Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences on yesterday’s post. I think this discussion will be something that we touch on again and again – at the appropriate time. Thank you so much for your honesty and bravery.
And we’ll segue to a few more vintage cars. (Rather abrupt!)
I can’t remember the maker or the year, but this is a car that was designed to be chauffeur-driven.
The chauffeur sat in the front (the roof over his seat could be removed). Those being chauffeured sat here. That’s a jump seat in front.
An Oldsmobile Holiday.
The hood ornament on the Holiday.
I showed you a Franklin on Monday. The owner’s son also has a Franklin and this is it.
The interior of the owner’s Franklin. Gorgeous color.
Amazing hood ornament. Wow.
Buick Roadmaster. That cobalt blue is stunning. And I love the hood ornament.
A Triumph Spitfire. Oh, I could get into this car! Well, maybe not physically – it’s awfully low to the ground!
The Woody that I showed you on Monday. You can see how beautiful the wood is in this shot.
Check out this gorgeous hood ornament! Do you think this was meant to measure wind velocity, or something like that?
Don loves car shows. He pours over the pictures he took and dreams of owning a vintage car someday. Dreams are a good thing to nurture. Fingers crossed, Don. You deserve one.
The winner of a copy of Devil Sent the Rain is Dori. Congratulations! I’ll send you an email, Dori, in order to get your mailing address.
We are not watching tonight’s debate. As Don says, “Trump has been living rent-free in my brain for too long. No more.” Amen. He’s being evicted. Now.
Happy Wednesday.
I innocently showed my hubby that first pic of the car with the chevron fender. He can’t believe you didn’t take a pic of that hood ornament! He said it’s probably going to take him hours now, to figure out what kind of car that is! Too funny! As far as that last hood ornament, he believes that was on a model A. And those swirling things will move as the car moves. The blue glass will then reflect oncoming headlights. And the big round thing on top….probably a temperature gauge. And that concludes the car lesson for today! p.s. Do you recall the name of the car show? ;)
Tell your husband I apologize! I went back to my photos, but no hood ornament photo. Sorry.
Thank him for the information on that last hood ornament, I was really curious about it. I’m going to tell Don about it because he’ll be as fascinated as I am!
The name of the show: Annual Gathering of Old Cars at Mills Mansion, Staatsburg, NY (Sponsored by the Red Hook Car Club)
Oh, I’m very glad you have now mentioned in detail where exactly this car show took place because I totally LOVE reading about the locale you live in, with my own high retirement hopes being to finally see New York and New England, preferably in the fall of a future (soon!) year. That mansion is incredible! I googled it. It was in the same extended family for 140 years; one of the great gilded-age retreats. The family had something like a half-dozen houses and only lived in this 65-room one around this time of year (autumn/harvest), before snow. I was sorry to hear that it is in various stages of decline and needs a lot of work inside and outside which is maybe why these families eventually give up ‘the big houses’…but before the last heir did that (I think I read 1938?), she/they made sure a lot more land around it had been added so that it was quite a sizeable intact acreage to give to the State of NY; beautiful, preserved countryside, right? They have a “Friends of” who strive to raise funds for renovation, such as that massive portico which is one of the things that needs work…and apparently it (the mansion) was spray-coated in some past era with a silvery concrete-something which needs now to come off. Anyway, wow Claudia, this area of NY with Staatsburg, Woodstock, New Paltz, Rhinebeck…I’m salivating; it’s so gorgeous with lots of things to do. It just speaks so loudly to me of a great quality of life despite rough winters. I am very happy when you share road trips with us!!
Yes, we have lots of historic sites and houses around here, especially on the Hudson. Just across the river, and just south of Staatsburg, is Hyde Park, where the Roosevelt estate is, as well as the Vanderbilt estate. Up and down the Hudson, estates tell of a way of life that existed early in the last century.
We love living here!
There isn’t much style in today’s cars, built for speed, safety (?), and, in some cases, gas mileage. And hood ornaments are beautiful relics of the past, especially in the city where people like to steal them. Hope Don gets a dream car one day!
Oh, you couldn’t get away with a hood ornament like that one in the city these days!
