having lived the fifties and early sixties in my youth, it is maybe hard for younger folks to really feel and experience what we did then. but it was all that you can imagine. For those younger who appreciate the cars of that period, you have it right . My generation most generally feel we lived through the very best of times. I have a memory for every song I am hearing. Best wishes to all.
When I was a kid in the 50s, my sister and I would play a game. From her bedroom she could see the road and when a car went by, she would yell to me (across the hallway) describing the tail lights. I would then be able to year and make of the car. Every car was so distinctive. Can you imagine doing that today? A 2006 Corolla looks like a 2016 Civic. Yep, cars of the 50s. Some of them might have been ugly but I loved them all !!
In the early '60s, my 2 buddies and I used to sit on the boulder centered in the highway divider of route 101, Dublin NH and identify every car that came up Dublin Hill, or went past us down the hill. We were about 10 years old, and we could name that car, whether it was a '52 Pontiac, or a '63 Ford Thunderbird. I could even tell if a semi, lugging it's way up the hill, had a Detroit Diesel just from the sound!
In the early 1960s , as a child of 9 or 10 years old , I had a friend who lived on Main Street , in Boonville , New York . There was a stop sign a few houses down the street . As the weather would allow , we would sit on the front porch of his home , and play a game we thought we " invented " . By the time an approaching car reached the stop sign , we had to identify it . Back then , it was possible !!!
I'm 76 and never realized how great life was back then until the counterculture crap started in the mid-60's. Buddy Holly was great music, and he inspired the Beatles, Stones, Clapton, Hollies and others. What great times we had!
Cristiana was a beautiful girl. Anybody that loves animals can't be all bad. Too bad she was taken from us so soon. Nice job on the video and it brings back good memories for me. Thanks
Well,..Christina,...these cars were for sure the best. Best in design, best in colour, two,..three tones, Wow! Man they had it all around. Artistic masterpieces. Hard to pick favourites. And,..add the music of the era, and one has every right to become melancholic. We have lost so much. I dream at car shows!
Me too. I had a total blast during the 50's Not so the 60's Great cars but if I wasn't out of work, I was in Vietnam. If I wasn't out of work or in 'Nam, I was usually in jail. Lord, I was glad when the 60's ended! However, New Year's day, 1970, I woke up in a '67 Mustang that wasn't mine. I was also out in a field, frozen thank God, and had no idea how I got there. Took a while to figure out but the 70's were very good for me.
Music, movies and cars all look and sound alike anymore. Clothes are barely there or raggedy to be in style. Businesses believed in customer service, people were nicer, you didn't have to walk on eggshells afraid to say something that would offend the perpetually offended PC police, and it was a generally happier time.
50's had alot of chrome and stainless steel trim and design stying, the 60's had changed to aluminum trim and thinner sheet metal and plastic grilles and knobs that were plastic but looked like chrome
@@waltbreville5177 you can say that again. Plymouths, boy what an automobile, the 1950 Plymouth cranbrooke belvedere in autumn leaf iridescent and silver flare was everything to be desired. Edsel were simply gorgeous, I'll never forget the first time I saw a ice green Edsel with a wintery red two tone. Perfect for Christmas of 1957. And oh yes, Kaiser Frazer-dragon-Manhattan. My favorite is the 1947 Kaiser sedan with a emerald metallic roof top and the ever popular court gray. Oldsmobile was on another level all together, by jove I can't say to the fellas enough how I miss that car so, always big.
@@johnbockelie3899 I got ya by two years and I still consider the 50s and the 60s to be a time of Automotive nirvana to grow up in. It was alot of fun to be into cars then!
Best 50s car video on RU-vid! Well done! When exterior design was creative and the interiors were absolute eye-candy, real works of art. Why the hell don't they give us interiors like that anymore?
The manufacturers all claim it's all done for " our safety and protection " . Let's all Google statistics for automobile deaths between then , and now !!!
A well done video. I love cars from the 1950's, and it is sad to see most of the brands that were in this video have gone out of business including: DeSoto Edsel Hudson Mercury Nash Oldsmobile Packard Plymouth Pontiac Studebaker
so sad,the pass was so awesome,moment always to remember--I'm 71,and remember all of it,just like right now,I'll die with a peaceful mind.I hope,thank for sharing,I wish I could share my memories with you all--allso,thank again,love u all
Born in 1949 so I grew up during that time. The cars of the 50’s and 60’s were works of art and you could tell just by a glance the year and make. Back then if you got 10,000 miles out of a set of tires you were very lucky. AC in cars needed annual maintenance and generators needed rebuilding every couple of years. When you got 40,000 miles on a car, it was considered worn out. Yep, they looked great but automotive engineering has come a long way in 50+ years. The last Camry I owned I put 215,000 miles on with no repairs, before selling it 11 years after I bought it new. Loved ‘em back then but glad to slip my 70+ year old butt in a quiet, climate controlled 30 MPG Corvette. Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be!
