Art & Inspiration Whats the draw of 50s cars that......

for me, they are the first "modern" cars, suspension, steering, options, they were cool as I came of age, they have style, can accept later mills, have room, and were in my price range. Also, aside from the big cars, Buick, Cad, Cord, audurn, Duesenberg, etc, I am not into pre war. cars, and the ones I do like are not even in my fantasy prce range.

 

You don't understand why people on a site specifically focused on '40s-60s era style hot rods and customs would be interested in cars from the 1950s?

 

Four barrels.

 

Born in 55, I was at a very impressionable age when I first saw a very cool car going down Main St. It was a bright yellow 55 Chevy, straight axle, fenderwell headers, Crager wheels , built 327 with the "The Outlaw" in big red letters on the side. It was a build and a look that would be considered very professional to this day. Nothing about that car said family hauler. I have liked nicely done 50's cars ever since.

B

 

I should have cheaper, you can get a great 50s car for the price of a 30s project car. I love them all, but my next car will be a 49.52 fleetline, just because I love them not the price

 

Some of you need to reread my post. Exterminator

 

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It's because they are 50's vintage cars, in spite of the fact that at the time many of them were rather stodgy and mundane. Back then, manufacturers were willing to take a little risk in styling from year to year, or at least every few years. I dare say everybody on here is quite tired of the cookie-cutter cars that are available today, and we own one only because it's practical to do so.
If you take today's offerings, and line them up side-by-side, with the badging removed, you're hard pressed to identify any of them, as to who made what, and what model it is. Back then, every car was easily identifiable as to mfgr, model and year, because they had individual character, even down to the "lowly" Nash Metro, and the Isettas.
That's the draw of them, whether it's a '52 Chevy coupe, or a '59 Rambler wagon, they have their own "cool" factor.

Roger

 

The draw on 50s cars seems obvious. Sure they may have been everyday cars at one time but that time has long since past. If you are a old car guy and come across one you can look it over and appreciate just how cool they are . The time frame that they came from and the fact that the car still pulled up under its own power- that’s draw enough for me.

 

seems a lot of folks really dig pretty much any old car these days...took wife's slightly OT Dart out for a drive and several folks in parking lots commented on it. My new 51 hudson looks like crap, and lots of folks tell me "nice car!". Hell, they even said that about the piece of crap Edsel I drove around a few years ago.

And you should see how popular old wagons are these days. A teenager wouldn't be caught dead driving one back when their moms were driving them in the 50s-60s-70s, but now everyone loves them. And 4 doors are fine today, I looked up the Hudson Hornet in a price book, a nice high dollar one is worth a grand less as a 4dr vs 2dr, the difference is insignificant.

It's a brave new world

 

I wanted something a little different where I wouldn't find another one at any local shows. I found a 1956 Dodge Regent 2 Door Hardtop. I could only find 3 other pictures of a 2 door HT Regent still existing on the web.

At the time I bought it, I wasn't even aware that "Forward Look" mopars were a thing. The lines on these cars are beautiful and they are really fun to drive and simple to fix.

I've never seen another one at a car show so I like having something different.

Here is the car.




I have a nicely rebuilt 392 Hemi that will eventually end up in it. It has adjustable rockers and some other goodies but not overly powerful. Just a good street motor. I'll need to change the valve covers to the dimpled version due to the adjustable rockers.

Just really interesting and fun cars....can't ask for more than that.

 

What's the draw of walking on my lawn when there's a perfectly good sidewalk all the way around it? I remember back in the day the kids all dressed up nice and didn't use curse words and bread was a nickel.

 

As much as I like all old cars I have never owned a collectable 4 door anything. When I see them at car functions I can appreciate them,but I couldn’t bring myself to own one. I know exactly where this stupid prejudice comes from all my old car mentors looked down on 4 doors. They would say“ Why would you by a 4 door and put hard work and money into it when you could do a 2 door instead“ . Or they would buy a 2 door with various issues and then scrounge up a cheap 4 door and canabalize what they needed and throw the carcass away like garbage. It’s not really fair but it seems to have always been this way.

 

STYLE!

 

I was 10 in 1970, not sure if I am short on brain cells, but ANY CAR from the 50's is cool. feel free to join us here in the current century where these cars are now 65 years old and no longer commonly seen on the road.

 

had a real nice original paint 62 Cadillac Sedan Deville for a few years in the 80's. the most perfect black leather interior you will ever see in a car 1/4 that old. it would be a $10,000 car today, probably more. had some dickhead come by to look at it, then told me "too bad it's a 4 door, it would make a good parts car". ... I almost slugged him, but told him to get out of my yard instead and called him an idiot. I still see him at swap meets selling flea market stuff.

 

Fins

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If you were there in the in the 50s you know what the attraction is.

 

When Baby Boomers approached their teenage years [1962 onwards] these cars were readily available as cheap used cars. And they become a symbol of newfound freedom to a youth market the world had never seen before.
Now they are a symbol of nostalgia [the good old days] to an affluent generation reliving their youth.

There was also a major jump in design in the 50's from the prewar era. An unmodified 50's car is civilized enough to use today as a daily driver.

 

yep,
50s cars are stinkers.

 

In the mid 50's there was a big change here in So Cal. Hard tops became very popular, Grabowskis' 53 Cad hardtop kind of kicked it off here, 53 54 Fords Chevy Buick hardtops came on strong. Had to decide Rod or Custom and the girls preferred to ride around in a custom.

 

A lot of us didn't have any tools to build a 30's or 40's hot rod when we were young, but we could buy a 10 year old car, and tailor it to our wants and needs. Easy to fix up a little. They had lots of chrome, two tone paint, big v8 engines and a big dose of style. Cruising with all the windows down on a summer night, in style with a two door hardtop.

 

Kind of a weird question I was born in 65 I grew up driving 70s cars been a mechanic all my life but didn't get interested in 50s cars till later in life all my cars were put back together after being left for junk. It really intrigued me this stuff can set for 50 plus years and be brought back to life to be enjoyed again. None of my cars were drivers when drug home its a very time consuming expensive fulfilling endeaver. Really enjoy the knowledge on this web site!!

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Jim pretty much nailed it.

As for his comment on wagons he is spot on, we attended a fireworks display in a neighboring town last night in the '54 Ranch Wagon and in a sea of classic cars I was amazed at just how many people came over to us both young & old asking questions or relating a story about their parents having a similar wagon or where did we find it.

The 1959's wagons, 2 & 4 doors are extremely popular and great road cars. HRP

 

along with the '63. forget the '62, though!

 

my uncle in milwaukee had a '58. i remember one cold night, his drive was icy and he had that speedo up to 120!

 

a local guy, mel bogus, had a '56 like that, with "bogus 2" painted on it. it was fearsome!

 

I think you are spot on! Last fall I was hauling home a '52 Chrysler Windsor 4 door.....not most people's idea of a 'cool' 50s car. (I like it though) I had more than one person pull up next to me giving thumbs ups and shouting "cool car". First time it happened it kind of startled me, I thought they were waving and stuff to tell me something fell off my trailer or something! LOL

 

Because not everybody dreams of folding themselves into a 1920's or 1930's ford.

 

1959 bought a 1949 Chevy Fleetline for 100 bucks. Money earned from a year of delivering newspapers on a bicycle. Got my drivers license that year, drove the 6 cylinder to school daily and within 2 years had the Chevy ...Olds Powered and mild Customized by none other than DO IT YOURSELF... . That is just the way it was and we all worked with what we had or could afford.

 

The vehicles of the 50's were also larger. My 40's pickup has a tiny cab compared to what was offered in the 50's.