Thank you so much for these photos! My husband is a vintage car nut and he has drooled over these photos. His love is the Mustang just as yourself. He has a 2012 – this is our 4th one together in our 25 years together. Retirement is just around the corner for us in a few years and the dream is that he gets a vintage Mustang probably 1960’s and I get a Mercedes 560SL – 1970’s or 1980’s. Along with that cabin in the mountains!
We all have dreams don’t we? They are wonderful to have and nurture and absolutely necessary in my opinion. I hope that Don gets his vintage car one day! Blessings to you both.
A Mercedes! You go, Belinda! We need our dreams and retirement should give us some rewards, right?
Beautiful autos and photos…hood ornaments, love ’em. But most of all I love Don’s assessment of the political climate— “Trump has been living rent-free in my brain for too long. No more.” —What you said, Don!
I know! He’s absolutely right!
Those cars are really works of art! I enjoyed your photos!! I say we all need to have dreams to keep us going in life! Hugs.
Hugs to you, my friend!
There truly was art in the cars from our past. Today they are utilitarian only. I’m sure those hood ornaments took away from mpg stats. The design of the cars changed so much every year or so. I think that was why it was easier to tell the difference between models and years back then. Today it is hard to tell the visual difference between a 2010 and a 2016 of most models. The upgrades now seem to happen on the insides and with more safety features. Wonder what a car show 25 years from now will look like. Will the cars from the 90’s and beyond draw crowds?? They all sort of look alike now!! Have a great Wednesday!!
They look completely alike – my Honda looks like a Ford looks like a Subaru, etc. No big difference!
Well, I love Don’s ‘rent-free’ comment. I was thinking aloud yesterday about how glad to let that NAME just disappear from my everyday. It’s all coming to its conclusion very soon. But, I’m finishing things out; I’m watching the debate. Everybody needs to do what works best for themselves. The debates are definitely stressful. I’ll make sure I don’t discuss it here on the blog tomorrow.
Isn’t it great that people hung on to old cars and saved them?!
Oh, I’m sure I’ll read about the debate, Vicki – maybe even follow DailyKos live blog, but I don’t want to watch or hear that man anymore.
Your post yesterday was excellent. I didn’t have anything to add, I think I am so everwhelmed with to much craziness!
Me too, Doris!
I agree with Don’s comment 100%. I’m so ready for it all to be over! Not watching the debate either.
I can’t wait until it’s all over. We’ll have to celebrate!
I’m pretty sure I’ll watch the “debate” (why do they call them something they’re not?), but with the happy thought that it’s the last one. I cannot wait for this to be over. Talk about our “long, national nightmare.” On a happier note, my father had a Buick Roadmaster in the mid-fifties, blue and white; I love the cobalt one. And oh, that fabulous hood ornament! Thanks for all the gorgeous car photos.
I’ve used that same quote, Margaret – “our long, national nightmare’ – to describe this campaign. Oh, heavens, let it be over!
I love that your father had a Roadmaster!
Love Don’s comment. It is sad thinking about all of the thoughts and time we have been giving that man. We’ll never get that wasted time back……
You’re not kidding, Eileen. Love you, cousin.
I’m about an hour into the debate…don’t know if I can take much more. The man makes me physically ill.
Don had the right idea, for sure !
Me too! I feel sick to my stomach when I watch him.
My Dad was a huge car buff, always talking about the cars of his youth – which include a lot of the cars you’ve posted about recently. I never heard of the Oldsmobile “Holiday” before, however. I think Dad liked Buicks best. He always called them “doctors’ cars” because they were very well-built and reliable – and never flashy. In. that way, they were a lot like my Dad! I bet a lot of the people who exhibited their cars at this show rent them out for weddings and other events. Wouldn’t it be fun driving to your wedding in one of these glorious machines?
PS – I’ve watched all 3 debates with the sound muted. It doesn’t get turned back on until the spin starts afterward. In fact, the TV is now muted whenever Orange Adolf appears. I literally cannot tolerate the sound of his voice any more. For now I’m just praying that he’ll go away after the election. Immediately after he tells us that he really didn’t want to win anyway – the sour grapes tactic. Hey, maybe Putin’ll take him and his whole Stepford family? Or better still, he could be abducted by aliens. THAT would be just the best.
One of the car owners told me his car had been used for a Mick Jagger video. They’re also rented out for period movies, etc.
I’m voting for abducted by aliens, Janet!