Monday, December 7, 2009

CPotD #10 (Formal Four-Doors)



My apologies for the break in the jpeg, but this image best met my three criteria for today’s CPotD.

First, it’s a four-door hardtop. With all four windows rolled down, there’s something exceptional about the open-air feeling you get with the huge openings running from windshield to C-pillar. For a while my daily-driver was a ’66 Pontiac Catalina 4-door hardtop, and when the weather was nice all the windows would be down while driving. Since they were not power actuated and the car was huge, I had to go around to manually lower each one before getting in.

Second, I wanted a photo from an advertisement or brochure. I love imagining what it would have been like to take your brand-new Corvair out on the road, and until I can afford to restore one to perfect condition, these period photos are as close as I’ll come. This one is interesting to me for a number of reasons. The blue car really stands out against the browns, tans, and yellows of the surrounding and people. The younger-looking couple decided to buy a family car. The windows are all down even though it’s cool outside as indicated by the woman’s long-sleeve dress and the man’s sport coat over a long-sleeve shirt. And it sure looks like the guy’s checking his BlackBerry, doesn’t it?

Third, I wanted to highlight another great website. The Old Car Manual Project is a wonderful place to get lost in for hours. It’s not just owner’s manuals. It’s also dealer brochures, ads, photo albums – “over 38 gigabytes of old car stuff - tens of thousands of pages - the largest collection of classic car literature anywhere.”

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