On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Paul in Jacksonville
In June of 2021 my son and I enjoyed an extended auto trip to visit my sister and brother in law in the Chicago area. On one of the days during the visit, we went to an antique car show in the town of Plainfield, Illinois. I’m not an antique car buff, so I can’t tell you what you’re looking at. Perhaps you could help out in the comments?
My brother in law and my son, as we begin to explore.
This old Ford Maverick is here because the first car I ever owned was a Maverick. Bright red, with a “three on a tree” transmission.
That’s my son, sitting behind the wheel of a 1934 Ford. The owner of the car was gracious, in that he allowed a 11 year old boy to sit in his vehicle.
Barbara
I always enjoy antique auto shows. Thanks for sharing.
Nukular Biskits
👍
AlaskaReader
That Chevrolet pickup in the eighth picture appears to be a 32 model, I could be off by a year or so, but 32 looks right to me.
When I was a school kid one could buy decent used cars for little money. My first car cost me 40 dollars. Bought that Studebaker when I was 14. Bought lots of good cars for less than 100 dollars.
Used to buy, sell and trade cars and trucks (bikes too) so regularly that I lost count of how many I’d owned by the time I was 25, easily surpassed 50 cars and trucks plus a half dozen bikes before I settled in on keeping and caring for just a few select classics.
Have let most of the last of them find new homes now. Just a couple left.
Hate to think back on all the ones I let go way too easily, especially after watching some of them increase in value as time passes.
They don’t make em like they used to.
raven
Of course the 57 Chevy is my favorite but the what I think is a 1950 Studey is right up there! I was nervous when I saw the fist picture above the fold. The blue truck is a 30 Chevy and I think the white one with the hood up is a 70 Maverick. The green truck is a 30 Ford and I think the maroon ride is a 49 Ford.
Mustang Bobby
That’s a beautiful ’57 Chevy Bel Air. Interesting that it doesn’t have the V8, the giveaway being the absence of a chrome “V” under the name on the hood.
In 1970 I had a ’57 Two-Ten four-door wagon, silver, and with factory air. I dubbed it “Silver Meteor.” It had belonged to a friend’s grandmother and was now parked in his back yard. He told me that if I could get it running, I could have it. I showed up with an electric tire pump and jumper cables, filled up the tires, and it started right up. I drove it from Toledo to Vermont that summer for a job on a dairy farm, and later as my school commuter until the rust finally took over. I still miss it.
HinTN
@raven: That blue was an amazing color. Thanks for the tour, Paul in Jax.
OzarkHillbilly
I’m no car nut, spent too many wkends busting knuckles on them and I’m pretty sure I have never washed one,* but I do appreciate the time and effort that goes into one of these gems. Thanx for the pics, Paul.
*Does going to the car wash and blowing all the chicken shit and feathers out of the bed of my p/u count?
Geo Wilcox
We had a 70 Maverick, it was supposed to be a companion car to the mustang, sort of the poor man’s version. It was a crappy car and my dad refused to buy any Ford ever again. My favorite car was a supped up ’72 Dodge Dart. That car could fly and it was so maneuverable. We used to do drag races on the I10 freeway near West Covina. Ah, what a dumb fuck I was…
frosty
My brother got the family Maverick as a hand-me-down when he was living in Manhattan. A couple of funny stories: First, it got stolen and the thief put it back on the same block he stole it from – either he didn’t like it or he couldn’t drive a stick. Second, it had a terrible clutch. He pulled up next to another one at a light and hollered “How many clutches?” “Five!” “Seven for me!”
Three speeds wasn’t quite enough for the six-cylinder. We could get up to 65 in second.
frosty
@AlaskaReader: Cheap cars!
My dad bought a Bugeye Sprite for $100 for me and my brother when we were seniors in high school because we were sports car crazy and the Nash Metropolitan we learned to drive on just wasn’t cool enough.
948cc, 43hp as designed. As-is when we bought it, one cylinder worked all the time, one most of the time, one occasionally, and one never. 0-60 in 45 seconds! My dad and the two of us promptly learned how to rebuild an engine. And replace rusted out floor pans and trunk floor. And rebuild carburetors. Etc. etc. Fun car though!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin-Healey_Sprite
OzarkHillbilly
@frosty: A South Side buddy of mine had his minivan stolen from his backyard parking space one night. 3 or 4 nights later they put it back. Then a month or 2 later they stole it again. When they returned it that time they left it parked on a side street a block and a half away. The city cops sent him a notice in the mail but by the time he got it it had already been towed to the impound lot.
I forget how much he paid to get it back but it’s lucky for him he had no children, they would have demanded his first born if he had had any.
Another Scott
@AlaskaReader: When I was a broke college student in Chicago I saw a classified ad for a 1969 Trans AM convertible for $2000. Pontiac made around 8 of them…
[ sigh ]
Great shots! Thanks .
