Cars That Make You Smile :-)

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Rokeby, Mar 17, 2008.

  1. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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  2. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    Here's a unabashedly homely piece of 1950's urban nostalgia that I saw
    today in Ballamer:

    http://priuschat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9837&stc=1&d=1213324863

    I saw it in the lot at the corner of Falls Rd. and Cold Spring Lane.
    The lot is frequently used as a support area for film crews.

    Although trucks like this were endemic in eastern US cities in the '40s and
    '50s, they went largely unnoticed. They were out and about in the wee hours
    of the morning making home deliveries, long gone when most folks left the
    house for school or work.

    I shared the front bedroom in a typical Ballamer row house with three
    brothers. The clinking sound of the milkman putting quart bottles of milk in
    the thinly insulated aluminum box on the porch signaled the true start of a
    new day. Shortly thereafter an alarm clock sounded in the back bedroom.

    Then the Old Man shuffled to the bathroom for a shower. And soon Mom
    went down the stairs to the kitchen to start coffee and breakfast. It was still
    safe to be wrapped in semi-conscious half-sleep. But once the Old Man
    exited the bathroom, the official reveille sounded from the kitchen:

    "Boys, boys, it's time to get up. Clean shirts are on the hall table. I'll be up
    in 5 minutes, and your beds better be made up."
     

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  3. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

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  4. Spectra

    Spectra Amphi-Prius

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    Good One, Rokeby!

    Was that one licensed for street use?
    I surely do remember them -- didn't the drivers have to stand up? Always wondered how they shifted through those whiny gears to a max of 35 mph!

    For 10 points -- what was the company that made them?

    KandyRed, you showing the next generation milk trucks? yikes!
     
  5. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    In the mid-70s, in Long Beach, CA, I owned an ex-bread truck, later owned
    by a used book store in Santa Monica. It looked similar, except the front
    windshield was way out over the front grill with glass all around. The truck
    looked like a loaf of bread!

    [​IMG]
    Helms Bakery truck

    Anyway, the padded tractor seat stood on a
    pedestal that could be tipped forward. The center horn? on the seat was
    fairly large so you could grip it with your thighs. You were only just barely
    sitting.

    Driving was interesting; it had a floor mounted l-o-n-g throw 3-speed shift,
    but only two pedals. Gas on the right of course. The other was combined
    clutch and brake. Total throw as about 7 inches. The top 3 inches or so was
    clutch, the rest brake. Made for some interesting driving in the hills around
    Palos Verdes, Newport, and and La Jolla.

    The engine was a great lump of a four-banger, don't know who made it. It
    had a mechanical governor that topped out at a screaming 35 MPH, no
    power anything, and a steering wheel that must have been 20-22 inches in
    diameter. No Synchro -- chrunch, crash, GRIND. Whole lotta engine-gear noise,
    understandable as the motor/trany was essentially in the pax compartment
    covered only by a hinged flat aluminum cover. Vacuum powered windshield
    wipers that enthusiastically thrashed about when stopped, but hardly moved
    when underway. Thank God it didn't rain much in those parts. Tire pressure up
    around 75-80 psi IIRC. Great huge, but marginally effective drum brakes all
    around. At times it was actually necessary to stand on the brake pedal.
    What a beast.

    Oh, the bread truck also had an air whistle that ran off a diaphragm pump
    connected to the pull lever over the driver's door. Toot! Toot!

    That's as close as I can get to what the milk truck was probably like.

    Who made the milk truck? DIVCO, Detroit Industrial Vehicle COmpany
    -- that wasn't the only pix I took!

    http://priuschat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9848&stc=1&d=1213382214
     

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  6. Spectra

    Spectra Amphi-Prius

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    What a wealth of information! Thanks!
     
  7. xsmatt81

    xsmatt81 non-AARP Member

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    My mom had this car till 89 or so..best damn hondas, the 83's. Im sure its out there still going..her's was blue and gray trim though. Not sure what MPG she got nor does she, but probably around 34mpg.
    [​IMG]

    then the end of all of all cars;

    Maybach Exelero
    [​IMG]


    Enzo is also very high on my dream car list.
     
  8. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    Any Caddy with fins makes me smile.
     
  9. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

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    lol 81 civic from the movie emplyee of the month
    [​IMG]
     
  10. bac

    bac Active Member

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    [​IMG]

    ... Brad
     
  11. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

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    do you one better...amc pacer from waynes world LOL
    [​IMG]
    dont forget it has a licorice dispenser
     
  12. rufaro

    rufaro WeePoo, Gen II

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    How 'bout the 'vette that Suzanne Somers drove in American Grafitti (which was largely filmed in Petaluma, where I've lived for the past 15 years)?
     
  13. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    Mine... I smile everytime I look at him!!

    [​IMG]
     
  14. rfruth

    rfruth Member

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  15. jammin012

    jammin012 The man behind The Man

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    Jaguar XJ220

    Makes me smile and I get a little gooey inside.
     

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  16. Jimmie84

    Jimmie84 New Member

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    :rockon:
     

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  17. Spectra

    Spectra Amphi-Prius

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    The first car I remember riding in was my grandfather's 1949 Pontiac 4-dr sedan, like this one (internet photo).

    The rare sight of one always brings a smile.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

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    [​IMG]
    50cc 3wheel, street legal in UK it has a handle in the back so you can pull it around like a cart if you cant find a parking spot
     
  19. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Oh, that's not a car. It's a rolling carry-on with a built in insect fogger. :rolleyes:
    That Lotus of yours, KandiRedCoi, should make anyone smile. :cool:
     
  20. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

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