"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
06/07/2020 at 13:00 • Filed to: Dots, Mercury Monclair, Chevy
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"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
06/07/2020 at 13:00 • Filed to: Dots, Mercury Monclair, Chevy | 8
| 21 |
My camera phone did this naturally and I love the yellow tint
Today was one of those days where you realize immediately you should just go back to bed. Sadly, I woke up. The carspotting was good though! Or Carp Sotting as I usually type.
Mercury Montclair in its natural habitat - no wait this isn’t a boomer’s garage
Yes, this beautiful Mercury Montclair has always eluded my camera before now but I finally cornered it an a picturesque alley behind some suitably Art Deco storefronts.
I love the color combo right here. I wouldn’t want this any other way. I’d take one over a technically more valuable ‘55 Chevy Bel Air every day of the week.
I love this front end. Yes, it is ostentatious and overdone, but it is just such a classic look. I can see why some long for a time when the biggest measure of success was how big the plane on your hood was.
Edit: Thank you Fintail for pointing out the Mercury as a ‘55.
I love the inverted barber pole esque lights inside an oval surround. Distinctive, functional, and quite good looking without being over the top. I also enjoy seeing the absurd and ornate trunk keyhole covers on cars of this era.
One thing about photographing chrome. You can’t not be in it. Too bad because these hubcaps would look a lot better without my ugly mug reflected in it. Turkey balances me out though. Once again I got several drive by compliments from people in cars.
This scene almost looked normal in this day’s carp sotting. I have seen a suspicious amount of Mini Cooper Coupes around recently. The Chevy SSR is not as frequently seen.
I think this car gets a bad rap. Sure, it’s impractical, but it is supposed to be. I think it still looks pretty good. A whole lot better than the bloated pickups of today.
The rear end has sort of a faux step side look, but I like the sleek bumperless design. How did they get this thing federalized? Imagine this with yesteryear’s 5 mph impact bumpers.
Speaking of boomers, wait, I didn’t speak of them? It was implied, sure. A convoy of C3 Corvettes rolled through in all the model’s best colors and iterations. I couldn’t pull out my phone while driving though, especially through narrow curvy pedestrian filled streets. This is the only place I know of where I have fully supported a comprehensive road narrowing project.
Yep, this used to just be wasted open road but now there is more sidewalk. Great. Shot between the arm of a RR crossing arm.
Technically, I saw a Citroen 2CV.
Seems inadvisable, given the lack of doors, straps, and even the most basic safety. Notice the license plate. Usually I see these running without one.
I haven’t seen one of these early cab-over-engine designs in quite a while, much less a mostly intact tow truck. Great examples of why I love American attempts to make space saving designs when space doesn’t come at a premium.
Thank you Fintail for pointing this out as a 1941-47 Ford COE.
I believe this to be inter-war GM COE from around 1935.
Another interesting old survivor sat behind it. This time a Ford Falcon van, hailing from the 1960s postwar boom.
This one is missing the signature headlight bezels but these are much prettier than a van has any right to be. Also dangerous, since these COE designs had developed a reputation for being deadly even by the lax standards of the 1960s. Detroit replaced this generation of forward thinking cab over vans with conventional front engined vans that took up more room.
My research indicates this is a circa 1938 Chevrolet coupe. These are pretty popular among the hot rod crowd, but the rust and neglect this old project has seen means a replica body would be a much easier, faster, and cheaper route to show quality vehicle.
Thank you Fintail for pointing out this is a 41.
It still has a 5 digit Kansas plate, so it has not seen the road for a long time.
Yup, not much hope for this classic. Not much in the way of a salvageable part on it.
Someone clearly loves their classic Chevys at this tow lot. A half ton and 2 ton heavy duty pickup sit huddled together, neglected in a puddle of mud, awaiting an eventual final trip to the crusher.
The Corvair up on the container shows much more promise. No surface rust, complete glass, and good period wheels make this look pretty solid from this distance.
That’s not all. Another Corvair in much worse shape sits high and mighty up on its soapbox, telling the whole world it deserves better. The Beetle looks consigned to its fate as well.
Across the street, not pictured, sits some vandalized train cars on a siding from the main track running parallel to the street. Some other tankers sit in their own enclosure, now cut off from the tracks, as a permanent liquid storage for a concrete plant. A junkyard of late model cars also butts up against this forlorn scene, an ominous warning to those poor cars counting the days they have left. I hope at least the black Corvair sees enough attention to get back on the road.
In more cheerful news, Turkey cracked a mischievous grin for the camera. Someone loves their walks.
The artwork in the background is this year’s contest winners and are posted every other fence segment, sometimes on both sides of the path, for about a mile.
