Hello Friends and Family,
Link to this year's index by clicking here.
Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction, Part 7 |
Resuming our tour of the baby-boomer toys, here we encounter a 1955 Ford Thunderbird. The T-Bird was always one of my favorites — at least the model years 1955 through 1957 when they were two-seaters. Now those were cool cars! And it is still fun to look back at the consoles from this era — pretty spartan compared to the high-tech, wrap-around cockpits we find in cars today. |
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His Buick had a flashing light within each porthole, synchronized with a specific spark plug — simulating the flames from the exhaust stack of a fighter airplane. Combined with the bombsight mascot (introduced in the 1940s), these "ventiport"s put the driver at the controls of an imaginary fighter airplane. The flashing light feature was not used by Buick in production, but the portholes remained as nonfunctional ornamentation. |
When I was really young — like four or five years old, Granddad, as he was known, would let me steer his Buick on the country roads around Showell, Maryland where he lived — while he controlled the foot petals. It was many years later when I reached adulthood that my mom, in relating these stories, told me she was scared to death when Granddad let me "drive". Somehow I survived to tell the tale. |
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Of course, if the owner of the vehicle saw us crouched down close to the rear fender, he would naturally assume these teenagers were up to some mischief. It was hard to convince the adults that we had no nefarious intent. |
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But our hearts were really reserved for a small set of American cars, thus we end this week's issue with (as I mentioned above) one of my personal favorites, a beautiful 1956 Ford Thunderbird. Don't believe me on the year, check the taillight. To be continued... |
Life is good.
Aloha,
B. David
P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com