Hidden Headlights and Distinct Taillights
View allAll Photos Tagged TailLights
Late night traffic and the setting moon on a summer night seen through a telephoto lens. (Explore # 213) www.rossellet.com
Hand built by Andrew Murray. When I asked Andrew about what were the taillights off of his reply was, "little German taillights" (a Porsche, in this case)
Taillight assembly and rear fender moulding on a 1958 Mercury. On show at the 2025 Des-Monies Concours d' Elegance, Des Moines, Iowa
My husband was pretty excited to see this rare 1948 car at the Geneva Concours 2015. The car owners were constantly wiping the rain off of their vehicles. We were happy to see the drops in our photos.
Backside of a 1962 Chevy Impala SS. As part of the SS package Chevy included chrome and aluminum trim surrounding the tail lights.
1956 Chevy Bel Air
Chevy Bel Airs are quite popular at car shows. They're not overly rare but they are beautiful.
I tend to photograph the hood ornaments as they look pretty cool with the sky as a backdrop.
This one was decked out beyond the usual Bel Air. It had a 442 engine with blowers and is totally unique.
Rainy and cold today, I've even heard it's been snowing in the mountains and even closer to Calgary. Yuck, a good day to stay inside.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the farthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
--Robert Frost
This is Grimes Canyon Road - aka California State Route 23 between Moorpark and Fillmore.
About a year ago, we took a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive on this road, when the hills were nice and green from all the moisture SoCal had gotten last winter, and I looked for a turnout to shoot one of them, and saw this hairpin curve below us.
My vantage point for this photo is actually a little way up the road from the turnout, but there was a nice but muddy little trail that led me to this spot.
I didn't know if there would be a lot of traffic on the road being a Sunday, but I got a nice 93 second window here.
An interesting side note, there was a motorcylist who came down the road, pulled over into the wide shoulder on the right hand side of the road in the mid left of the frame, and then turned around and rode back up the road. He must've done the same thing five or six times while I was there.
Not sure what he was doing -- maybe doing some diagnostics on his bike or something, but I thought it was kind of unusual.
Playin along the road in the dark
This gets done a lot I know, but it is still fun to do.
I'll get around to your streams throughout the day!
Not much to say here except that these decorative critters and their strong highlights and shadows caught my eye in the late afternoon sun—an entity we've not seen in southern New England for what seems like weeks :-(
This rare one off 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 by Bertone is one of seven built by Bertone, and is the only coupe of the seven. Powered by a modified 2.9L, 140hp engine, and seen and photographed at the 2024 Greenwich Concours Show. Here is it's story by Sotheby's:
The tale of Stanley H. “Wacky” Arnolt II is well-known to sports car enthusiasts, but bears a rapid repeating: The Warsaw, Indiana businessman made his first fortune as a manufacturer of marine engines, then branched into the selling of British automobiles in Chicago in late 1950. In 1952 he commissioned Italian coachbuilder Bertone to build a limited run of custom-bodied MG TDs, known as Arnolt-MGs, for sale through his showroom. This relationship soon expanded, with Bertone collaborating with “Wacky” on, most famously, the Arnolt-Bristol, as well as Bertone-bodied Alfa Romeos, Bentleys, Ferraris, and other fabulous coachbuilt creations.
There were seven Aston Martins dressed by Bertone under Arnolt’s auspices, or, as the relentlessly self-promoting Arnolt would have preferred they be known, Arnolt-Aston Martins. Their designs differed from series to series and car to car, but DB2/4 chassis number LML/765 is the only coupe. It was and remains a thing of beauty, with lines that are more crisp and elegant than some of the other Bertone creations, arguably more finely tailored and cohesive and especially striking as a coupe. As noted by historian Stanley Nowak in his article on the Bertone Astons in Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 26 No. 4, the car’s dramatic creases in its flanks and a pronounced wraparound rear window were both signature touches of Bertone’s Franco Scaglione.
Build records at Aston Martin Dorset indicate that LML/765 was commissioned by Arnolt on 20 August 1954 for “Monsieur Henrey Pagezy” of Paris and delivered on 7 January 1955. Given the somewhat mangled spelling, it is believed that this client was actually Henri Pigozzi, founder of Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile, better-known as Simca. This is likely, as a few features on LML/765, most notably the taillights, were borrowed from Simca automobiles—an impressive signature.
According to Nowak, Arnolt’s Bertone representative claimed that the coupe was intended to have been the first in a small run of cars, but by the time it appeared Aston Martin had refused to supply any more chassis to the effort. Supporting this statement, the car was shown, well after its completion, at both the 1957 and 1958 Turin Motor Shows—finished in white and then in blue, respectively—each time on the Bertone stand. It is believed that the coachbuilder borrowed the car back both years in an effort to entice Aston Martin to consider them as a new firm to develop the upcoming DB4, a role that eventually went to another Italian coachbuilder, Touring of Milan.
The Bertone coupe later made its way to the United States in 1976, into the hands of John G. Gyann. It was subsequently owned by Dr. Jim Pavlatos of Palos Heights, Illinois, and restored under his care, then passed through the hands of Chicago-based sportscar dealer Bill Jacobs and the Blackhawk Collection. In 1987, it was acquired from Blackhawk by Roger Karlson of California, who would own the car for eleven years and spent much time and spared no expense meticulously sorting the mechanicals of the largely cosmetic restoration that had been undertaken prior to his ownership. The car was shown later in 1987 at Pebble Beach while under Mr. Karlson’s ownership.
In 2019, the special Bertone Aston was acquired by the current owner, who commissioned Aston Martin specialists Kevin Kay Restorations in Redding, California to undertake a full concours restoration. As part of this work, the car was faithfully returned to its “show stand-correct” metallic blue shade, matched to traces of the original finish located below the headlight bezels and in the trunk area. In addition, the correct front bumper and taillights, which had been modified over the years, were fabricated to replicate the original 1955 units, as was the bonnet trim, sun visors, and much of the interior trim hardware. Down to the original red exhaust tip, visible in a surviving 1958 color photograph, no small detail was overlooked during this extensive restoration, which cost over $800,000 and was completed just in time for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2023. The restored car retains its original numbers-matching drivetrain, per its build documentation, with the original engine having been rebuilt to a high-output specification with elevated compression, DB MK III-style valves and camshafts, and an uprated oiling system.
At completion of the work, the car was debuted at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it was honored with First in Class, a remarkable achievement. It has yet to be shown publicly since, leaving the door open for the next caretaker to enjoy participation in virtually any top-level concours event on the planet. In fact, the Bertone Aston has already been invited to be displayed and compete at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Accompanying the sale is a document file featuring restoration photographs and invoices, as well as a copy of the Automobile Quarterly article and other historical information, including a detailed letter account by dedicated former owner Roger Karlson.
This unique Aston Martin DB2/4 is a singular and exquisite automobile, representing the epitome of English sporting heritage, but inspired by American ingenuity, passion, and ambition, and styled and built by Bertone and Italy’s finest artisans. In so many ways, the Bertone Aston represents the ultimate iteration of company owner David Brown’s “gentleman’s express.” A lively, smooth performer, it is a consummate English gentleman indeed, but clothed in a bespoke Italian suit.