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
I am not a car person, but it’s fun to see all these old, I mean antique, cars, and it’s also fun to see that some of you guys seem to know about these vehicles.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: I guess that’s why I hang on to my 66 Chevy Truck. I had a hydraulic clutch and new brakes (disc’s in front) but it’s still a bitch to drive but I can’t quit her.
kalakal
That MG T(D/F ?) is lovely. My dad had a TD when I was very young
Jager
@Mustang Bobby:
My Dad was a car dealer, unlike other car dealer’s kids, I didn’t get new cars. The old man would send me to the used car auctions with his used car guy. I started off with a 50 Ford 2 door sedan 3 cars later I had a 57 Belair post coupe, Power Pack stick. Great set of burned out glasspacks on it and Crager Mag wheels. Should have kept it, along with the 59 Porsche Convertible D, and my first new car, a black 69 Z28, stripe delete, and 4 wheel disc brakes. My dad let me order a new Impala for my mom (once] I got her dark red 4 door Police Special, heavy duty everyhing, Mom did asked why her speedometer said “Certified” and why it rode “Rough”.
Netto
Boy, it’s a good thing I can’t make out the contact info on the MG. My first car was an MGB-GT. You never forget the first one…
Timill
@kalakal: TD, I think. The TF had faired-in headlights, and the TC smaller front wings.
opiejeanne
Never mind.
Manyakitty
Fun! Car shows are a great way to spend time.
caroln
Funny how the cars of our youth end up the antiques of today. I have three brothers and they were car guys. We had a 2-car garage and a long driveway and it was lined up to the street with cars in various states of repair, mostly British. There was a Sunbeam, a Hillman, a Rover (actually a car), various MGs and Triumphs. Even an old Daimler with a burled walnut interior. Plus my parents’ GM cars. My dad used to get mad that he couldn’t park his car in his own driveway.
Anyways, very nice photos. Cars used to be colorful.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Was it cleaner after you did that?
Then of course it counts. Not on the level that the pictured vehicles do, but still, it looked better when you were done.
I’ve known people that restored some amazing vehicles, and of course they never looked that good out of the factory…. Most anyone who has done this realizes that it takes dramatically longer to put one into the conditions shown than it took to build it in the first place.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: This last weekend I got to drive a ’59 Olds Ninety-Eight Holiday to and from a major car show here in Miami. The car had a frame-off restoration in 2010 and was totally back to factory specs. It steered like the Queen Mary and floated like I was driving a mattress, especially on bias-ply tires. I loved the experience, but so happy to go home in my ’07 Mustang.
pat
That 57 Chevy seems to be a two-door. I learned to drive on a four-door Bel Air.
My first car (when I got out of the U) was a 1967 Candyapple Red Mustang. I drove that car until the floorboards rusted out (put a piece of wall panel under the carpet) and it had over 100,000 miles on it. It would get me to work (7 minutes drive) before it overheated.
Traded it for a 4-wheel drive Subaru after getting stuck in the snow in the driveway once too often. That Mustang was my last automatic transmission. My Little Old Lady car now is a 5-speed VW Golf. Feels really tiny next to the enormous pick-ups and vans out there. But I can haul 10 bags of mulch so it works for me. Oh, and if it’s icy, I will decide when to shift.
Ruckus
@Geo Wilcox:
Owned a 68 Dart with the V8. Bought new. Pretty amazing what stuff cost that long ago. Of course if I remember the minimum wage was $1.60/hr and our house in 1961 cost way less than the downpayment would be today.
Wasn’t a bad car in it’s day. But things have improved just a tad in automobile manufacturing since then. OTOH they were also a tad cheaper. But then what wasn’t?
way2blue
@raven:
I had a friend with an old Studebaker—I mostly remember its ‘Ladies Helper’ brake that was quite useful on the hills of San Francisco (where ‘they’ put the stop signs on the crazy steep streets rather than the cross streets.) Hated driving my manual transmission car there.
BigJimSlade
That gray one (’32 Roadster) looks like a bathtub on wheels :-)
Reminds me of some classic cartoons – Tom Slick and Wacky Races – here are their theme songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emasK7lEZAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAJ2pAOPyXc
Paul in KY
The 1st time I ever drove into the county that Jacksonville is in (heading East on I-10) I got sorta weirded out as it also had ‘Jacksonville City Limits’ sign and you drove through 15 minutes of forest/scrubland before you ever saw any signs of habitation. This being in 1982.
Paul in KY
@raven: I haven’t seen a Maverick on the road for at least 25 years. Maybe more.
Paul in KY
@Geo Wilcox: We had a 71 Dodge Dart with the ‘Slant 6’ engine. It would fly! My favourite car of the ones we had in my youth.
Paul in KY
@Mustang Bobby: Just googled it. What a beast! Remember seeing a few back in mid & late 60s.
AlaskaReader
@Ruckus: …reminded me,
…shopped for a new pickup not too long ago and when the dealer told me the price I asked him how many bedrooms.
Tehanu
Some family friends had a Studebaker, about 1955 I think. Always thought those cars were kind of funny-looking, though now the term I would use would be more like “unique.”