I almost didn’t share these photos. I know you may not love cars as much as I do, and I’ve posted so many car pics lately. But these photos turned out so well, with candylike colors and piercing clarity, that I couldn’t resist.
On our way home from Auburn last month, we followed a long old alignment of the Lincoln Highway west from Ligonier. We came upon a little local car show and stopped to look, because anything and everything shows up to these small-town gatherings.
This 1966 Dodge Charger probably gets little road time, but looks fabulous in mauve.
This car gleamed from a thorough and careful restoration.
The Charger’s interior oozed 1960s cool. I would have loved to just sit in it for a minute and soak it in.
The interior coolness continues in the back. The restoration photo montage lying on the floor shows a car that started life in red. But mauve was a factory Dodge color in 1966.
You seldom see mid-sized 1960s Pontiacs in anything close to original condition anymore — many, many of them got converted to faux GTOs.
This wonderfully restored 1968 LeMans did not suffer that fate. But it is no performance slouch, either, as it packs a 400 cubic inch engine.
The 1968-72 Chevy trucks appeal to me as the best looking trucks of all time. Chevy built this C-10 in 1970.
A comfortable truck cabin in its time, this space looks pretty austere compared to today’s truck interiors.
I love purple, but a little goes a long way. The owner of this 1971 Plymouth Valiant Scamp clearly disagrees. Plymouth offered this purple, which they called In Violet, on some of their cars for a couple groovy early-70s years.
The imperfect interior means that this car gets driven. I respect that.
I respected this 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme sedan even more because it is original and unrestored.
Every sign in the cabin, including the big child seat strapped into the back, says that the owner drove this car to the show. Props.
Those blingy aftermarket wheels have got to go, though.
Also original and unrestored, this 1973 Mercury Cougar XR7 kept period-correct wheels and a goldtastic color scheme. This says 1970s as much as the purple Plymouth. Margaret’s attention was rivited to the neighboring Ford F-100, showing her better taste.
But I hadn’t seen a cat like this in original condition in probably 30 years, and couldn’t help but look.
This cool tunneled backlight differentiated the Cougar from the Mustang, on which it was based and which it heavily resembled.
Enough! No more cars! At least until next month, when I trot out my annual Carspotting post.
Carspotting rounds up the old cars I found on the road each year. See last year’s here.
