This is a clean up posting from the Images I took from Last Weekend. The Lead Image is of a 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, with more details after the jump.
This is a 1969 Chevrolet Caprice with a monster 427 CID V-8 backed up by an Automatic. This car oozes class of the late 60s and early 70s. It had hidden headlamps, bench seat, air-conditioning, rallye wheels, black vinyl top, wood-rimmed steering wheel, and more. This was easily one of my favorites.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
This is a 1966 Buick Electra 225 Four Door Hardtop. The reason why I liked this car is the Four Door Hardtop style. When all the windows are down, it gives an open and airy feel to it, great for Summer Nights. It is a very romantic and luxurious looking car, and I wish we had the Hardtop body style offered again.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
This is a 1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer 4-door Hardtop Sedan. This car was registered in the show as a D-500, which meant that there was either a 325 CID V-8, or a 354 CID V-8, with horsepower ratings from 285 to 340. This car looked like it has a single carburetor, so I would guess it would be at the low end of the rating. But just look at it. You will never see this in any car anymore.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Here is a very unassuming 1968 Plymouth Valiant 100 4-door sedan. I like it because it is so basic, with the exception of the optional automatic. Just imagine yourself behind the wheel of this sturdy car, with a rusted out Peterbilt on your tail! You could act like Dennis Weaver in the famous movie, only don’t.
Hooniverse Weekend Edition – Some of my Favorite Cars from Last Weekend
About
-
Ooh, that gold Electra is gorgeous. Look at the details on this car. That magnificent die-cast grille is metal, not plastic and that slender full-width and fully-illuminated taillight is beautiful. It's missing the popular vinyl roof option and looks far better for it. I even love the color.
Chevy had the hidden headlight option for only two years (1968 and 1969) and they weren't often seen even when new. Here's a '68 for comparison. This '69 looks nice, though the cars began to get seriously bloated beginning with this year.
Wow, two non-rusty Mopars in the same place. The Valiant is cute, but I've had my A-car and know well their strengths (sturdy, reliable, decent handling) and weaknesses (rust, noise, slapdash assembly, crude in some ways).
<img src="http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1080/1/2697500002_large.jpg" width="500/"> -
Ah, the Caprice brings back memories. My Grandmother had one with a 396. When she foolishly let us drive unsupervised, we determined that Grandfather's '72 Impala with a 350 was faster. The 396 sounded better though, and damn was that car smooth, quiet, and downright plush. The handling was non-existent, but power steering made it easy to pilot it in the general direction you intended. If space was tight you just went slowly enough that you could stop if things didn't look good, allowing yourself enough buffer that you wouldn't touch anything if you hit the absurdly powerful brakes too hard and accidentally induced body jiggle. The creases on the fenders allowed you to tell where you were with a fair degree of accuracy – far better than today's slope sided vehicles.
They finally sold the '69 in the late 90's. We were disappointed, but they got more for it than us grandkids had. The '72 lived on for another 5 years among various family members. It was finally sold off when a bad starter that went unfixed for too long eventually ground the teeth off of the flywheel.
I miss both of those cars. And the grandparents that went with them. -
Going on looks alone, my favorite of these cars is the 1957 Dodge Lancer. It looks like it's straight from the '50's. Oh, yeah…..it is.
<img src="http://www.plan59.com/images/JPGs/dodge_1957_lancers_0.jpg"width="500"/> -
My grandparents had that exact same Caprice, but in green instead of red. That was one of grandpa's favorite cars, and the one he kept the longest… wish we still had it.
-
My Dad hooned a 66 Duece and a quarter back in the day. His was black with a gray interior and was acquired from his boss, the Bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic diocese. Long, low and lean and fender skirts rule!
-
You could always give the Valiant the Ehrenberg Green Brick treatment.
http://archive1.keislerauto.com/index.php?/rick-e… -
Jim you spend a lot lot of time in some very good company. Thanks for sharing. All this heavy iron really brings back my childhood, and makes me wish the US was still producing cars that we could equally passionate about. A new Malibu probably does everything except trunk capacity far better than that old Impala, but does anyone actually care?
-
LOVE the '69 Caprice!
My father had an Impala that same year, in the popular gold color with black interior. I pine for a Caprice of that era someday, either a '69 or '70 with a big block and everything. (Though I'd lose the redneck-y white letter tires that have ended up on so many of them – those cars deserve proper pinstripe whitewalls.)
![http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1080/1/2697500002_large.jpg"](http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1080/1/2697500002_large.jpg"){kind=link}
![http://www.plan59.com/images/JPGs/dodge_1957_lancers_0.jpg"width="500"/>](http://www.plan59.com/images/JPGs/dodge_1957_lancers_0.jpg"width="500"/>){kind=link}
Leave a Reply