Oh, and about the title. One does not simply order $70 of Bojangles and not tip the driver. But someone did, and it took 45 minutes to boot. I made $5 in an hour during a peak time. Thank you so much for not answering your door.
Just Jeepin'
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/07/2020 at 12:20 |
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Too bad because these hubcaps would look a lot better without my ugly mug reflected in it.
That distorted reflection makes it look like you’re wearing a thong.
Of course, that might explain the compliments.
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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> Just Jeepin'
06/07/2020 at 12:24 |
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Hahahahaha I noticed that and was wondering if anyone else might too. I look like one of those vaguely risque garden gnomes about the same height as Turkey.
fintail
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/07/2020 at 12:46 |
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Fun stuff, you have a knack for spotting.
Mercury is a 55. At the time, that front end wasn’t too bad at all. Wait for 1957, with little pods often everywhere, and sometimes three tone paint:
Depending on the car, in 57-58,styling was sometimes applied with a trowel.
I believe the C OE truck is a Ford, probably 1941-47 (these had wartime production, too).
Chevy coupe is a 41, close!
Jayvincent
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/07/2020 at 13:20 |
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awesome camera spotting, thanks for sharing!
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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> Jayvincent
06/07/2020 at 13:25 |
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Thank you. I enjoy trying to combine cars potting and photography. Of course I am somewhat limited by my crappy camera phone so I have to resort to editing to make them look pase able.
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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> fintail
06/07/2020 at 15:41 |
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Sorry I had been waiting until I could get on my laptop. I love how classy the Mercury is without being absurdly over the top. It’s flashy, but not garish. The successor looks like it is trying way too hard. It’s really a sweet spot with getting that aesthetic without the poorly aged a spirational frumpiness (like woody station wagons in the 70s or notchback roofs in the 90s).
COE is hard to identify because the grille is missing. I think you got it right because none that I looked at had the panel go up into the hood. Found this haunting photo in my search.
It really exemplifies why I find that American futurism of that era fascinating. It was forward thinking and not born out of necessity necessarily like the European designs. They had enough leeway to make them be like what they thought the future would demand rather than making it fit into a present rapidly running out of extra room for hoods. It’s interesting how this wave of dangerous designs besmirched the cabover image for years and years afterwards.
Rats, so close on the coupe.
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fintail
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/07/2020 at 16:18 |
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The cars can have a negative boomer/wingadinga stereotype, but I like 50s material. The design is vital and optimistic, and the color range was infinite. Also lots of nice blues, and I like blue cars. Things got a bit overdone in the late 50s, but then regained some jet/space age sleekness before later 60s bloat set in. I might be biased though, as my dad was big into 50s and 60s Fords when I was a kid, and apples don’t fall too far from trees. I owe a lot of my obsession/knowledge to his influence.
The late 30s were probably the best time for real futurism - we haven’t seen it so much since. Late 50s stuff was space age fantasy, but the 30s material seemed more practical, a future that might actually take place. WW2 planes might show this to the best degree - it was functional. There’s no real futurism now, and no forward thinking on many levels.
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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> fintail
06/07/2020 at 17:09 |
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In the 30s, the car h ad developed into its own thing with a defined set of laws, function, etc for the future so the social questions was mostly answered and the in frastructute was rapidly expanding. As you mentioned, that was a time of trying to take the car to its practical extreme. The 60s were a time of unforeseen growth and power and cars developed to their aesthetic extreme. The 50s were an in between time since the war took up most of the 40s. Early experiments into COE, rear engines, etc (like the VW Beetle) didn’t come into fruition u ntil after the war where they were compromised to combine function and practicality. That was an interesting time.
You had the sleek space aesthetic poking its head around the corner but the 30s futurism (metropolises and highways in the sky, etc) still had grips on the functionality.
More utilitarian vehicles lag behind the times so you had those experiments into COE with vans coming into fruition at a time where even vans had to look t he part. You can just contrast the above Fords to see how the clunky tall version morphed into a sleek low van.
I might disagree somewhat about the forward thinking but it is hidden behind a thick coating of self promotion and trying to make a quick buck. Things haven't changed so much in that respect.
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fintail
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/07/2020 at 17:52 |
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I look at the quick changes in design as a part of it. A 1930 car compared to a 1940 car has the latter looking like a spaceship, and many consumer goods evolved similarly. These days, change isn’t so drastic (although sit in a 2010 car and the ICE might feel quaint). Although modern cars are great, we may be past the evolutionary aesthetic peak, and the rate of design advancement seems to have slowed a lot.
