I saw one of these today while I was out and about...
That would be a four-door 1961 Chevy Bel Air, which was about as butt-ugly a car as could be found on the street back in '61. The roof-line was the principal cause of the ugliness, however... as you can plainly see from this vintage ad:
Yup. I think I'd love to have me a '61 coupe with the optional 348 cu. in. motor. What a beauty, eh? The Beach Boys thought so, even if they were on about the '62 model...
OMG. I didn't really do that, did I? I guess I did.
That would be a four-door 1961 Chevy Bel Air, which was about as butt-ugly a car as could be found on the street back in '61. The roof-line was the principal cause of the ugliness, however... as you can plainly see from this vintage ad:
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OMG. I didn't really do that, did I? I guess I did.
Never did fully appreciate that back-roof-ledge bit. But the butt-ugliest car of those days had to be that Merc that had the back-slanted rear window that you could open (thus creating a nifty suction-effect to pull exhaust fumes into the passenger space, tho I didn't really understand it until my college years).
ReplyDeleteAnd I've always wondered what response the ad folks are tryin' to elicit from me, with the woman lying dreamily on the rairoad trestle, next to a car. . .
One of my father's friends had one of those Mercs you're talking about, Craig. That was a top-o-the-line model as I recall, a Montclair or sumthin' similar.
DeleteSee below for the meaning of the ad copy. ;-)
I believe the woman was making whoopie and the poor man fell off the bridge to the river 100 feet below, where his brains came out of his head on the rocks and the salmon leaped to eat it as they swam upstream to spawn. She is seen here saying "well that really sucks," with a little giggle but then thinking "cool, I have a nice new Chevy bubble-top now"...
ReplyDeleteHeh. You don't happen to write for Harlequin in yer spare time, do ya?
DeleteAt least by 1961 the fins of the 50s were starting to - go away. Thanks be to god.
ReplyDeleteWait. I LIKED those fins. '59 Caddy, Bay-beee!
DeleteMy Dad always bought nothing but 2-door hard-tops because of the styling, be they Fords, Dodges, Chrysler's, Buick's (Riverias) or Caddy's (El Dorados) (The Riverias & Caddys came in retirement--the end of a natural progression, lol)
ReplyDelete(The Riverias & Caddys came in retirement--the end of a natural progression, lol)
DeleteAre ya hinting at sumthin' here, Virgil? ;-)
Those behemoths took a good bit of wax, speaking of waxing and nostalgia--not.
ReplyDeleteOh how well I know, Curtis--I was the kid who washed & waxed the family cars in the shade of the drive-way. I don't remember my Father ever taking a hand himself except for the first two or three when I was too small to do it myself, lol. Typical 50s social cultural, Dads had more important things to do, lol.
Delete@Virgil: I had the same experience, which was all bad, but the absolute WORST was a '59 Plymouth station wagon, which had about an acre of sheet metal. I swear to The Deity At Hand it took nearly a whole Saturday to wax that frickin' car. My first car, a '50 Buick two-door hardtop bought in 1962, had a lot o' sheet metal too.
Delete@Curtis: See above!
That flat roof ledge line was a dreadful styling miscue, but I do like that hardtop coupe with the gently sloping, curved rear window. It makes the car look sleeker and faster. As for butt ugly cars, I've been working on a post for a week now about the ugliest contemporary cars, but it's slow going...so much ugliness to choose from: the Juke (heave), the Murano Cross Cabriolet (gag), the Fit (ughh), the Cube (arggh), etc., etc.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about doin' a post on those boxy lil Nipponese cars but can't find suitable images to support the idea. I also went looking for negative press on the damned things and came up rather short there, too. People love their ugly cars for some reason but as for me? I blame Bush.
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