Yea, they don't build them like they used to...Thank god. You may not like the iron or lack thereof but they are safer, faster and last longer now. A car built in the 50's was junk before it had 80,000 Miles. Most never made it to 100,000 The doors rattled, the windows rattled, the headliners were falling off, the weather stripping was toast. They leaked oil all over the driveway and parking spots. Parking lots were nothing but big black oil spots. Flat tires and blowouts at roadsides were way too common. Drum brakes. Front end shimmys before 50K They smoked out the tailpipes AND the breather tubes. Gas stations sold reclaimed motor oil by the gallons for a reason. When you stopped for a couple of dollars of gas you added at least a quart or two of oil. At the time those cars were brought to the wrecking yard they had no value for fixing them up. Yes, they had some value for parts but the parts were as worn as the cars. I'll put on my flame proof suit now.
The first working model, making its operational debut in the United States, of the Licoln Futura passanger car, is shown on view at the Waldorff Astoria. https://doverdragstrip.com
Your absolutly right. I remember piles just like this on Terminal Island in Long Beach Ca. plus the mounds of engines that were pulled from them. They were just junk; planned obsolesence Cloth seats would last 2-3 years tops, 50-60's cars were not know for longevity even the expensive ones with all the grease fittings under them and no one wanted a 5 year old used car. Ring and valve jobs were listed in the sports section of the paper for as low as $29.95 and who can't remember paint jobs for the same. Calif was luckier as we didn't up up with salted roads. Today I rarely ever see a rusted body with all the protection they get during manufacture.
The caption for this particular picture should be, " Hey, after we get through testing the ladder on this rig, lets go see how our buddy in Brazil is coming along on the Seagrave's powered, 1926 Buick "
C'mon, that's not supportable.[/QUOTE] Yes it is. 100,000 was a milestone. Cars were wore out about that time, used oil and were rusting through. But we still love them.
The Library of Congress posted up a bunch of color pix from the 30's and 40's on Flickr... https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/albums/72157603671370361/page3
Rachel Veitch, '64 Mercury Comet, 567,000 miles. Joe Vaillancourt, '63 Plymouth Fury, 1,620,000 miles. Irving Gordon, '66 volvo, 3,000,000 miles.
I always thought it would be cool, to use a Opel Record to make a smaller version of the 55 Buick Century from the older TV show " Highway Patrol ". Those Buick's looked so cool with black rims and black wall tires and stock dog dish hubcaps.
The Jalopy Journal
