..Back when American cars had CHARACTER !

[ironglow]

.
  Has anyone else noticed that too often one cannot tell one brand of car from the other,until you can reda the label or crest?
  I'm quite sure if I were to witness a hit & run accident involving for instance,  a gray car.. I couldn't help police very much..

  Wa ir a gray chevy, Ford, Dodge ,,or perhaps an Audi or Mercedes.  I couldn't tell from the shape of the car
  I suppose that comes from all makers trying to find the "best gas mileage contours".

  I can hearken back to the days when brands were recognizable..and there were some innovative "independent' manufacturers..which it sems were the most daring in their styling.
  Here I would like to show some of the most noteworthy independents from th emid 50s   First, the mighty Hudson Hornet with "twin H power" (dual carbs)..

  These Hudsons dominated stock car racing roughly from 1951 to 1955 .. flat head 6 cylinder engine...and that long after many OHV V-8 engines were cruising our highways.. They later combined with Nash to form American Motors.

 

[ironglow]

  ..
  Next, check out the inimitable 1953 Studebaker commander..winner of 31 international styling and design awards.
  A snappy performer with it's OHV V-8..and it looked like it was doing 80..while parked in the driveway.
   My Dad bought one of them during my senior year in high school..andIi sure wished it were mine.

[ironglow]

.
   Next, the Kaiser Dragon, one of the more deluxe kaisers for 1953..sure nice lines..  Powered bt a 6 cyl flathead engine.

  Then there was the Kaiser Darrin, sportys model.  Same 6 cyl engine..but suoercharged.  Those doors slide to get in...forward into a pocket inthe front fender.

    Keep in mind..1954, the first Corvette also.  and the Mustang a year later.

[ironglow]

.
   And never forget...the Studebaker Golden Hawk..the studebaker that embarassed some of the "big guys" !

  Studebaker joined frces with Paskard, in an attempt to survive, so later, we also had a Packard Hawk.

  Personally, I thought the golden Hawk was a bit sharper, since the Packard Hawk looked to me, a bit like a sucker fish, laying on the bottom of a brook.

[ironglow]

  .
     there was the 1954 Packard Caribbean convertible.  Last of the old heavy framed models.  They had a straight 8 flathead engine..and their rugged frames would put the average truck to shame..
    Because of the heavy frame, many of these earlier Packards were crashed early.. Much favored in "demolition derbies".

[ironglow]

.
  ...And finally..Nash wasn't doing anything exciting then (IMO).  ...unless we consider th eMetropolitan, a small car built by Austin u,K, for Nash..

[Lloyd Smale]

dad had one when i was a kid. One of the ugliest cars ever if you ask me. Right up there with an Edsel.

.
   And never forget...the Studebaker Golden Hawk..the studebaker that embarassed some of the "big guys" !

  Studebaker joined frces with Paskard, in an attempt to survive, so later, we also had a Packard Hawk.

  Personally, I thought the golden Hawk was a bit sharper, since the Packard Hawk looked to me, a bit like a sucker fish, laying on the bottom of a brook.

[ironglow]

dad had one when i was a kid. One of the ugliest cars ever if you ask me. Right up there with an Edsel.

.
   And never forget...the Studebaker Golden Hawk..the studebaker that embarassed some of the "big guys" !

  Studebaker joined frces with Paskard, in an attempt to survive, so later, we also had a Packard Hawk.

  Personally, I thought the golden Hawk was a bit sharper, since the Packard Hawk looked to me, a bit like a sucker fish, laying on the bottom of a brook.

   ..Different strokes for different folks...

[Lloyd Smale]

want pretty. 57 Bel air!! Even the 56 chev. my favorite of all time is the 61 impala ss bubble top. Mopar? all the early cars were ugly. Didnt come out with something worth looking at till the mid 60s. Ford? First one that i call good looking was the 63 galaxy 500. Well if we through trucks in there 50s chevs and fords would rate pretty high with me too. Not much on the late 40s early 50s cars from any manufacture though.

