Beautiful Cars & Trucks

[jmohme]

17 hours ago, Schmidt Meister said:

This is an awesome story, imho.

Gail Wise unknowingly became the first ever Mustang owner when she bought her skylight blue Pony on April 15, 1964, a Wednesday, in Detroit, Michigan, two days before the public even had a chance to see its debut at the World Fair in New York. She was 22 years old, had just graduated from college and had gotten a job as a 3rd grade school teacher. She needed a reliable car to get to and from work. She traded in a $400 Chevy, and she borrowed the rest from her parents to cover the $3,419 price for the car, which was, at that time, over half of her teacher’s salary of $5,100 a year, but understood the car was special. When she got to the dealership, she told the salesman she wanted a convertible but there wasn’t one on the floor. He told her to follow him to the back room where they had the car she bought, the dealership was using it to drive around. “When I drove it down the street, it was like I was a celebrity,” Wise said.
Gail and her husband, Tom, drove the Mustang until 1979 when it started having mysterious problems. “Tom would say, ‘I’ll fix it next week.’ Of course, next week turned into twenty-seven years and four children later,” shared Wise. The couple built an additional garage so they could keep the car, but it sat under a pile of storage for over two decades.
When Tom retired and made time to work on repairing the old Pony, a Google search showed him that the “first ever Mustang owner” bought his car on Thursday April 16th. He and Gail knew that wasn’t right. Fortunately, the couple kept all the original paperwork and documentation from the day Gail purchased it. After some searching in their basement, Tom recovered the documentation that would ultimately become proof that Gail Wise was the first person ever to buy a Ford Mustang.
“We had everything. We didn’t know it was anything special. But we kept the new car invoice, the registered owner’s manual. Tom’s a saver,” said Gail.
So they gathered the paperwork from the sale on Wednesday, April 15th and called up Ford.
Since then, Gail has been recognized as the official first owner of a Mustang. She and Tom travel with the car to auto shows all over the country and enjoy the public spotlight. “I feel like a movie star at 72!,” Wise said. However, Wise has noticed something odd about how the media portrays her: “I think it’s silly when I go on the Internet and all the headlines say, “The first Mustang owner was a WOMAN” she said. “I never felt like I was beneath any man. I remember the sales man telling me that the Mustang was more of a muscle car, but I said, ‘Girls like to have fun, too.’”

The car is estimated to be worth $350,000 to $450,000 today.

Interview with Gail and Tom Wise - 6:35:

The first Mustangs were built in Ford's Dearborn, Michigan factory on March 9 1964 and the car was first shown to the public on April 17 at the New York World's Fair. The first-generation Ford Mustang was manufactured by Ford from March 1964 until 1973.
It was initially introduced as a hardtop and convertible with the fastback version put on sale in August 1964.

Other than the gray hair, her and the car have aged quite well.

 

Back around 1979, I had a chance to buy a 65 mustang convertible for $1400. It needed a new top and some other work, but the price was right. 

The problem is that I have always hated rag tops, so I passed on it and have kicked myself in the ass ever since.

[pipedreams]

Ferrari 338 GTBi

[Borg warner]

1 hour ago, jmohme said:

Other than the gray hair, her and the car have aged quite well.

 

Back around 1979, I had a chance to buy a 65 mustang convertible for $1400. It needed a new top and some other work, but the price was right. 

The problem is that I have always hated rag tops, so I passed on it and have kicked myself in the ass ever since.

In 1974 I knew a young woman who I was kind of sweet on who had a 65 Mustang that same powder blue color in mint condition for almost a ten year old car except for one thing.  It had and automatic transmission and sometimes if she would step on gas too hard, the "gas pedal" would go to the floor and the engine would rev really high stay there until she put it in neutral or shut it off.

What the problem was, was that it was a six cylinder and one of the motor mounts was broken and if it got revved too high, the engine would flop over on it's side and bind the gas pedal linkage to full throttle. I had seen this problem before and knew what it was and fixed it for her and charged her for parts and labor, but then she said she never liked the car anyway and wanted to get her rich father to buy her a better one and she would sell the car to me for $100 dollars. Keep in mind that 100 dollars in 1974 would be worth $590 dollars today.

