Brown Streak

THE ULTIMATE RAT ROD SLEEPER

I found myself in a far corner of Astoria recently when I saw a rotted old hulk crouching at the curb. I mean look at this thing!

This is a 1950 Pontiac Straight-Eight (or Silver Streak as it was alternately called) that might have been black 65 years ago. At first glance it is the most beat up ride in town.

The Straight-Eight got its name from the inline 8 cylinder engine beneath the hood. The big straight eights were common from the 1930s with most domestic auto makers. By 1950 they were heading towards extinction thanks to the more powerful and efficient V8s. Packard was the last to produce one in 1954, a year after Pontiac went for the V8.
Even the wheels are tired on this thing, but they match. After looking at them for a minute it dawned on me that they were very much on purpose.

This logo is so futuristic! Nobody did the future as well as the past during the '40s and '50s.

Oh yeah look at this monster! This is like a big muddy catfish trolling the lakebed looking for children to eat. Those headlights confirm what the wheels were hinting at; this is actually somebody's ultimate rat rod. I like this so much better than the standard flat black paint with red wheels and baby moon caps. Every second of the 65 years this has existed is written on its rusty mug.

That fat chrome stripe is where the Silver Streak name originated. This was also the last gasp for split windshields. In many ways this car has more in common with cars from the '20s than even those built 5 years later.

It's obscured behind the scratched glass covering but within that circle is the stylized head of Chief Pontiac residing within. Originally his image would've been the hood ornament too (in chrome on this car but in lit-up amber glass on the Super Chief!). 

Grumpy punk.

For a 2-door coupe this ride is pretty huge. I imagine fitting 4 people in the backseat wouldn't be an issue.

That little blue sticker on the vent window is the only other visual clue that this is a well loved car.

Inside we can see what's really going on here! There is a very short stick shift hiding beneath some terrible but newer seats. That massive dash mounted aftermarket tach with the red light telling the driver when to shift, the 4 gauges below, and the two red switches amidst those gauges all tell me this is a serious drag racing machine!

The dual exhaust is barely visible here as they used dark or possibly rust-treated metal. It looks to me to be 2.5" or 3" exhaust though so whatever's under the hood these days has plenty of grunt. I really like how the pipes angle outward in an effort at even more subtlety. The taillights have a blue dot in the center which is a classic hot rod detail.

You can just make out EIGHT in art deco lettering on that half circle over the propeller. Even better is the cheesiest/worst/best license plate holder I've ever seen!
Hats off to the mystery owner of this masterpiece hiding in plain sight. I've seen a lot of junky cars, rat rods, and hot rods, but this is the single best combination of the three I've witnessed. I would love to see this pull up to a light and get challenged by some chump in a Mustang only to blow its doors off.
Bravo, Pontiac owner!

Show Car Sunday returns with the true king of 1957

CALIFORNIA DREAM MACHINE

What else is new? I was driving along some street in Alameda with an old friend when we passed this majestic beast, long-extinct on the East Coast:

I mean really California, do you have to be so smug about how your cars don't rust? This is a 1957 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan De Ville in Tahoe Blue. An amazing and luxurious beast of a ride!

When I was a kid the '57 Chevy was the most iconic of all the classics (these days they've been toppled by Muscle Cars and European Sports Cars). This is the vastly superior older brother of the Chevy, being the top of the GM heap. This car is dripping with ostentatious styling.

The front is just beautiful in my opinion. The hooded headlights are similar to those of the Chevy from that year, but just about everything else is unique. This large conical points jutting out of the grill are referred to as Dagmars after the stage name of the rather busty first female star of television Virginia Ruth Egnor. The wraparound mesh detail between the headlight and the bumpers are strictly for show. The dual round light on the lower bumper corner are the turn signal and running lights. Sedan de Ville is written out in full, though de Ville would be combined in the '60s to become DeVille.

Everything is swoopy and ready for launch in this Jet Age cruiser. The Sputnik was launched in October of '57 which heralded the Space Age, making this the last gasp of Jet Age design. Styling cues abound from the wings and chrome spear on the side to the full-on jet hood ornament. Notice that this is a true hardtop, meaning that with all the windows rolled down there is no pillar between the front and rear opening.

A rip on the seat is about as much damage as this car seems to have sustained in its 58 years. The interior looks much like interiors would through the end of the '70s with that clean speedometer, column shift automatic, central radio with ashtray below, and clock on the far side. However since this is a Cadillac there is a fancy bit of lined chrome trim adorning the footwell!

Classic Jet Age action; chrome spear and a faux vent with chrome gills. Looks like 3 of those gills have gone missing and good luck finding those!

Not only does this Caddy have all its original hubcaps but she's rolling on vintage look wide whitewalls complete with the old Firestone lettering. Cool! 

This car is enormous but manages to keep it together in a tidy package. The dynamic rear window shape goes a long way I think.

