If you didn’t recognize the beat of its four-cylinder heart, didn’t know the bellow from its steel throat, surely you knew its badge: art, meeting agriculture. It was a Fordson. The name came from Henry Ford and Son, shortened to Fordson. The tractors prowled the planet — plowed it, too. From African plains to AlabamaContinue reading “Agrarian Edition No. 10: Power No More”
Category Archives: Cars
No. 127: Hupmobile Habitat
A 1917 Hupmobile Model N that did not survive the great flood of ’27 is now home to a couple of fat raccoons. The Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, 470 miles southwest of Atlanta.
No. 126: Raggedy-Ass Ragtop
“Galaxie 500.” Never mind that Ford misspelled a word when this big machine debuted in 1959. The car was a rolling homage to a budding space race, when mankind turned its collective gaze to the cosmos. Ford’s engineers turned their eyes to the engine. The first Galaxie 500s featured 352-cubic-inch V-8s. They pounded out 300Continue reading “No. 126: Raggedy-Ass Ragtop”
No. 125: Special Delivery
Halfway up Emma Road, just past the second curve, is this Chevy delivery sedan. I don’t have to name the year, do I? Asheville, N.C., 210 miles northeast of Atlanta
No. 124: Along the Mother Road
Steinbeck called it ”the road of flight.” Desperate people, “refugees from dust and shrinking land,” found the highway and headed west. Folks still do. After negotiating a herd or burros, travelers may come across a 1952 3/4-ton Chevrolet pickup*, its metal dulled by the sun and the dust, by the relentless tramp of time alongContinue reading “No. 124: Along the Mother Road”
No. 123: The Surprise Around the Next Curve
A 1954 Chevrolet half-ton, a proud representative of the 3100 series of trucks,* thrusts an inquisitive nose into the fall air on a Georgia highway just beyond Atlanta’s outer ‘burbs. Harbins, 33 miles northeast of Atlanta. (Photo by Junkyard Correspondent Intern Sam Davis) *The Greatest Pickup Of All Time
No. 122: Holy Chrysler!
Hats off to those long-ago smart guys at Chrysler. In 1949, the company that rose from the ashes of the Maxwell Motor Co. came out with an innovation ahead of its time: padded dashboards. Better to hit your head on sponge rubber, they reasoned, than a steel dash or Bakelite knobs. Among those pad-dashed wondersContinue reading “No. 122: Holy Chrysler!”
No. 121: One More Model Before War
The new Ford was different than its predecessors. It had three-piece fenders — it would be easier, engineers figured, to replace a small part than an entire fender in the event of an accident — and came in three models: Standard, Deluxe and (new that year) Super Deluxe. Also debuting that year: two heaters! AsContinue reading “No. 121: One More Model Before War”
No. 120: Jets and Trucks
Those were good times. The F-1 had debuted to an eager public in 1948, and small wonder: The truck represented a styling change from the models that had preceded it – was a rolling reminder, too, that the United States of America was moving happily away from the dark days of a world war. NewContinue reading “No. 120: Jets and Trucks”
No. 119: Hail to the Tri-Fives!
It was running when I parked it, No. 118: Hail to the Tri-Fives! In a previous post I mentioned the debut of a line of Chevys known as the Tri-Fives. You are looking at the middle child of that remarkable trio, which said hello to an excited public in 1955 and lasted through 1957. SixContinue reading “No. 119: Hail to the Tri-Fives!”
It Was Running When I Parked It 