My problem at the time was that I already had two cars. One, A 1950 Cadillac that I  only drove on special occasions, and a 63 VW Bug that was a beater and my daily driver, and where I lived, I was already at the limit of how many parking spaces I could use so even if it only took me a few days to sell or even give away my bug, I'd have nowhere to park the mustang, and the girl who owned the mustang wouldn't have had anywhere to keep the car for me, or didn't want to.

I also wasn't as highly motivated to jump on the deal as I would have been if the Mustang had been a fastback, V8, 4 speed in some other color besides baby blue, and I also didn't know that someday even six cylinder notchback mustangs would be worth a lot of money.

[janice6]

2 hours ago, jmohme said:

Other than the gray hair, her and the car have aged quite well.

 

Back around 1979, I had a chance to buy a 65 mustang convertible for $1400. It needed a new top and some other work, but the price was right. 

The problem is that I have always hated rag tops, so I passed on it and have kicked myself in the ass ever since.

I had a 65 convertible and I was amazed at how comfortable it was in Minnesota Winter.  The heater did well.  the noise was a bit much though.  Wind noise and car noise came through.

[pipedreams]

 

Maybach 6 Cabriolet ~ to bad it's electric!

 

Mercedes wowed us all with an electric coupe concept it called the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/vision-mercedes-maybach-6-cabriolet-first-look

 

[Schmidt Meister]

1927 Lincoln Coaching Brougham by Judkins
Symbolic of the days when gentry of England and America found enjoyment if fine horse drawn coaches, the Coaching Brougham by Judkins represents an interpretation of the automobile as a carriage. The exterior colors mimic an authentic carriage color scheme of Coaching Yellow and Black, with Red striping. The interior is a reproduction of earlier Concord coaches with tufted upholstery, dark green imported Morocco leather and red plush trimmings. The car is powered by Lincoln's 90-hp V-8 L-head and is capable of 80 miles per hour.
This one-of-a-kind automobile was built by Lincoln to be displayed for the 1926 - 1927 season. It was first unveiled in late 1926 at the New York Automobile Show, thereafter exhibited at the Hotel Drake in Chicago and then the Hotel Biltmore in Los Angeles.
After the Los Angeles show, the car was sold to a private party whose daughter used the car for publicity purposes in furthering a short-lived Hollywood career. During this period, the car was used in a movie starring W.C. Fields.
In 1931, the Lincoln was purchased by the McMillan Petroleum Company which used the car as a publicity vehicle for the original Beverly Hill Billies, a musical group sponsored by McMillan.
The first automobile produced by the Lincoln Motor Company was the L Series, introduced in 1920 and produced until 1930. The company was founded by Henry Leland, who also supplied engines to Ransom E. Old's Olds Motor Vehicle Company, and created the Cadillac automobile.
The Lincoln Motor Company produced Liberty V12 aircraft engines in support of the war effort. Following the war, the company was re-organized in 1920 and the L-series car soon appeared. It was designed by Angus Woodbridge, Henry Leland's son-in law. Power was from a 357 cubic-inch, L-head, 60-degree V8 engine backed by a three-speed manual gearbox. The wheelbase measured 130 inches and the tires were 23-inches.
In 1922, the Lincoln Motor Company was sold to Henry Ford for $8 million. The L Series vehicles that followed wore a new body design created by Edsel, and several new mechanical modifications, including an increase in wheelbase length to 136 inches and hydraulic shock absorbers. The L-head V8 engine, however, remained in production.
The 1923 model year saw the addition of new body styles, including several by coachbuilders Derham, Dietrich, Fleetwood, and Brunn.
The 1924 Model L series are distinguished by the nickel-plated radiator shell.
The 1925 models had the cowl lights removed, and bumpers became standard equipment.
1926 brought with changes to the interior.
1927 would see the highest number of significant engineering changes during the Model L's ten-year production lifespan. They were the first Model L's to be fitted with four-wheel brakes, which Lincoln referred to as the 'six-brake system.'
For 1928, the engine grew in size to a displacement of 384.8 cubic-inches, however horsepower remained the same.
In 1929, safety glass and dual windshield wipers were added.
1930 was the last year for the L Series, and it was replaced by the Model K.