[Lloyd Smale]

ya thats about it. Some have differnt tastes. Me i think the golden hawk looked futuristic when they came out but that  pig snout front end was just but ugly. I still remember riding in dads and thinking it was so fast that it could spin the earth.
 Compared to what else was around then it probably was. After all alot of its competition was still running flat heads. Want pretty to me. mid 60s to early 70s muscle cars. 69 chevelle, 70 442, 65 gto, 68 gto judge, 69 mach 1, 70 cuda, 70 challenger, 67 coronet r/t and my favorite of all of them and second only to the 61 impala is the 70 ss454 chevelle but then im a bit predudice because i had one. 

dad had one when i was a kid. One of the ugliest cars ever if you ask me. Right up there with an Edsel.

.
   And never forget...the Studebaker Golden Hawk..the studebaker that embarassed some of the "big guys" !

  Studebaker joined frces with Paskard, in an attempt to survive, so later, we also had a Packard Hawk.

  Personally, I thought the golden Hawk was a bit sharper, since the Packard Hawk looked to me, a bit like a sucker fish, laying on the bottom of a brook.

   ..Different strokes for different folks...

[ironglow]

want pretty. 57 Bel air!! Even the 56 chev. my favorite of all time is the 61 impala ss bubble top. Mopar? all the early cars were ugly. Didnt come out with something worth looking at till the mid 60s. Ford? First one that i call good looking was the 63 galaxy 500. Well if we through trucks in there 50s chevs and fords would rate pretty high with me too. Not much on the late 40s early 50s cars from any manufacture though.
[/quote

   I had a red & white '57 Chevy coupe, It had nice lines.  Wish I had it today..for what i could sell it for..

  I traded that in for a 4 cyl, and with just one exception, have stayed with 4 cyls ever since..

[Lloyd Smale]

i bet you do wish you had that 57 back today. A real piece of american art there.

want pretty. 57 Bel air!! Even the 56 chev. my favorite of all time is the 61 impala ss bubble top. Mopar? all the early cars were ugly. Didnt come out with something worth looking at till the mid 60s. Ford? First one that i call good looking was the 63 galaxy 500. Well if we through trucks in there 50s chevs and fords would rate pretty high with me too. Not much on the late 40s early 50s cars from any manufacture though.
[/quote

   I had a red & white '57 Chevy coupe, It had nice lines.  Wish I had it today..for what i could sell it for..

  I traded that in for a 4 cyl, and with just one exception, have stayed with 4 cyls ever since..

[ironglow]

.
  It was a coupe..pillar, not hardtop..stick..265 V8..  I do think that of the mid 50s big three.the '57 Chevy was the best looking IMO.. and perhaps the best car of the Ford-Chevy-plymouth lineup.
  Many others think the same, so it would be worth a big buck today...

[ironglow]

...
..  And a bit later, the 1963 Studebaker Avanti.

[Graybeard]

  ..
  Next, check out the inimitable 1953 Studebaker commander..winner of 31 international styling and design awards.
  A snappy performer with it's OHV V-8..and it looked like it was doing 80..while parked in the driveway.
   My Dad bought one of them during my senior year in high school..andIi sure wished it were mine.

My first car was a 1955 Studebaker Commander and looked exactly like the '53 except for the grill. The color of the one I had was darn close to the color of the second one in your post. I think tho I recall the roof of mine being black rather than the white in your post photo.

I have a Golden Hawk sitting on top of my computer as I type this. I also have a model of my old Studebaker in the book shelves in the living room also.

[phalanx]

  ..
  Next, check out the inimitable 1953 Studebaker commander..winner of 31 international styling and design awards.
  A snappy performer with it's OHV V-8..and it looked like it was doing 80..while parked in the driveway.
   My Dad bought one of them during my senior year in high school..andIi sure wished it were mine.

