Post Hijacking Alert: Can You Locate?

"SBA Thanks You For All The Fish" (santabarbarianlsx)
11/04/2020 at 22:45 • Filed to: None

!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!

!!! UNSUPPORTED LINE BREAK IN HEADER !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNSUPPORTED LINE BREAK IN HEADER !!!

!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!

DISCUSSION (18)

Jayvincent > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 22:55

station wagons were the family mini-van or suv of the day and there’s a couple in this pic , but trucks were strictly work and trade vehicles and therefore not the kind of vehicle you would find on vacation

smobgirl > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 22:56

I mean presumably you’re bringing a family of kids - did they let you throw them in the bed in SoCal back then? (I know the rest of the country didn’t care until relatively recently, but I’m not too familiar with vintage California laws).

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > smobgirl
11/04/2020 at 23:02

Actually kids DID ride in the back a lot... but...

I mean the Coca-Cola guy is there. He’s a vendor parking in this lot and driving a sedan. Workers, mechanics, suppliers, security? Not a single van, pickup, Suburban???

No young couples checking it out? Hell I know a guy who took his wife here on their honeymoon.

Well, seems to point out that consumers didn’t even buy those vehicles much. Even Suburbans (introduced in 1936) were mostly farm, ranch and fleet usage.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Jayvincent
11/04/2020 at 23:03

Most of the first-day attendees were SoCal locals... it took awhile to develop into a destination resort.

Just Jeepin' > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:03

I did find a step side pickup in another photo from that day:

Kinja'd!!!

Source: https://theoldmotor.com/?p=166444

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:04

Back when work trucks were for work.

ranwhenparked > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:06

Ordinary passenger cars sat 6, had giant trunks, were spacious and comfortable, had decent ground clearance, and V8s either standard or available. Many of the people buying big pickups and SUVs today are doing so because ordinary passenger cars have lost most of those attributes. Americans like driving big vehicles, if they can't have big cars, they'll buy big trucks.

subexpression > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:06

The reason you see pickups everywhere today is also the reason they usually have extra doors, oversized cabs, and undersized beds. Today, they’re used as passenger vehicles with an open cargo area and extra towing capacity .

It wasn’t so many years ago that pickups were still mostly for hauling shit and it was rare for me to see anything other than regular cab longbed . I’m pretty sure pickups have been everywhere in farm country for as long as they’ve existed. Most people going to Disneyland need the family truckster, not a work truck.

Just Jeepin' > Just Jeepin'
11/04/2020 at 23:07

Correction: two step-sides and a Ford with a cab.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Just Jeepin'
11/04/2020 at 23:08

Good eye! That’s a good catch. Looks like two in that row.

Can you tell? Are those mostly CA plates? There was another comment on whether this was locals checking it out or people on vacation from cross-country. I thought the opening was mostly SoCal locals-- even then the market was huge.

Longtime Lurker > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:08

Keep in mind pickup trucks were only regular cab back in ' 55 and the only family SUV were Chevy Suburban, the Willys power wagon, and the new for '53 International Travelall. Which judging by height of vehicles in the background there might be a couple.

Just Jeepin' > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:09

Oh, hell, I have no idea on the plates.

Gerry197 > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/04/2020 at 23:12

If you drive a pick-up from that era you will understand.

Modern trucks today pretty much do everything well except canyon carve, but for most people needs in terms of transport, luxury, towing, hauling, they pretty much have it covered.

Factor in the insane resale value, especially compared to sedans, and it’s easy to see why they are so popular in the last couple of decades.

As for SUVs, a lot of those cars back then were actually pretty tall riding with big greenhouses, similar to modern day crossovers which rule vehicle sales.

Gerry197 > ttyymmnn
11/04/2020 at 23:16

You can still get a work truck. A stripped out single cab with vinyl floor. Of course you will need to special order since no sales manager will ever order one with an order because it will sit on the lot forever.

Actual companies, farms, etc., will buy from fleet sales directly.

fintail > Just Jeepin'
11/04/2020 at 23:53

I spy a 300SL gullwing too.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > fintail
11/05/2020 at 01:49

That’s Walt’s... er, maybe.

There was a story over on TTAC a few years ago from an old guy who’d grown up in West LA and had been a valet at Musso & Frank in the late 1950s. Walt and some business colleague were there waiting for Walt’s Mercedes to be brought around and the colleague kept pestering him about how much he’d paid for that “German sports car”...

Business was going great. Walt was happy so he splurged... but the other guy wouldn’t let it go.

$2000?

“more”

$3000?

“more”

$40 00?

“er, more”

“Walt you didn’t pay $5 000 for a German car did you?”

“er, it was a bit more...”

Apparently Walt was pretty frugal and he’d gone way way over the top to buy a Benz sports car ... in an era when a top of the line Cadillac 62 could be had for about $4000.

fintail > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
11/05/2020 at 09:40

I can believe it. They were around 10K new I think. Depreciation floor was often sub-5K in the early 70s, probably around the time you could pick up a now-2MM house for under 50K.

Taylor Martin > Just Jeepin'
11/05/2020 at 09:56

There are a good bundle of trucks in that photo, so far I’ve found 3, one of which with a cab on it. Couldn’t find the 300SL that fintail spotted. Maybe my eye isn’t sharp enough.