick Roadmaster 4 door hardtop. That was about the fanciest car in the neighborhood. Across the street from our house was the school, the principal had the same blue 55 Pontiac sedan for years. Later one of my teachers bought a new 1961 Pontiac Tempest 4 cylinder, the only one I saw at the time.

A family friend had a 1950 Studebaker Starlight coupe, maroon, the only one of those I ever saw.

My uncle George had a knack for buying unusual cars. The first convertible I ever rode in was his 1955 DeSoto, pink and white, with carpets and power windows. One saturday he got bored so he drove around the neighborhood and picked up all the kids, took us swimming, then out for ice cream cones. I never forgot that.

Later on about the time he got married he had a blue and white, 1954 Plymouth Belvedere 2 door hardtop, I also recall he had a few 1955 and 56 Fords that were not very memorable, but later had a 1958 Buick Limited 4 door hardtop in gray, and a green 1958 Olds 98. The first 4 lane hiway around here was the 401 that opened in 1963. At first there was hardly any traffic and no cops. We would drive the 45 miles to Whitby to get a sandwich from HMS Whitby the first submarine sandwich shop, 110MPH all the way in that big Olds or Buick. Later he had 2 Mercury Marauder hardtops, full size Mercury 2 door hardtops with bucket seats and big motors. One was a 63, the other a 64, I don't know where he found these cars or how he could afford them, of course they were older used cars when he bought them. He just had a knack I guess.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Bryan G]

A memorable one I'd forgotten about: there was an old man who went around picking up aluminum cans; into the early 80s he drove a 50s Jeep pickup. At some point the fuel pump had given out so he had bolted a fuel tank to the roof and used gravity. I believe he eventually had enough money saved up from cans that he bought something new (but a lot less memorable.) (There was another old fellow, a real hard worker, who would come around buying junk radiators. He lived in the country and just kept piling them up. Around '97 or so he sold the pile and had enough to buy a plain-Jane F150.)

 

Dad hunted on the property of a farmer who won a new GMC in a carnival raffle around '76. He drove it until there was almost nothing left...then won a new Dakota in another raffle!

 

In elementary school someone, I think a lunch lady, drove a Corvair (this was c.1980). I don't recall ever seeing another growing up. A rather staid teacher drove a burnt orange 240Z, later replaced with a white 280z. This was then replaced with a plain-Jane white Dodge 4x4 pickup, which I never could figure out. There was a band teacher who came a couple days a week and always parked right up next to the back door; we had to walk right past it to get to the playground. The car? An early 50s Chevrolet Deluxe. I was in love with that car, and it really planted a seed with me.

[Dandy Dave]

Car's in my neighborhood. Growing up on a 283 acer farm no one was" right next door." Closest neighbors. One car was a Ford LTD Wagon that was pea green with a wood grain side. Around a 1968. Another neighbor had an AMC Hornet. It was maroon around a 1975. The Local mail carrier drove an AMC Eagle and put around 300,000 miles on it before it gave up. It was around a 1980 and was maroon with wood grain sides. Another neighbor had a 1968 Caddy Coupe Deville. Blue with a black top. First car I saw with automatic headlight dimmers. I drove it a time or two. Another neighbor had a Dodge Polara. It was white and around a 1963. Local farmers. One had an International Scout. It was a pickup version that was tan with a white roof. Another was a Ford Maverick. Red with a black interior. The local stone mason had a 1967 International pickup. It was a turquoise blue and had a picture of a Fox on the door. One truck in the neighborhood that stands out was a 1969 Chevy Pickup that was always in immaculate condition. A long bed that was a red and white color combo. When the owner passed His son sold it and has been kicking himself ever since. Another was a 1968 Dodge D200 4X4 pickup with a snow plow. Another was a 1972 GMC short bed step side pickup. It was Red. Just a few that stayed in my memory banks for one reason or another.       

[8E45E]

On 7/17/2021 at 8:54 AM, TAKerry said:

When I was a kid in the 70's people didnt drive pickup trucks.

That will bring me to my next installment.  