My first car was a 1955 Studebaker Commander and looked exactly like the '53 except for the grill. The color of the one I had was darn close to the color of the second one in your post. I think tho I recall the roof of mine being black rather than the white in your post photo.

I have a Golden Hawk sitting on top of my computer as I type this. I also have a model of my old Studebaker in the book shelves in the living room also.

I collect metal war plane models. My fave is the P51 mustang. 

[Graybeard]

Here is an image of the front of the '55 Studebaker that shows the difference in grill between '53 and '55.

[Lloyd Smale]

that front end is much better looking.

[Dee]

1955
The year Chevrolet achieved automotive perfection.

[Lloyd Smale]

yes sir. 3 years of putting the rest of them in the dark ages when it came to a beautiful car. Nothing else even came close. Add to that the introducion of the small block chev v8 and they were probably the most important step in the evolution of cars since the first model t rolled off the line. You know what really blows my mind is that they so drasticaly changed the look 3 years in a row when nobody even competed with the 55 in looks. You sure never see that today.

1955
The year Chevrolet achieved automotive perfection.

[Dee]

Other than the grill and tail lights the 55, 56, and 57 were pretty much the same car, but the 55 2 door poster in my opinion had the cleanest grill, and taillight setup.
A 283 with 265 power pack heads, and an old Carter AFB 4 barrel could be nearly perfect at my house.

[Lloyd Smale]

if your dreaming then why not go all the way and go with a McCulloch supercharger and some were even made with overdrive transmissions. 

Other than the grill and tail lights the 55, 56, and 57 were pretty much the same car, but the 55 2 door poster in my opinion had the cleanest grill, and taillight setup.
A 283 with 265 power pack heads, and an old Carter AFB 4 barrel could be nearly perfect at my house.

[oldandslow]

The '57 did it for me. The powerpack version ran like a skinned dog as long as you changed the plugs, points, and condenser every 4000 miles.

[ironglow]

.
  In 1955, when I went into the army for my first hitch, I had a 1950 Studebaker Starlight coupe.  It was exactly like the one pictured below, except the owner before me had painted the roof in dark blue. I don't think that helped.

[Lloyd Smale]

get tid of that albatrous of a bumper and that would be a good looking car.

[ironglow]

  ..
  Next, check out the inimitable 1953 Studebaker commander..winner of 31 international styling and design awards.
  A snappy performer with it's OHV V-8..and it looked like it was doing 80..while parked in the driveway.
   My Dad bought one of them during my senior year in high school..andIi sure wished it were mine.

My first car was a 1955 Studebaker Commander and looked exactly like the '53 except for the grill. The color of the one I had was darn close to the color of the second one in your post. I think tho I recall the roof of mine being black rather than the white in your post photo.

I have a Golden Hawk sitting on top of my computer as I type this. I also have a model of my old Studebaker in the book shelves in the living room also.

   Studebaker built a special model for 1955..  It was called the "Speedster".. A kind of answer to the Corvette and Mustang, I suppose.

[Lloyd Smale]

probably more of competition for the t bird. The vette was more of a car targeted at first at the mga and triumps ect. It was introduced the same year in 55 as was the t bird. It sure wasnt targeted at the mustang because the first mustangs hit the street in late 64 as 65 models. Styling of that Studebaker  was way ahead of its day though. Most of the cars of that period were just boxes

[ironglow]

.
  More non- "Big Three" automobiles..
 
   First, the Willys Aero..as I recall, available in either 4 or 6 cylinder engines.  Four cylinder, and likely six cylinder,  Willys F-head engines..

[ironglow]

.
    Then there was the Henry J ..by Kaiser.  Any I have seen had the same 4 cyl Continental flat head engine that powered the WW2 Jeeps.

[ironglow]

.
   ..And don't forget Crosley.  Cars available in 2 dr sedan or wagon, with a very unique 4 cyl engine.

  For 1949-1950, they produced a sports model, which one owner DROVE to sebring, and won his class in the race, pictured here, that same roadster.
  Crosley was also known for producing radios and refrigerators..