Automotive engineering has come a long way in the last 50+ years. But remember it being more like 100000 miles before before the cars were worn out unless you had dogged them out
Barbara, you are right, BUT: Roads were not as well designed, you needed a “Lube Job” every 2-3,000 miles, suspension systems were more primitive and we had bias belted tires that wore out a lot quicker than today’s radials. The electrical systems were generator-based and failed on a regular basis. Take the exhaust systems: You can drive a car today for 200,000 miles and never replace a muffler or catalytic converter. Try that in 1958. If your car had A/C, you usually had to have the Freon topped off annually. And yes, a teenage driver could dog a car and destroy it in a few weeks or months. I saw a lot of rich boys do that in high school. Their parents would just go out and buy them a new one.
Wonderful theme songs to bring back memories of that decade and of course all the classic cars, what memories. Sorry the lovely lady pictured at the beginning is no longer with you.
Great cars they were.Lots & lots of room.U can even sleep in 'em comfortably.Take 'em 2 the drive-in,grab a blanket & lay out on top of the car without even putting a dent.Thats how strong they were.Yeah.....miss those days 🤗💞
The main thing fuel was less expensive , service stations attendants checked your oil , radiator coolant,brake steering fluid and put air in your tires with a fill up @ 25 or 35 cents a gallon
Frank...they were simply spectacular....and I am so happy that I was a youngster growing up in the 50s and remember them all....it was a glorious time...
Frank Ernesto, any Donald wants such a car in rocket design with jet wings behind him. A lot of chromium Bling Bling in- and outside of the over weighted 60ft car too. And a pin Up Girl with a very slim Petticoat to serve double burger to bring in his double seater. The production places of this after WW2 Cars are mostly in ghost townes now.
Mother's favorite car, 1956 Dodge Lancer, 4:05 in; ours was a more classic three-tone turquoise-black-white, and her beloved Push Button Drive. The juvenile fins of the '55 had developed, into a balanced extension of the side lines, but weren't yet the overdeveloped, prurient Fins every car had by 1957. We finally sold it after I did my crude lawn chair tube + Bondo wheelwell repairs, replaced with what eventually became my first car, the '67 fastback Barracuda! It was actually not a great car, went through idler arms like oil changes, but small folks could sleep under the back glass on trips. Saw the Lancer around town, for years, with my distinctive repair job. Briefly we owned a '54 Hudson Hornet, which I loved to play Spaceship in, massive and tank-like.
I still own a 58 GMC 3/4 ton pick up for my daily driver. Never bought a new car in my life...."Let someone else take the beating!", as my ex's uncle used to say.
@Roger Johnson For many years I drove a 54 Kaiser 2 door sedan...only a few hundred made. I tossed the six cylinder "Continental'' engine, which was commonly used in fork lifts and first put a 55 Chevy V8 and later, a 58 Pontiac 370. I was using a Chevy 3 speed with overdrive and had bypassed the governor, installed a switch on the dash and had overdrive in every gear if I wanted. It was a real "sleeper" and I drove that car all around the western states and had a lot of fun with it. Then one day, traffic stopped because of a train crossing the major highway, some guy came up behind, didn't realize traffic was stopped and slammed into me. It bent the frame and I ground off a new set of tires driving 600 miles back home. For my 'fun' car, I now drive an 88 Pontiac Fiero, V6/5 speed that I bought six years ago with 20K on it and now has almost 60K.
I am a 2000s kid but i do realise that todays times are Screwed and i like how nice it was back in the day. I am almost obsessed with the 50s cars and i recently found someone selling a few for kinda cheap (about 10k minimum) they arent in a perfect condition but they are still a really priceless piece and repairing them would make great memories and the car would mean even more to me. There is nothing i wouldn’t do to just be born in the 40s🥲 Please share some stories you have if you were born in the 40s or 50s, i would really like to see how was life back then.
My mom's best friend had a pink and white NASH...I got to ride in it, thought I was pretty cool! Seeing these cars brought back so many memories...good memories. My brother in law had a 57 chevy, jacked up in the back end...too cool!
Wish we could have the aesthetics from the 50’s but the societal values from the 2020s. I never believe a single era is totally great as there are always imperfections.
Love the cars and music, a great tribute to the lovely lady. Those who never lived through the fifties will never experience the optimism of that decade. Even the pop songs were romantic. By 1965 the counter culture asserted itself and now in 2020 it is negative gloom and doom. So thanks for the brief dip into that happy past. I thought it would never change. As a child in 1950 I was determined to buy a Hudson when I grew up. Alas that world slowly dissolved away as I grew up.
