Could a 1955 Rambler ever be cool even with stylish wide whitewalls? Maybe in Kodachrome.
This was our first new car since 1950. Actually it was a nice little car. Large on the inside for a 6'2" driver who did not have to look through a distorted curved part of the windshield, and small on the outside so that the little lady could park it easier. But....good thing we ordered the bumper guards with it. They seemed to get replaced often enough.
Between 1950 and 1955, we had become a two car family with the addition of an elderly Pontiac. After driving our 1950 Plymouth with a six-cylinder flathead, low compression engine, the Pontiac, although an older 1947 model, had 25% more horsepower and seemed like such a powerhouse. It was the first eight cylinder car the family had owned.
In the 1940s and 1950s, people just didn't go into debt. However, a substantial promotion just before 1950 made us feel like millionaires. We splurged by buying a new 1950 Plymouth and a brand new house, where the Rambler is sitting. The house had a whole three bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, and a fenced backyard for the kids. We had to use a combination of FHA and VA financing to buy it. The house was $6000 and the lot was $1200. Who would have ever thought we'd be rich enough to afford that kind of a dwelling?
We may have gasped from time to time under the load of heavy payments for both car and house, but still managed to raise two children and even pay for braces at $30 a month. That $30 a month was half a house payment. You sure could buy a lot more for your money back then.
At the end of 1955, the 1956 models were out, completely restyled, with then-new wraparound windows. The '55s became a drug on the market, which priced that little Rambler where we could buy the most deluxe model. It included Hydramatic transmission, whitewall tires, and a genuine wood decal on top of the passenger windows that surrounded the entire rear window. Okay, the wood wasn't real, but it was an honest-to-God genuine decal. Laughable today, that was high living for us. The poverty of the Depression was still fresh in our minds and those of our neighbors'.
Could a 1955 Rambler ever be cool even with stylish wide whitewalls? Maybe in Kodachrome.
This was our first new car since 1950. Actually it was a nice little car. Large on the inside for a 6'2" driver who did not have to look through a distorted curved part of the windshield, and small on the outside so that the little lady could park it easier. But....good thing we ordered the bumper guards with it. They seemed to get replaced often enough.
Between 1950 and 1955, we had become a two car family with the addition of an elderly Pontiac. After driving our 1950 Plymouth with a six-cylinder flathead, low compression engine, the Pontiac, although an older 1947 model, had 25% more horsepower and seemed like such a powerhouse. It was the first eight cylinder car the family had owned.
In the 1940s and 1950s, people just didn't go into debt. However, a substantial promotion just before 1950 made us feel like millionaires. We splurged by buying a new 1950 Plymouth and a brand new house, where the Rambler is sitting. The house had a whole three bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, and a fenced backyard for the kids. We had to use a combination of FHA and VA financing to buy it. The house was $6000 and the lot was $1200. Who would have ever thought we'd be rich enough to afford that kind of a dwelling?
We may have gasped from time to time under the load of heavy payments for both car and house, but still managed to raise two children and even pay for braces at $30 a month. That $30 a month was half a house payment. You sure could buy a lot more for your money back then.
At the end of 1955, the 1956 models were out, completely restyled, with then-new wraparound windows. The '55s became a drug on the market, which priced that little Rambler where we could buy the most deluxe model. It included Hydramatic transmission, whitewall tires, and a genuine wood decal on top of the passenger windows that surrounded the entire rear window. Okay, the wood wasn't real, but it was an honest-to-God genuine decal. Laughable today, that was high living for us. The poverty of the Depression was still fresh in our minds and those of our neighbors'.