 

In October, 1964, we moved to Calgary for all of four months while my dad oversaw a new branch office of the company he worked for being opened.  In those four months, I did see a few 'different' vehicles.  Because it was never intended on being permanent, we rented half a duplex.  The attached neighbor did drive a two-tone red & white1961 International regular cab 1/2 ton on a daily basis which shared the parking stall with my mom's 1950 Studebaker.  The neighbor to the south drove a 1959 or 1960 Austin-Healey Sprite frogeye.  My uncle on my mom's side lived in Calgary, and would visit in his Burgandy Metallic 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne two door sedan.  My uncle on my dad's side stayed with us for a month or two, and a couple of his friends would come to visit.  One happened to drive a 1962 Ford Thames passenger type van.  (No, the 'mini-van' was NOT a new concept in 1984!!)  It's most interesting feature was the concealed step each rear door had, which lowered when the door was opened, and then folded up again when the door was closed.  Other neighbors' cars were a 1959 Pontiac Safari wagon, 1952 Plymouth convertible.  An because we lived on a main street, it was also a bus route, and the bus stopped in front of our duplex.  Trolley buses were still in use in Calgary in 1964, and I got to see the old CCF Brill trolley buses rather close when they came to a stop.

 

As I stated at the beginning, about the neighbor's International, it was the first time I actually got to live next to one being driven daily, but not likely the first one being owned by a family and it was a crew-cab Dodge.  Like what are still called 'regular cab' trucks today, crew-cabs were the total opposite in 1964.  When I lived in Winnipeg prior to that, I recalled seeing a white International 'Travellette' crew-cab parked on the median downtown, most likely owned by the Utilco doing some maintenance work.  I excitedly told my mom when I got home that I saw a 'four door truck'.  She didn't believe me until a month or two later, we went to picnic out of town one Saturday afternoon.  We were on the highway in our 1964 Plymouth wagon approaching this truck with a slide-in camper, and my dad pulled out to pass it.  And there it was; a crew-cab Dodge (or Fargo), with a family inside.  First thing I said, was 'Look mom!  A FOUR DOOR truck!'  That was how uncommon they were then.

 

I will post my 1965 sightings next.

 

Craig

Edited July 18, 2021 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[Pete O]

We moved from Brooklyn to Long Island in 1962.  The next door neighbors had a Fastback Chevy circa 1950 and I remember thinking how old that car looked.  The guy just around the corner had a new Ford Galaxy, and I remember thinking how big that car was compared to our little Rambler.  But at least our Rambler beat out the guy across the street who had this little green Fiat that he was always under the hood of.  He was from Switzerland and didn't like American cars, but I guess he liked constantly fixing his Fiat.

[8E45E]

4 hours ago, Pete O said:

 He was from Switzerland and didn't like American cars, but I guess he liked constantly fixing his Fiat.

Was his name, 'Tony'?   As in Fix      It      Again,Tony?

 

Craig

[Pete O]

18 hours ago, 8E45E said:

Was his name, 'Tony'?   As in Fix      It      Again,Tony?

 

Craig

I kid you not, but his name was in fact Tony!

[car crazy]

I had a neighbor who was a construction superintendent who bought a new '63 Ranchero in late '62, a 6 cylinder, manual column shift, similar to the one pictured He kept the truck until 1977, having put an incredible slightly over 700,000 miles on the truck, the truck having had two replacement engines as well as a rear end. When I was a kid, I used to ride around with him, going from job to job. I always said I'd buy a Ranchero if I could find a nice, clean original, but,as these were built as throwaway workhorses, the chances of that were pretty slim. But lucked into find an all-original,garage-kept light blue '61 with 29,000 miles in Wisconsin, which is in my collection today..

[8E45E]

3 hours ago, car crazy said:

I had a neighbor who was a construction superintendent who bought a new '63 Ranchero in late '62, a 6 cylinder, manual column shift, similar to the one pictured He kept the truck until 1977, having put an incredible slightly over 700,000 miles on the truck, the truck having had two replacement engines as well as a rear end. When I was a kid, I used to ride around with him, going from job to job. I always said I'd buy a Ranchero if I could find a nice, clean original, but,as these were built as throwaway workhorses, the chances of that were pretty slim. But lucked into find an all-original,garage-kept light blue '61 with 29,000 miles in Wisconsin, which is in my collection today..

That one in the photo is a '62, going by the grille.  The proprietor of the corner Tom-Boy grocery store drove a '61 Falcon sedan delivery which saw a LOT of use!  I recall he drove it up until around 1969 or 1970 when he replaced it with a '66 or '67 Ford Econoline van, another vehicle he got his money's worth out of.

 

Craig

[Bimus]

Walking to school early 70's  there was a Pontiac wagon 455 badge on the grill  big long car with a big long travel trailer on the back it took up the space in the street it was longer then there house .

 

I miss seeing the big cars pulling the big trailers .