Frederick Alden For me it was a little later than that and although cars of the 50s still intrigue me Its the cars of the 60s that really got me!. As the kinks would say.
Yes! They were like custom homes, each uniquely different. You could tell an era: the 30’s fat fenders, detached headlamps, and curved lines; the postwar upside down tub look and integrated fenders; and the late 50’s, early 60’s low and long profiles, plus fins; yet all one of a kind.👍
I recently took a quiz called Ford or Chevy? They were all the newer models including many of the imported SUVs. I thought I'd ace it, but instead I failed badly.
David White In light of what's going on here in 2020 I'll even go back to another year that people thought was hell at the time, 1968!. I was 10 years old at the time but I still remember it well.
Ain't she purty..... Pops i hope that your adopted daughter takes you to all those car shows so you can have some FUN.. You can remember My Mother and how she was the light of the room, your cruising gal, your dance partner.... Although your in a care home now, don't give up your love for the ole school ways, I know its hard pops without mom, the bottle, smokes, sand & sea, but I think 🤔 that you'll get back there someday in your mind , to let yourself live another day....hopefully your time there will be spent bringing content with what's going on in your world for these days... Just wishing that you're never gonna forget your ole school ways.....Have some fun Pops, before your life slips away, In rememberence of you today... I'm going to blast these tunes up, so you can hear me from so far away... Behind the Jukebox I'll go stay....For these things I'll pray that heaven isn't ready for you ..nope not today.....
i was 15 or 16 in the 50s, and one of my uncles bought a 1955 cadillac deville. took my mom and me for a long ride. it was the smothest riding car i was ever in,it had a great tube radio and the Drifters were on. Im now 77, and still remember that great time! I eventually bought a 56 caddie, wish i had it today! IN GOOD SHAPE OF COURCE !
Beautiful - that's arguable, many don't like the ridiculously over-styled design fashion of that era, but why "intelligent"? They had poor handling, poor brakes, many didn't have power steering, slim wheels provided little grip... Also transmissions had 2 or 3 speeds, fuel efficiency was abysmal... And the final nail in the coffin, safety: a collision at even moderate speed was a death sentence. Despite the massive looks they provided little to no protection to those inside, and inverted A-pillars ensured that the first section to crumple was the passenger compartment.
Tiene razón en parte, pero antes se miraba la belleza, el estilo y no la eficiencia. Cuando comprabas un coche , comprabas arte. Los materiales eran de calidad, se hacian para durar. Ahora son como obejas todos iguales, plastico y sin alma. Una basura eficiente sin serlo.
From the way you talk you never rode in one of these dream cars . And guys like you don`t deserve to . And by the way in those days it was normal to keep a car 10 years and sell it working . Try that today Ha Ha so much for your utube education . In ten years your shit box will be a urinal .
no lo ha traducido bien. He querido decir lo mismo que usted. Yo tube un Chevi del 57 de mi padre. Ahora tengo un Audi con mucha tecnologia pero sin sentimiento y belleza.
Growing up in the 50 was great my father had 1936 7 8 Chevy cars some had straight front axle and one the 37 was knee action but what I liked about those beautiful cars is that you could work on them yourself
Very nice tribute to a beautiful lady, thank you for sharing great pictures of a lot of Detroit Iron of which I have had the pleasure/pain of owning Sisters of.
My first car, 56 Buick special station wagon, a tank. I gave 50.00 for it , no compression, had to let it cool between driving or would not start. Starter was under the gas pedal
I'm 72 today 1950's ahh! Got to ride in my dad's 52 chevy my uncle's 58 olds all chrome man like riding on a couch there all gone now I promised my dad I'd take care of his 68chevy caprice purrs like a kitten for 33 yrs now wave when you see us drive by literally a blast from the past these old girls command attention thanks dad & god bless chow
Sorry to here about Christiana. She was so young...I’m glad she enjoyed these wonderful cars like we do. We get dressed up in 50’s garb and take pictures with my old caddy too.👍
Fun viewing! Thanks. Loved the songs by the Platters and their fabulous lead, Tony Williams! The Red Chrysler, at about 3:10, was a '60 or '61 however.
I'm turning 60 in November and I hope to get a nice photo shot of me next to an early 1950's Cadillac with me dressed up in a nice suit with a fedora hat that or my hair slicked back as I normally wear it and a little Gold bling since I'm Italian American from the Bronx...... In fact I still have a vanity plate on the front of my current car that's a New York plate that say's BADABING.
Yep, they had style and they had class. When I was in High School, my dream car was the '55 Ford victoria. Now, I have nothing but the model car collection now to remind me of what I really wanted back then. My first car was not the '55, but a '53 Ford victoria, 2 door hardtop. It was great!!
