Four doors were cool too!

The only really cool four door cars would be Phaetons, in my opinion......in my high school days of 1956-1960 nobody would be caught dead in a four door car......they simply were not considered cool by *most* kids I went to school with........unless it was the Sedan DeVille that you borrowed from your uncle to use on Prom Night! THEN four doors were cool!



THIS is a very cool four door!!

CB

 

Alright, I'll jump in considering I changed my screen name to Fordor Ron awhile back.

It all depends on what kind of car your talking about. 28 - 34 sedans, 40's thru 60's wagons and maybe even 55 - 57 Chevy's as drivers or mild customs, and nearly all Mercs work for me.

Apart from that I really don't have much interest in them either.

And yes... There are probably dozens of threads on the subject already...

 

Just wondering who you guys are trying to convince about how cool four doors are -the rest of us or yourselves?

If you dig 'em, fine. Personally never owned one nor do I have any desire to - but if I did the last thing I'd worry about was convincing anyone else how cool it was.

 

moon shine runners liked for doors with hopped up mill's. The cops didnt suspect that 4 door family car....

 

why not drive what you like and not worry what anyone thinks?

 

Myself, I'm not out to to convince anyone of anything. It's just a slow night at home. There's nothing on tv, it's been a long day at work, I'm tired and there's nothing else to do.

 

I love my 4 door fleetline not big on 4 doors in sixties but that's me

 

id rather see someone make a 4 door cool than ruin a cool 2 door with the usual gayness we see all too much of. have fun and don't worry what the dicks say. 61 impala 4-door, bagged, fadeawy and flake, flared rockers, split bumpers frenched in custom pans, rounded trunk corners, canted quad lights, 58 Buick grill....built it for my wife.

 

Another opportunity to post pics of my 62 Merc. When I considered buying this car, I liked the dash and interior, and figured looking through the windshield it wouldn't matter how many doors it had on it with a set of loud pipes cackling out the rear. It turned out looking better than I anticipated, and I actually like it better than the 2-door models of the same year just because it looks "balanced".

 

Nice! Post some more photos if you gots 'em!

 

I am truelly sorry...... But the Soupe de Ville.....Was THE place to be, for all the wrong reasons. Wow ......non memories, dude....

 

Nice Merc!

 

FUCK Hitler! Oh wait. he already fucked himself

 

BINGO! Hit the nail right on the head! If you didn't buy it for me.... who cares what you think

 

I love 49-51 Shoebox Fords. Through and through. 2 door sedans / buis.coupes / Mordors / even our aussie shoebox utes and custom ambulances/ hearses. Our country only GOT 4-doors from Canada. So can i get a un-cool exemption due to Ford Australia's limited import scope ?
Id love to have a 2 door, but aside from selling my body for medical experiments to finance a import, sometimes we have to just make due with what weve got.

 

When I got my license 1959 if you saw anyone your age in a 4dr you could count on the fact it had his mother's name on the title.

Frank

 

Seems the functional word in the title line of this thread is 'WERE'. That considered, my initial response, based on the era that was "back in the day" for me [late50s - early60s] would be, as Gary Cooper might have put it "Nope!", ...not even close. Not I, nor anyone I knew back then who was into rods or customs, was even remotely interested in anything with more than a pair, ...excepting perhaps the occasional 4drHT. Well, OK Bruce, I'll concede phaetons...

However change 'WERE' to 'ARE', and given passing time, the depleted availability [of 2Drs & HTs], a more mature perspective about now cool [or not] we & our youthful choices might have been, and [speaking only for myself] a continuing evolution in taste; ...I gotta admit [& bet some others might agree] that I've seen some pretty tasty rides based on cars I would at one time have considered totally undesirable. These would include not just "moredoors", but station wagons, COEs, and certain car makes no self respecting kid in the 60s would have even been seen riding in, ...much less owning.

Consider too, how far we want to take this desirability argument. Take, just as an example, my own choice of current project, a '53 Bel Air 2Dr post. OK, it's a 2Dr, yet there's a fair contingent out there who'd have us believe that if a 2Dr ain't a hardtop it ain't squat! At least twice since I bought it, I've gotten grief over not having gone for the HT. The logic[?] offered was that the lines of a HT made it a better choice for a custom, ...matter of choice I'd say. In some yrs/models I'd maybe go for a HT too, but in the '53-'54 Chevy my eye just likes the lines of the post better, ...and money & availability had zero to do with my choice. Taken a step further, my very first car was a '54 2Dr post Bel Air, but the ultimate look of this current car will be vastly different from what I had in mind for the earlier one, not necessarily milder but certainly more subtle.

Well, I guess I've tossed my two-bits in the pot, ...slugged down a coupla pints as I was typing 'cause this discussion is only [barely] worth havin' over a brew, since there'll never be a consensus or conclusion. Kinda like tequila I guess, ...best w/ a few grains of salt.

