A Trip To Lost In The Fifties!
A Morning Spent Admiring Multiple Decades Of Classic Cars
Long ago, my grandparents drove me to the little town of Sandpoint, Idaho one weekend when I was visiting them in May. We parked my grandpa's red Dodge pickup and proceeded to spend the next few hours wandering the streets of downtown Sandpoint, admiring the American classic car finery. Hot rods of multiple sorts were always a fixture in my youth, I can still remember cowering in the burgundy upholstery of my Papa's gold Z28 Camaro as he showed me what it could do by the straight stretch near his home. Stories of GTX's, Road Runners, and Vega's filled my ears as a child, and my first vehicle was my Papa's 78 Chevy Silverado. It had a balanced and blue printed 454, a turbo transmission, and garnered me no small amount of respect in the school parking lot.
My other papa restored old tractors and vehicles, and I learned a lot over the years as I watched him painstakingly restore (and cuss at) his 1968 Chevy pickup to a brilliant shade of Hugger Orange glory. Both of my papa's had shops full of a million tools and both settings were resplendently colored in profane utterances, lubricant smells, and various forms of rock or country music. Hence my love for vehicles and shops!
That said, even though I have a great love for all things mechanical, over the last few years I haven't got to attend any Gear Head Show And Tell Sessions. In fact the last car show I attended was Lost In The Fifties in Sandpoint, and that was in 2002! EEP!
It was in that nostalgic vein that I grabbed my kids, husband, mom, and Auntie, and proceeded to stroll through the streets of the lakeside town and peruse all manner of expensive mechanical masterpiece finery! One thing our country got right in the middle of the last century was cars. The creativity and ingenuity that encompasses mid-century American cars is quite glorious.
I am personally not a devotee to one particular brand or another, I tend to love them all. I love 1967 mustangs, 69 Z28 Camaros, GTX's, Barracudas, 63 Buick Rivieras, Old Broncos, Scouts, and Willys jeeps, old 40's coupes, etc...I love them all!
And has Lost In The Fifties ever grown! Street after street was filled with vehicles being shown off by their very proud owners. Some owners were so proud that they were willing to put a price tag on their car-babies, and all I can say is DANG!
Aside from all of the flashy steel and chrome, there were also the attendees and their accoutrements to observe. I'd have to say that at least one in four folks had a fur baby, and all the canines in attendance offered up no small amount of amusing moments for yours truly to smile about. I'm pretty sure that almost every breed was represented from Boxers to sunglasses wearing poodles.
Another new development that has manifested since the last time I attended was sighting some signs of car culture. My stepson and his mom were heavy into the rockabilly scene many years ago. The whole Social Distortion, custom rides, Betty Page looking girlfriend thing. In years past, Lost In The Fifties had more of a local street dance with a few locals in poodle skirts vibe going on, this time I saw some representation from the rockabilly folks in the form of skull and roses paint jobs and heavily made up Page-like pinup girls. It was an interesting meeting of the worlds for sure:o)
And perhaps that is what I love so much about classic cars and their devotees, there is no one representation that claims the genre, yet on the same token all of the grease and chrome devotees will show up and show off their wares in a amiable "Look at this" fashion that I really appreciate. I love to be surrounded by a sea of amiable creatures, fully immersed in an element of enjoyment. The kettle corn and street food certainly help things a bit too!
And on that note, I hope you all are having a magnificent Sunday, replete with smiles and maybe a cruise or a stroll or two;o)
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Old is gold afterall I love the purple one . I like seeing these kinda cars because nowadays we are in the perception that Mercedes or Orher cars are everything
Ooh! I agree! Not that I don't appreciate our modern Bentley's or Mclaren's, but there is just something magical about the oldies.