The flashy changes in design in the 50s were followed by some loud societal changes in the 60s. Not sure how that will relate to today, but some cars are stupidly flamboyant again, some are bloa ting again, and it seems like we are in 1968 (save for the secure middle class) again. I think there’s also as much backwards thinking on a societal level now as ever.
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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> fintail
06/07/2020 at 18:32 |
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You do have a point. Without going into politics the economic climate was at a similar point and the bloat followed. Function no longer follows form and as the cost of producing cars goes up we're only going to see less diversity.
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fintail
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/07/2020 at 20:06 |
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I think the economic climate, even with the current crisis not counted , is worse now - with the en masse offshoring of manufacturing and the loss of purchasing power had by the working class in modern times. Politically, things were probably less stable then, but if current trends continue, in a few months that may change.
I fear everything will be some form of CUV potato in the future, with dorky front end faces to be “dynamic” and overplayed beltline/C-pillar kick ups for “character”. I hope I am wrong. There is plenty of function, but it ain’t pretty.
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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> fintail
06/07/2020 at 20:44 |
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This economic boom was interesting because there was no meaningful wage increase but extremely low credit made an unsustainable bubble. The cars seemed to be built off unsustainable growth as well in terms of actual size haha.
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
06/29/2020 at 21:47 |
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Is it possible that Chief Justice Roberts is playing some politics and helping the country rid itself of President Trump? I cannot imagine that those people never have conversations about politics.
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fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/29/2020 at 21:55 |
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Maybe he knows the damage being done to what was at least a respectable subset of the Republican party.
I just hope a few states have the guts to string up the con once this bad dream is over.
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
06/30/2020 at 08:22 |
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As CJSCOTUS, he can take the heat and carve out a legacy. As David Brooks puts it, SCOTUS is the only functioning branch of our government right now. I read today that there are coronavirus spikes that correlate with states who did and did not vote Trump in 2016. I laugh with gallows humor when I see things like the lone Black Republican senator trotting out a police reform bill while POTUS retweets white trash yelling about white power. Do you think there will be very many Republicans crying, “We never knew him!”
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fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/30/2020 at 11:23 |
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A smart man would try to distance himself from this corrupt shitshow now. Eventually, the regime will end, and people attached to it will have a poison legacy attached to them.
All of the Nazi collaborators in occupied lands claimed they had no idea what was going on, too. That may sound hyperbolic, but it might not be too much.
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
06/30/2020 at 14:38 |
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I’ll be making popcorn. I’ll also be paying close attention to the Russian bounty story. Mr. Trump’s lead troll — I mean press secretary — has basically admitted that yes, they knew something about this already.
One thing Mr. Trump did, that I find unconscionable, and which all of the turd polishers have long forgotten about, was right after he took office and he kicked the American press out and invited in the Russian journalists. Into the White H ouse. That was also right about the time when he casually revealed a highly sensitive intelligence gathering method in the Middle East.
And, speaking of Nazis, here’s some clickbait candy:
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fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/30/2020 at 15:12 |
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The current press secretary is pretty amazing, cut from a certain cloth - makes a JD look unimpressive . I wonder how these “people” can sleep at night. Then again, born into relative privilege, never really having to answer to anything, it goes with the territory and pretty much describes modern American political /economic conservatism. Endless streams of outright lies delivered with a straight face and a dose of defiance and arrogance.
Although the so-called right will always deflect away from the idea of a Russian connection, it is there. I also have zero doubt there is a Russian connection to 45's finances. 45 also wishes he was Putin, the strongman desire is, well, strong among the weak men of the right. There’s some one-way admiration there, and Putin knows how to play it.
Stories of the real antifa are always a good read.
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
06/30/2020 at 15:47 |
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And Cancel Culture? I observed it with Righties long before I ever knew it was a thing. How about the Dixie Chicks? But in smaller ways, too: quick to unfriend and block on Facebook, for example. Or say something like, “Nobody says we have to agree,” rather than enter into a conversation that might lead them to examine their position on something.
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fintail
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/30/2020 at 16:24 |
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The “cancel culture” is a funny whine from the freedumb set. Isn’t voting with one’s wallet and choosing not to patronize someone kind of the ultimate expression of a free market? One would think all of these brave warriors of de regulation would support it wholeheartedly. Oh wait, it is someone voting with their wallet against regressives, so it is a problem.
I like the line about arguing with someone on facebook being like choosing to step in dog poop. I use it for some hobby groups, or to stay in touch with relatives who are of the facebook addict demographic - and sometimes I put them on mute so I don’t have to see their (often FOX-fed) babble.
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> fintail
06/30/2020 at 16:47 |
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If a wise man argues with a fool, it’s hard to tell which is which.