[Schmidt Meister]

1929 Ford DNR Forestry Truck - MN

[railfancwb]

Nice car show in the area this morning. Lighting too bad when I was there for photos. Did not see a Studebaker. Someone brought a dirt track racer that looked fresh and great and probably well into five digits. A Chevrolet pickup with the straight six was maybe the most surprising thing. 

[Borg warner]

20 hours ago, pipedreams said:

 

Maybach 6 Cabriolet ~ to bad it's electric!

 

Mercedes wowed us all with an electric coupe concept it called the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/vision-mercedes-maybach-6-cabriolet-first-look

 

Beautiful car, ugly wheels. it would also be better if it were a hybrid that generated it's own electricity instead of a dumbass plug-in EV.

Here's a picture of the fastback coupe version with much nicer wheels but they'd be nicer yet if they were normal size 14, 15, or 16 inch rims with regular tires.

 

[tous]

3 minutes ago, Borg warner said:

... it would also be better if it were a hybrid that generated it's own electricity instead of a dumbass plug-in EV.

The automobile companies will continue to lose their asses for the EV product lines and a few years from now, will be begging Washington to bail them out -- again.

I hate the wheels on both examples and I pretty much think that there are  no wheels that can make those rubber band tires anything but ugly.

<--- old 

 

[Borg warner]

1 hour ago, tous said:

The automobile companies will continue to lose their asses for the EV product lines and a few years from now, will be begging Washington to bail them out -- again.

I hate the wheels on both examples and I pretty much think that there are  no wheels that can make those rubber band tires anything but ugly.

<--- old 

 

Can't we just go back to normal tires and wheels?

[Eric]

This is a 1931 Duesenberg SJ, known as the Mudd Coupe. I've sat in this car. Helped push it a couple of times too. It used to be in Jerry Moore's collection back in the nineties and my father was the mechanic for the collection.

 

[Eric]

[Eric]

The Facel Vega is one of the few cars that French auto designers got right. They even had the sense to stick a Chrysler Hemi in it.

 

[deputy tom]

3 minutes ago, Eric said:

The Facel Vega is one of the few cars that French auto designers got right. They even had the sense to stick a Chrysler Hemi in it.

 

Looks like a Lincoln copy. tom.

[Eric]

15 minutes ago, deputy tom said:

Looks like a Lincoln copy. tom.

That is a '58 Facel Vega and the Continental MKII came out in 1956. There is definitely a resemblance, but the Facel Vega model actually predates the MKII by several years. This may be a case of the MKII giving a nod to the styling of the Facel, or maybe both companies ended up at nearly the same place independently of each other.

It is funny that you drew that comparison. I was thinking something similar, when I posted the pic earlier. I was wondering if whoever designed the early/mid-sixties four-door Continental was an admirer of the Facel Vega.

Here is a '56 Continental MKII:

And a '63 Continental:

 

[Eric]

This is one of the most elegant looking American cars ever built.

 

[tous]

I have oft thought that Lincoln decided on elegant, simple lines and Cadillac opted for bulges, fins, chrome and whatever other gee gaws they could put on an automobile in the 1950s.

Both have their appeal, but give me the Lincolns every time.

[deputy tom]

15 hours ago, Eric said:

That is a '58 Facel Vega and the Continental MKII came out in 1956. There is definitely a resemblance, but the Facel Vega model actually predates the MKII by several years. This may be a case of the MKII giving a nod to the styling of the Facel, or maybe both companies ended up at nearly the same place independently of each other.

It is funny that you drew that comparison. I was thinking something similar, when I posted the pic earlier. I was wondering if whoever designed the early/mid-sixties four-door Continental was an admirer of the Facel Vega.

Here is a '56 Continental MKII:

And a '63 Continental:

 

My uncle owned a white '56 Lincoln. tom.

[pipedreams]

[pipedreams]

[pipedreams]

"1934 Ford Brewster Town Car Cabriolet!

It's not just a car, it's a piece of art.

 

[Eric]

I've never been a big fan of BMW styling, but this is a beautiful little car.

 

[Schmidt Meister]

1970 AMC Javelin Ad.

[Schmidt Meister]

Chevrolet Corvette Ad. 1983