I've always loved this '57 Olds Convertible and I think it sports one of the finest Metalflake jobs ever....Here it visits two early '60's magazine covers....How could a anyone think the second version was an improvement? Does anyone remember the car?..... Centurion9
Yeah, I have no idea. The first one is bomber though. Love it! And then the 70s happened. And then the 80s.... We've been going downhill for a while now.
There was a time in the show car world where points were added for changes; changes from stock, and from one show season to the next. Problem is, not every change is an improvement, style-wise. Later, Kinky6
Yep, I think that a "show car" can actively be shown in competition for two seasons (maybe that is could be as in back when) without major changes being made. As Kinky6 said, the later versions were seldom an improvement over the original version. The ones that didn't get changed either got sold, to finance the next project, driven or stuck away in the back of a shop somewhere to be discovered years later.
Yes. I put my roadster in a show once. And noticed points were awarded acording to modifications. Rounded door corners, so many points. and so on. No one seemed to take into account overall look of the car. I had fun and got a trophy, buy once was enough.
The second version amounts to the same thing as a rat rod! "WTF, did you see that" factor only, with no thought about the art side of the equation!
I wonder if the taillight treatment was part of the first version. Reminds me of my dog when he gets excited.
Mashed....the taillights were on the first version....I love the car, but the re-do is atrocious....somebody should have said something.....
Not 100% sure.. since I do not have these magazines to check the feature inside. But to me it looks like the "new" top comes off. The second cover you have posted shows three photos of the car. and only one of them shows the oddly shaped top. The other two photos show the regular windshield and vent windows. So my guess it the stock windshield frame was modified so it would come off easy and could be replaced with the other top.
Those wheels and tires say 60's, I think. Whatever the case, it was the style back then. Ugly as sin NOW, but loved by many in that era. How else would you explain a pool table made into a hot rod in that same era?
I Doubt disco or LSD had any bearing on this. And I'm kinda diggin the crazy scoopy-doo tailights. Dunno whats goin' on with that 'top' thing though. And a few shots of Jack's & I'd tear up that dashboard, by hand, just for fun.
If you look at how many cool cars were defiled that way to make them "SHOW CARS", it is really a sin. Great cars like Norms T and Tommy's T are perfect examples where some promoter had these great ideas to make them better. Really a shame. Don
Haha, well, I DID like those tail lights at first... Thanks for ruining it for me. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Your dog has two wieners? Yes, that looks like an example of change for change's sake. The top doesn't flow and looks goofy on there, but it's some kind of attempt at a bubble top, those were the fad for a while even though a round bubble doesn't fit well on a rectangular car shape and from a practical standpoint, they're not - you sure don't want to be in one for long on a bright, sunny day.
The top in the second cover looks like 2 pictures spliced together...terribly. The driver is extremely close to the windsheild...but the seats are in the stock location. Also on the second cover, you see a shot of the dash with the wrap around winsheild and vent windows on the doors. To me it looks like old school photoshop (aka cut and paste) Does the second cover have a feature on the car inside?
That's what I'm thinking as well, I don't think that second cover shot is a real picture, looks like something someone put together for an eye catching cover. The interior shot clearly shows the original windshield frame, and the amount of work it would take to make it removable would be near impossible levels.
Here's another view of the rear. I love those tails....('59 Caddy Bullets) .If you look at the shadow cast over the seats from the top bar on the newer version it looks real. I don't think there was a sufficient amount of sophistication or need to 'shop a cover car back then. If so, it would be the only example I have seen and I bought those mags new. I can't explain it, but the later version sure saddens me. A lot of great cars were lost to later excesses. Centurion9
i think change for changes sake still happens,look at some big shows where you cant have a stock Ford grill because you lose points..there are somethings that are timeless and messing with them never works but the want to win is very powerful..lol.If you ever hear someone say ,this will be extreme..i am not sure its always a good thing.btw...ask Norwell about old school ad folks,some could cut,paste and airbrush better than you can imagine..M.
If you weren't of that era you wouldn't understand. No more than the builder of that car would understand "patina" and rusty shit being cool today.
There was a blog post not that long ago that showed an early roadster where the photo had been manipulated to put the headlights much lower in relation to the grille. Photo manipulation definitely took place before the age of Photoshop. I will not believe that the roof in the second cover shot is real until I see one more picture of it from a different angle showing that roof.
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