1941 Chevrolet Coupe Custom

1941 Chevrolet Coupe Custom, click picture to enlarge.

For the next several posts I will be using pictures of customized cars. Since custom cars can have any variation of parts and specs there is not much point in researching the specific model for information so I suppose the best thing to do is just to give them to you and let your fantasy run wild about how they were customized. So just rear back for a while and enjoy theses old car pics.

1963 Buick Riviera

1963 Buick Riviera, click on picture to enlarge

'America's Bid for a Great New International Classic Car'

Ad copy for the 1963 Riviera proclaimed it to be 'America's Bid for a Great New International Classic Car.' Authors Gustin and Dunham, in their definitive Buick book, state, 'It became a modern classic the day it was introduced.'

GM's answer to the 4-seat Thunderbird was originally intended to be named LaSalle and offered by Cadillac. Developed under the design leadership of Bill Mitchell, the 1963 Riviera was inspired by the classic lines of the Rolls-Royce.

The boldly understated styling featured a crisply-sculptured roofline, low profile, and frameless side glass. At 117 inches, its wheelbase was a full nine inches shorter than that of the flagship Electra. A stiff base price of $4,333 included substantial standard equipment such as bucket seats, console, 401 cubic-inch 'nailhead' V8, power steering and Buick's traditional Turbine Drive (Dynaflow) automatic transmission. Production was intentionally limited to exactly 40,000 units, in order to ensure exclusivity.

1917 Pierce Arrow Runabout

1917 Pierce Arrow Runabout, click picture to enlarge.

Hi people. This time the bridge behind the car may be more interesting than the old car is to many people. The sign above the bridge in the picture says, "Thompson Bridge 1832". I feel like I am as old as the Rock of Gibralta sometimes but this bridge is even older than me; how about that, all you sports fans? Besides that, this is also the only covered bridge that I know of that is still around anywhere in the country. I can vaguely or faintly remember seeing one or two old covered bridges but I don't remember where they might have been.

But now a little bit about the car.The Pierce Arrow may have been best known for its new type fender mounted headlights that were a tremendous advancement over the older oil burning lamps that were common in those days. The Pierce Arrow Motor Company rapidly gained a good reputation for building high quality, well built luxury cars that competed well in the market with cars like the Cadillac, Duesenberg, LaSalle, Lincoln, Marmon and Packard. The 3 passenger runabout shown here came with a 38 hp 6 cylinder engine with a selective sliding gear transmission. The car had both a battery and magneto electrical system, a power driven air pump to keep the pneumatic tires pumped up and it had a cone type leather faced clutch and a cast aluminum body. In 1917 the Pierce Arrow Runabout sold for $4,600.00; a fairly high price then.

I enjoy reading all of the reader comments that I receive so take a moment to send me any comments you have on these old cars. You can do that by using the comment button in the "posted by" line at the bottom of each post. You can also look at the other posts by using the "older posts" link in the line. Help spread the word about this old car blog to your friends.

1957 Cadillac Eldorado

1957 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe Deville, click picture to enlarge.

This is undoubtedly The Car that poor people dream of owning but never do. The car is known for class and luxury and cost. The Cadillac Eldorado has long been synonymous with elegance and prestige and money. I dated a girl in Atlanta a few times that owned one of these 1957 Cadillacs but hers were usually four or five years old when she got them. She just wanted to enjoy the feeling of being "high class" by driving Cadillacs. Her passions were Cadillacs and pink champagne. Needless to say we did not have many dates because I didn't care for that attitude.

This car had a 365 cid cast iron V-8 OHV 300 hp engine with a 4.00 X 3.625 inch bore and stroke and a 10.0 to 1 compression ratio. It had 5 main bearings and hydraulic valve lifters and a Rochester four barrel carburetor.

One thing about the Cadillac name that has disappointed me has been the recent change to making other type vehicles such as SUV's, pickups and vans just to be able to stay afloat in a very unstable economic downturn of the national economy. It just seems sad to me that the distinction of class and luxury has to suffer the deterioration of name that these "survival strategies" have caused. This is not peculiar to Cadillac alone though because some other luxury cars such as the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln cars have also gone into making "bread and butter" vehicles like SUVs and pickup trucks.

If any readers want to make comments on the posts there is a comment button at the bottom of each post in the "posted by" line. You can also email me by checking the email address in the profile block. I would enjoy reading your comments and maybe using some of them in future posts to this blog. Spread the word and let others know about this blog.