And the purple car cracked me up, it's my favorite color, but when I totally got amused when I saw that little copy of the car on the air filter:o)
Oh that had some sweet rides there! My dad sold cars when I was young (oh about 100 years ago lol) and I remember when the Z-28 came out and I wanted one sooo bad!!!! I actually had a 79 Nova, my first car, and probably my favorite of the ones Ive owned. Of course I love the classic Montes and Chevelles. I know it means I am
gettingold when I say it, but they dont make them like that anymore!Power, efficiency, and reliability are great advantages in new cars, but style is mostly dead. They all look the same. And working on a new car is not so simple.
Totally agree! They look amazingly the same! To me, it is a real shame not to tell much difference in appearance between a Hyundai and a Mercedes. It's crazy!
Ah! You got to enjoy the finery as it rolled off the line, I don't think that makes you old, only lucky:o)
There are attributes, like @jacobtothe mentioned, about newer cars that I enjoy, but you just can't beat the gorgeousness and sound of the classics. Although, I don't miss sticking to the vinyl of my Mom's 76 Laguna on a hot day, so there's that, LOL!
Oh you are too kind. However I do want to clarify I didn't buy or drive that 79 Nova new!! Even I am not that old!!!! LOLZ!
Informative post , thank you . Nice photo shoot . Keep good work .
Your post is always different i follow your blog everytime , your post is so helpful . I always inspire of your post on my steem work . Thank you for sharing @generikat
Spend my Sunday cooking, I like to cook today I did not go out on the street.
These cars are beautiful my favorite was the blue I like that color now the dog hahaha very original
Ooh, you sound like you had a lovely Sunday, I love to get to spend a day in cooking!
And I am rather fond of the color blue too:o)
Some great shots. It looked like a fine afternoon out.
They do a classic car show every year in Gastown here in Vancouver every summer. It is a thrill to see classic cars in the old part of the town. I am not much of a gear-head but I have to admit a soft spot for the 65 Mustang. It was an ex-boyfriend's dream car and it brings back good memories.
A really great share. Kat:0
Thank you Pryde! It was a glorious day:o)
You know what's funny? I grew up traversing back and forth through Alberta and BC, but I have never been to Vancouver. Me thinks a road trip is in order!
And I love Mustangs, both metal and living one's!
Haven't seen any live one's yet. One day. Yeah, come to Vancouver. We'll do coffee ... that is what we do here ... like all the time:):):) And I'll show you our library:)
I remember one occasion when I worked with the Bookmobile, and my delivery to a retirement home was impeded by a small car show for the residents. There were perhaps a dozen cars from the 40s-60s, a rockabilly band, and other such nostalgic inducements to get people outside and active. It was great for those who couldn't go to a car show like the one you saw because the show came to them!
For some reason I feel like being a part of a traveling Rockabilly Roadshow that brought joy to homeboundish people would be totes sweet! It would be like being classic car Santa or something. Moments like that would make me miss the Bookmobile.
Such a wonderful.and interesting ideas by @generikat mam...
Wel done dear...
Thank you dini!
I didn't realize that event was happening this weekend, but now I understand why I kept seeing vintage cars now and then! I've never gone up to Sandpoint to see this car show. Maybe next year...
You should totally go next year! It's the third weekend in May. Of course, there is always Car d'Alene in June, but that involves wading through CDA, and it's crazy down there!!
We love going to old car shows. There are a lot of them in this area.
When I met my husband he had a beautiful souped up '69 Camaro. Unfortunately, we have NO photos of it. I always joked I married him for the Camaro and then he sold it.... :))
Ooh, Lucky!!
Ha ha! I love having things to tease the husband about! You've got a nice little zinger with the disappearing Camaro;o)
Hey! I know that shares-wearing poodle! There are two of then that are often at the farmers market come summertime! We went to the Parade the night before and what fun! I loved the variety! In fact, I'm working on a post about it, sort of a slideshow of photos set to surfer tunes! Hopefully our paths will cross sometime this summer. Maybe a Steemit fishing meetup at a local lake? 😉
That was most definitely them! There were two shades and hat wearing poodles! Ooh, I can't wait to see your post, and yes! We need to have a meetup sometime this summer, even if it is at City Beach and we turn the wild ones loose for some swimming! We will have to confer about this some more:)