Classics

Classic Fifties Car Show – Sorta

We dropped into the Botanic Garden today to check out the advertised “Fabulous Fifties” car show held on the upper meadow. We thought we could get a photo op for our blogs. There were a few classic American built cars there, but it was overwhelmingly dominated by European cars. We were both sort of disappointed, since we expected more in the way of the cars we grew up with and learned to drive.

I took this panoramic image of the setup on the upper meadow. Click for the full-sized image.

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A Custom Stepside Chevy Truck

We ‘celebrated my first day of retirement by running out and doing some chores that would have usually taken place on a weekend. On our way home, we spotted this old Chevrolet truck with some interesting customization. I doubled back and went up the side street so Verna could get this photo. Click to enlarge.

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We were trying to figure out the weird hubcaps and the cryptic chrome letters on the hood. The red trim was kinda weird too. Nice truck, though.

A Nice Old Gas Station in Phoenix

As we were leaving the Phoenix Convention Center yesterday, I snapped this picture from the car window. This is now a muffler shop, but judging from the art-deco architecture style, it must have been a 1930’s era service station. Most people don’t remember a time when a service station attendant would pump your gas, check your oil and wash your windshield, all for about nineteen cents a gallon. Buildings like this popped up all along Old Route 66 and elsewhere in thriving southwestern cities and towns.

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Click image to enlarge.

Classic Pontiac “Woody” Station Wagon in 3D

47woody.jpgJust feast your eyes on this beauty! This is a 1947 Pontiac Station Wagon.

The owner did some beautiful restoration on this classic set of wheels. The interior was fully restored with original equipment. The exterior woodwork had been fully restored and polished to a high luster. Original equipment chrome hubcaps and the white sidewall tires were a delight. Everything was highly polished.

Click on the image to view in the 3D Gallery (you will need red-cyan or red-blue 3D glasses). While you’re at it, visit Bob’s 3D Stuff to read about stereoscopic anaglyph imaging. Also see the 3D Gallery for thumbnails and links to the entire collection.

If you prefer, the 2D version can be viewed here.

Tudor Style Home in Old Torrance

tudor.jpgWe happened to drive through a section of Old Torrance last Saturday while we were out running errands. On our way through the area, I snapped this photo of a classic Tudor style home. Most homes in this area were built in the 1930s and vary in their architectural styles from Craftsman to Spanish Revival to Tudor and more.

Click on the image for the full-sized view.

I looked up some history about the Tudor style on Answers.com:

Tudor style, descriptive of the English architecture and decoration of the first half of the 16th cent., prevailing during the reigns (1485–1558) of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I. It is the first of the transitional styles between Gothic Perpendicular and Palladian architecture, the other two being Elizabethan and Jacobean. The rise of new trading families to wealth and the enrichment of court favorites by Henry VIII with lands and riches derived from his suppression of monasteries resulted in the building of many manor houses. In these the fortified character of earlier times gave way to increased domesticity and privacy.

Although the great hall still remained the focus of the establishment, its importance now decreased with the introduction of other rooms such as parlors, studies, bedrooms in greater number, and quarters for dining. Rooms frequently were fitted with oak paneling, often of linen-fold type; walls and ceilings received rich plaster relief ornament; and articles of furniture came into greater use. Domestic exteriors exhibited Perpendicular features in modified form, notably square-headed, mullioned windows and arched openings of the four-centered or so-called Tudor type. Other characteristics were the use of brickwork combined with half-timber, high pinnacled gables, bay or oriel windows, and numerous chimneys of decorative form. Principal Tudor examples are parts of Hampton Court Palace, begun in 1515, and many colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. Noted country manors include Sutton Place, Surrey; Layer Marney, Essex; and the splendid Compton Wynyates, Warwick.

Art Deco at the Beach

Well, not exactly on the beach in Santa Monica, but on the corner of Arizona and Ocean overlooking the Blue Pacific. The Art Deco designs of some of the structures in this area rival those of the South Beach District, Miami.

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I took this shot after my semi-annual dental check-up. Click to enlarge.