…a 1948 Chevy Fleetline. See the fancy chrome strips along that absurdly long front fender? The four doors? Those details identify this as the Sportmaster, Chevrolet’s top-of-the-line family sedan. Powered by an inline six, with three on the column, the Fleetline series was an interstate mainstay until 1955. That’s when the Tri-Five line of carsContinue reading “No. 118: Look! In That Arizona Sky! It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s ….”
Category Archives: Cars
No. 117: Rust Never Sleeps
Most everything you need to get this ’65 Ford Fairlane running — carb, various wires and a tremendous air filter, among other things — is stacked atop a massive bench seat inside this coupe. The only thing missing is a mechanic. This would-be road-burner is losing the race against rust just outside McRae, Ga., 168Continue reading “No. 117: Rust Never Sleeps”
No. 114: Fixer Upper
He had good intentions. Whoever hauled this car into the shop, slapped on Bondo and primer, surely meant to put this erstwhile hot rod back on the road. Didn’t happen. Instead, this ’63 Ford Fairlane is settling into the sand between an antique emporium and a battered storefront selling bait and tackle. Carrabelle, Fla., 325Continue reading “No. 114: Fixer Upper”
No. 113: Abandoned in Apalachicola
Who bought this one-ton hauler from the Chevy dealer 65 years ago? When did its stake bed vanish? What sort of work did it do? Did it travel the slight rolls of north Florida from field to dock? Surely, somewhere along the line, this ’52 Chevrolet 3600 trucked oysters. Apalachicola, Fla., 345 miles south ofContinue reading “No. 113: Abandoned in Apalachicola”
No. 112: Dowdy But Dependable
The lowly Dodge. It always ran a few paces behind the flashier Fords and GMs of the post-war models crowding those fancy new highways, the interstates. It was reliable, yes, but … … but it never seemed as fancy. This 1948 Dodge D 24 turns a plain face to passersby in Glenwood, Ore., 2,610 milesContinue reading “No. 112: Dowdy But Dependable”
No. 111: Not a Good House, Not a Good Boat
In 1957, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Ranchero, a half-truck, half-car that could take a family to church on Sunday and a farmer to the market on Monday. Chevrolet responded two years later with the El Camino.The El Camino, depending on your point of view, was a marvelous machine or a failed effort. As oneContinue reading “No. 111: Not a Good House, Not a Good Boat”
No. 108: A Galaxie Far, Far Away
Decades ago, someone drove this ’65 Galaxie 500 XL, drove it hard, listening to eight cylinders banging away in a 352-cubic-inch block. No longer. The V-8 i is gone, the car resting in red dirt on a forgotten stretch of U.S. 1. Norlina, N.C., 435 miles northeast of Atlanta.
No. 106: Cruising 17
Porquoi?
It Was Running When I Parked It 