three hundred forty eight

 1960 AMERICAN DECADENCE 

Chevrolet Impalla 

In my opinion this is the perfect American car. Yes the steering was vague, the suspension was floaty, the tires were unpredictable, power steering was experimental and the drum brakes worked really well once. Real steel, real chrome, big engine and a focus on style. They were not practical but that was not the point, these were land space ships.

Studebaker Hawk

The Studebaker company was based in South Bend. The designers seemed to have a lot of freedom to create futuristic designs. I think they were the most creative of all American car manufacturers. They went bankrupt and were purchased by Packard. Sadly this ended their over the top designs.

Lincoln Continental MarkV

The electric rear window was awesome but in the rain the mist from the road would wash in if someone opened a front window. A friend had one of these as a party car, it ended up in the Columbiana county fair demolition derby. Lincoln had several unique ideas.

Chrysler Imperial

Chrysler Imperials competed in the decadent market with this land cruiser. 

1960 Ford Thunderbird

Ford had a slightly smaller idea but only slightly. The T-Bird went though many changes over the years but they were always on the cutting edge of style.

1960 Pontiac Bonneville

My best friend's father had a red one, I went on a few double dates with him. I was glad he was driving.

1957 Dodge Coronet

1967 Plymouth Belvedere 

They were known for push button transmissions, power steering and power brakes but not in a good way. I learned to drive in our family car a 1957 Dodge Coronet and a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere in drivers ed. When my parents or the drivers ed teacher weren't paring attention I learned they both did really great gravel donuts, by accident.

There was one car that still captures a crowd at a car show the most decadent piece of Americana the 1959 Cadillac.

1959 Cadillac Coupe deVille

This car causes a stir wherever it goes. Even the most environmental nut will take a second look. This point in American history is often mocked by German touring car owners. They are not practical, environmentally friendly or fuel efficient but damn they are nothing but cool.

I'm a car guy and I like black cars if you haven't noticed. I love drooling over these expensive toys when ever I see one but owning one is way out of my range. 

Don't get me wrong Europe has produced some amazing cars.

Jaguar XKE V12

Citroen DS 19

Both of these are ahead of their time technology particularly the Citroen. They went a much different direction when it comes to styling but they just lack that cheesy over the top American obnoxious flamboyant quality. 

Gas was 30 cents a gallon and the traffic in rural Ohio was light. There was nothing like a Sunday drive through the country side with mom and dad in the front seat and big brother me and our dog in the back seat. We had an entire playroom to wrestle and play the "he touched me first" game. There were no headrests to block my dad's right arm back hand slap but we could duck and dodge because there were no seatbelts to hold us in place. 

We drove by the lake to say hello to grandpa on the way to get a Dairy Queen ice cream or 15 cent McDonald's hamburger. I know we were foolish not to strap our kids down but it was a different time. I remember hanging my head out of the window feeling the wind rattle my cheeks so when I see a dog doing this today at least I know why.

I notice many Americans are ashamed and many Europeans are smug but I am unapologetically proud of every pound of chrome. There will never be another car celebration like the 1960's.