Look at that Caddy symbol which is as stylized as the Batman symbol in Frank Millers Dark Knight. These fins are pronounced but still nothing compared to just 2 years later when the Ecto-1 was built.

I really love everything about this car which is unusual for a 4 door. My ultimate favorite "if I actually won a hundred million Powerball jackpot" car is a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible which shares many of the styling cues of this ride. 

The way to fill 'er up on the '57 Caddy is amazing; that little red reflector between the round lights is actually a button. Press that button and the chrome housing that holds those 2 lights swings up on a hinge, exposing the hidden gas cap inside! Had I thought of it at the time I would've taken a shot.

By the way the exhaust comes out of those vents on the bumper corners!

How much could you fit in the trunk? Probably a full size Weber gas grill no problem, or a mid-size refrigerator on its side.

*That's my buddy Daves unbelievably sweet Scout sitting up there at the stop sign. I jumped out on the spot and ran around this Caddy while he idled.

When you take a step back and see some other cars parked near something like this it makes them all look so terrible. The Scout is definitely holding its own, but that Dodge crew cab? Puh-leeze! The Caddy's standing around the party in a tuxedo while everyone else is wearing shorts.

This long hood contains a 365 V8 mated to a 4-speed Hydromatic transmission. Cadillac had the same mission for the entirety of the last century; the engine should be powerful enough to do whatever you asked of it but do it in a silent, effortless manner. They succeeded. 

Air conditioning became an option starting with the 1953 Cadillacs, and this one most likely has it assuming it was originally sold in California. The a/c unit was built by none other than Frigidaire. 

We'll leave with a close up of the mighty Caddy schnoz. The 2 tall chrome spears standing tall on the hood are meant to mimic the tails of a jet. The crest refers to the family coat of arms of the Cadillac division namesake Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac, a French explorer who landed in Detroit which at the time was located in New France. When the emblem was redesigned in 2002 the small ducks sadly disappeared. The large V under the crest generally refers to cars powered by V8 engines.

Next up; something less luxurious!

Kicking off the weekend with a wicked patina!

NIFTY FIFTY 

In the South Slope portion of Brooklyn I recently ran across the following beautifully patinated ride:

This is a 1950 Dodge Coronet that is still wearing most of its original Island Green color. This particular one is special though.

This beast has every one of its 65 years on display! While rat rods aren't a new concept it takes someone with vision to hold back on the typical flat-black-with-red-wheels look and celebrate the well worn remnants of the original finish.

The Coronet was introduced in 1949 as the highest-end offering from Dodge. In an odd twist of fate it became the lowest-end trim line in 1955 before finally landing square in the middle of the pecking order in the '60s. This coupe body style was elegant and fresh when new, with just enough chrome trim to make a fancy entrance. The vintage 100 spoke wire wheels on this ride are a lowrider original but were not offered on this car.

This car proudly boasts the Gyro-Matic transmission which is essentially the same as the Fluid Drive from years previous. This would be a semi automatic trans where you use the clutch to pull away from a stop in first gear, but shift without the clutch into 2nd and 3rd. They were usually mounted on the column like a 3 on the tree.

In true rat rod fashion this car obviously has a different driveline in it. What looks to be a B&M floor mounted shifter sits in front of 3 aftermarket gauges, all complimented by the column-mounted tachometer. This could really have any engine you can imagine in it due to the colossal engine bay.
That beige thing attached to the center windshield bar is probably a period-correct compass. The dice are awful, because I hate car dice, and why would you put stupid dice in such a great car, and dice are the dumbest cliche in the book, and another thing . . .
That steering wheel sure is pretty though!

I love the presentation of this car. All the chrome and stainless are in fine shape without being too mirror-like. It looks like they spayed a clear coat over the patina as well since it manages to have a waxed look.

There is even a reverse light on the drivers side! This was not a common thing in 1950.

My guess is that this beast was resting fully exposed to the elements in the southwest somewhere since the paint is totally blown out from the top down. 

This generation Coronet represented the first new design for Dodge since the end of World War II. I breifly had a 1947 Dodge that looked like a car from the '30s with fenders completely separate from the body and a hood that was hinged in the center, opening on each side like wings.

For a car of this age the dimensions aren't crazy huge. This seems pretty manageable in traffic compared to many cars from the late '50s.

Aww she's grumpy! This frumpy face is just great, especially with the crazed and cracked paint job.

Close up of some mysterious spot where 4 rivets were called for. This patina is out of control!

From this angle you can see the vent that's popped up just under the center of the windshield. My '47 had this feature too; you simply grabbed a grip under the dash very much like a pistol and pushed forward, opening a scoop for cabin ventilation.

Fitting enough that the Ds are missing, leaving O G E (though I'd almost want to remove the E at this point). This cruiser is one of my favorites I've run across in NYC, and easily takes the prize for best finish. Hopefully I'll see it parked with the owner one day so I can find out what lurks under the hood.