Fabulous music too--wish some one would hurry with that time machine so we could go BACK to reality -----better food, cars, people ,TIMES!!! oh and the ever classic vetts
That red car(around 1:11) is a Chevy as you can see on the front of it. Why is there a Buick ad covering some of the front? I have this car in miniature and in red and white from Reminisce Magazine after getting a letter published. It's very neat. When I was 15, I learned to drive in our old 1938 Chevy with a clutch and "three on the floor". When I was about 16, Dad bought a brand new 1950 white Fastback Chevy. He continued to follow his rule which was to pay it off in 3 years, drive it "free" for 2 years when he traded it in on a 1955 brand new blue-green and white Chevy. In 1960, for some reason, he switched from Chevvies and bought a new 1960 black and white Pontiac and kept it until his death from stroke in 1965. My husband and I were driving a 1957 green and white Ford Station Wagon at the time so bought the Pontiac from Mom. Later in life, I owned a 1966 Corvair ("Unsafe at any speed", but had endless gas mileage), a Pontiac LeMans (I called it my Pontiac Lemon) and a huge, elegant dark brown 1973 Thunderbird with white interior and Opera windows. I loved that car. It was like driving around in a living room. I could see all four corners (fenders) from the driver's seat and could park it anywhere within the lines. I had to trade it in after it started getting 8 miles to the gallon and the gear shift lever broke twice. After that, I went small with a new 1981 Dodge Omni, (Car & Driver Car of the Year), followed by a 1990 Lumina and now a 2009 Impala. I expect this will be my last car. I've almost always been a "Chevy Girl". None of this is Earth-shaking, just memories flashing across an old mind remembering younger times and all the cars I loved to drive. Thanks, Al C, for posting these wonderful videos of cars from the past. Today's cars all look alike and have way too many bells and whistles. But we learn to accept the changes if we want to get around town. Driving is one of the skills I still have and am not planning to give it up in the near future. I don't want to jinx my driving record, but I've never had a driving ticket! Keep good thoughts. :0) DBB
While I appreciate how those cars looked, living with them in the old days was not easy. We are so used to modern cars that can go 100,000 miles without any problems, and then go another 50-100,000 with only minor issues, that kind of reliability and longevity was impossible back in the day for most autos. Yeah, they were relatively easy to work on, but they were worked on a lot. "Regular tune-ups" were a thing. Generators and starters and water pumps would go out, fan belts would break. Oil leaks from valve covers, oil pans and, of course, rear main seals. Fluid and vacuum hoses were always an adventure. Yes, the survivors from that time are special. But today's daily drivers are incredibly fast, efficient and reliable.
Only Toyotas and Naturally Aspirated Hondas fit the description of lasting 200,000 miles but it would be amazing to see a 50's car fit with a modern, reliable, ran like silk kind of engine with a buttery smooth transmission and 3-row front seats.
My grandparents had a '58 Cadillac. After our parents divorced, my sisters and I would sometimes stay with our grandparents. When I was bored and nobody was around, I would jump in that Cadillac and play with the cigarette lighter, the electric windows and electric seats until that battery quit. Back in those days, no key was required.
In the '50s my aunts, uncles and cousins all lived within blocks od one another. My Uncle Louie had a '56 Dodge Royal Lancer hard top with the three tone paint, dual side view mirrors, dual antennas, Red Ram Hemi with Dual Carter AFBs and dual exhaust. It made our '55 Belair sedan with its six cylinder powerglide look pretty stodgy.
Once upon a time they made great cars to please the eye of the beholder and fill the driver's soul with with heartwarming eye candy. I remember cruising down the Champs Elysées, Paris, in my uncle's Chevrolet big fins Impala coupé in the early sixties when I was a child. Some people cheered us on the way. Even my dad's 1962 Rambler station wagon elicited compliments from onlookers when we visited Switzerland in 1964. That was once upon a time. Hé oui, c'était il fut un temps quand les bagnoles avaient de la gueule. Maintenant, c'est fini tout ça. Les voitures sont devenues tristes à pleurer. Elles sont bourrées de technologie, mais elles n'ont pas d'âme.
Today, in the United States the only colors readily available are black, white, silver, beige, and gray. All other colors are special orders, and you pay more.
Had a 56 Dodge push button trans loaded lots Chrome a.m. radio spent all Saturday cleaning then we hit the sat.night drive in too cool, jeans, duck tail flip at the front collar up all on $25 a week now 86 and look back fondly at those days
Many true Land Yachts, for sailing the concrete sea. Did you notice the Edsel with push button transmission buttons in the center of the steering column?
