Beauties From The Mid Fifties
Both seen and photographed at the Greenwich Concurs Show in October, 2021. For those of us fortunate enough to have grown up in the fifties like myself, we saw a decade that brought us many new and exciting changes. We saw and experienced the infancy of rock and roll, and a music genre that has continued to this day. And although today's rock and roll is considerably different than what had started back in the fifties, the very roots of today's music still survives with today's form. And many of the stars of that era often can still be heard today, and how they, like Les Paul, influenced the music industry, and that influence has prevailed still to this day.
And, likewise, the auto industry also was seeing some notable and exciting styling changes, moving away from the auto only serving our utilitarian needs to something exciting and dynamic. The rather bland looking cars coming out the previous decade paled to the fifties models now offering hardtop convertible styling, two and even three tone paint schemes, sweeping fins, AM/FM transistor powered radios, the advent of Chevrolet's first V8, "the small block," along with Chrysler's Hemi, both that are still widely used in custom work to this day. And we also witnessed the car companies that could not keep up with the times disappear to the formidable pressure coming from the Big 3. Back then, we parted ways with the likes of many auto manufacturers who could not survive. Long time companies like Hudson, Nash, Studebaker, Kaiser Frazer, Willys, DeSoto, and surely Packard seen above all ceased to, or soon were coming to their final days. Often acquisitions and mergers would happen, and in the short term continue to breathe life into the struggling few, but in the end, all would be gone.
But, one thing is sure, the cars of the fifties were innovative and had beautiful styling. And as witnessed above in the two I've posted, their beauty still survives, even long after many have gone to history.
Beauties From The Mid Fifties
Both seen and photographed at the Greenwich Concurs Show in October, 2021. For those of us fortunate enough to have grown up in the fifties like myself, we saw a decade that brought us many new and exciting changes. We saw and experienced the infancy of rock and roll, and a music genre that has continued to this day. And although today's rock and roll is considerably different than what had started back in the fifties, the very roots of today's music still survives with today's form. And many of the stars of that era often can still be heard today, and how they, like Les Paul, influenced the music industry, and that influence has prevailed still to this day.
And, likewise, the auto industry also was seeing some notable and exciting styling changes, moving away from the auto only serving our utilitarian needs to something exciting and dynamic. The rather bland looking cars coming out the previous decade paled to the fifties models now offering hardtop convertible styling, two and even three tone paint schemes, sweeping fins, AM/FM transistor powered radios, the advent of Chevrolet's first V8, "the small block," along with Chrysler's Hemi, both that are still widely used in custom work to this day. And we also witnessed the car companies that could not keep up with the times disappear to the formidable pressure coming from the Big 3. Back then, we parted ways with the likes of many auto manufacturers who could not survive. Long time companies like Hudson, Nash, Studebaker, Kaiser Frazer, Willys, DeSoto, and surely Packard seen above all ceased to, or soon were coming to their final days. Often acquisitions and mergers would happen, and in the short term continue to breathe life into the struggling few, but in the end, all would be gone.
But, one thing is sure, the cars of the fifties were innovative and had beautiful styling. And as witnessed above in the two I've posted, their beauty still survives, even long after many have gone to history.