 

Nope, the original mullet business in the front and party in the back.
They were good for hauling surf broads, I mean boards.

The problem with a thread like this is defining what cool is or isn't. If my granddad was around he would say that if you had to say something was something it is because it was not.

I like to get my hands on a family sedan occasionally and do the things that the dorks did to their mom's car to try and make it respectable. I call it the I screwed with my mom's car look. There were always plenty of them in the high school parking lot, they were never considered cool or smooth or whatever they said where you lived, but it did get done.

Once my mom borrowed our merc and went on a weekend trip. She owned a '66 4 door Special Deluxe at the time, a 6 cylinder car. So as soon as she left the driveway a buddy showed up with a 401 that we proceded to put in. All night and most of the day saturday had us racing on sat night.

When mom got home and gave us the merc back we told her we changed the exhaust on her Buick. Prtetty funny when she nailed it after she left the driveway.

i know it has nothing to do with the thread and the car still wasn't cool, but what we did was considered cool by almost everyone in town.

 

i've heard the opposite about 4 doors. People who grew up in that era; if they wanted a 4 door they customized it and made it their own. They were easier to fit more friends in and they could be made cool.

I'm kind of sick of this stupid debate. Who cares what people thought in the 50's and 60's of 4 doors. Times are different....build and drive what YOU like and what YOU can afford. This isn't a bunch of immature high schoolers anymore bickering over how nerdy your 4 door is as a "mommy mobile"....4 doors can be just as badass as a 2 door; just depends on how its built and what your specific tastes are. People have such a stupid obsession over the 2 or 4 door debate. who gives a rat's ass. I've seen some high quality 4 doors on this forum that could rival the quality, craftsmanship, and appeal of half the 2 door/coupe builds on here.

Kids didnt drive STOCK 4 doors back in the day mainly because they would be made fun of for driving momy and daddy's car. If a kid wanted a 4 door; it was for economical reasons and they made them their own creation of hot rodding or a custom. While this might not've occured in many people's general region; it happened elsewhere. To say 4 doors wern't hot rodded in the "glory days" is an untrue statement.

Like i said; we shouldnt be acting like a bunch of punk high schoolers who still have this stipulation in their head that 4 doors are a mom's mobile. Build what you like, what you want to drive....not what others claim is right or wrong....because half the time theyre wrong. do a search....there is plenty of truly awesome 4 doors on this forum

 

The Fairlane is my current MORE door.... way cool in my book
The Bel Air is my old MORE door.... way cool in my book

At the end of the day.... it's what I think that matters

 

im not stuck in the 60s,im there by choice.i like it here. the cars are cool (2drs)and i like the music.

 

i just remembered something about my dad. he once told me that a 4dr car and kids was a accident waiting to happen.more than one kid took a dive out of a back door when the car went around a curve.hell a 2dr car is just as easy to get in the back as a 4dr. for a kid anyway.just raise up the seatback and crawl in.

 

Yes, it's true- today, pretty much everything goes. However, traditionally coupes and two-door hardtops are considered the best of the bunch. Last time I checked, this is a traditional forum.

If you're one of the folks who has a four-door and loves it to death, good for you. But I take it as a disservice for you to say "who cares?" or "what's it matter?" This forum is all about tradition and history, don't try to distort the truth of the matter just because you're car doesn't fit the quintessential form for a traditional custom.

 

Believe me, I'm not trying to put anyone down. Especially folks that really like the same kind of stuff (old cars in this case) that I do.

I'm just pointing out that there are a lot of different ways to view an object or even a concept. I guess the old way (at least in my part of the world) was that 2 doors were more desirable than 4 doors. There were lots of cars to choose from so it was about as easy to find a good 2 door as it was a 4 door. I realize the pickings are a lot slimmer now than then. so 4 doors are more acceptable. And the more that are built, the more acceptable they will be. Sort of an evolution kind of deal.

Guess I'd better get to work. Looks like I have engines to overhaul (65/396/SS, 63/409/SS), drivability problems to fix (67/396/El Camino, 54/Blueflame/Corvette). Hum, not a 4 door in the bunch. Just kidding around! (sorta)
Larry T

 

Well said my young friend.

Well I'm off to an interview. They probably won't like the cut of my cloths or the length of my hair.

 

Hey virgil, i can handle some 4 doors, but a pink one?

 

I saw a cool little trick the other day. They shaved the door handles off of the back doors, but left the front door handles on. Kind of gave it the appearance of a 2 door even tho it was obvious it was a 4 door... Other than that, it's still a 4 door!

 

should i share photos from the 50's of 4 doors that were actually hot rodded and turned into kustoms during the "hey days"?? 4 doors are just as much traditional as a 2 door anything. just so happens that 2 doors were more popular back in the day. Just because one was more popular than the other doesnt mean the latter isnt "traditional"