Thanks, George. Your mornings musing helps me wake up from my afternoon nap (Not a daily occurence, but today is a gloomy Monday.)
Ford's Edsel, GM's LaSalle, and Chrysler's DeSoto were, in different ways, only cogs in a large company's wheel. But what about Nash, Hudson, Kaiser, and the other true independents, even though some attempted to huddle together to stave off their ends? Each of these, in different ways, were attempts to give choices to the consumer. But in earlier times there were even more choices, like the Cord, Auburn, Duesenberg, or even the Star, the Lexington, and a host of other most interesting variations. But does anyone remember even this smaller beaut?
(The 1955 Willys, end of the road as an alternative to the American mainstream automobile)
Thanks, George. Your mornings musing helps me wake up from my afternoon nap (Not a daily occurence, but today is a gloomy Monday.)
Ford's Edsel, GM's LaSalle, and Chrysler's DeSoto were, in different ways, only cogs in a large company's wheel. But what about Nash, Hudson, Kaiser, and the other true independents, even though some attempted to huddle together to stave off their ends? Each of these, in different ways, were attempts to give choices to the consumer. But in earlier times there were even more choices, like the Cord, Auburn, Duesenberg, or even the Star, the Lexington, and a host of other most interesting variations. But does anyone remember even this smaller beaut?
(The 1955 Willys, end of the road as an alternative to the American mainstream automobile)
Thank you David, I'm glad what I share is somewhat interesting to others. As you've likely noticed most all of them are tied to some event or memory I've experienced. Each morning, I enjoy starting off my day first in prayer and then my coffee, which usually affords me thinking about things in my life. Adding the old car element to it, sort of happens by accident. And hey, I agree with your summation of all the cars you mentioned, most were flashes in the pan, while others left us some great memories. As for that '55 Willys, I remember it fondly. When I was 6 years old, there was one that was owned by a neighbor a couple of doors down from us. I thought they were small Fords.
A long-time fan of the '58 Edsel. I recall going to see it in person when it was introduced. I was about 13 years old. Loved the grill and the Teletouch auto trans selector which was located in the center of the steering wheel.
Those push button selectors moved all over the place! If I remember correctly, my '56 Plymouth had them left of the steering wheel sticking out of the dashboard. My wife's 2016 Lincoln has push buttons on the dashboard to the right of the steering wheel, and I seem to have had one ? years ago with push buttons on an arm sticking out from the right side of the steering column.
For an extended discussion of these push button locations, see
LOL, not only were those "Push Buttons" placed in various places on the dashboard and steering wheel over the years, they could also get STUCK! Happened to me on my '61 Plymouth. One day I pushed the "Park" button, and the next time I went to use the car, it was pushed in and wouldn't come out. Even worse was I couldn't push another button. My uncle towed the car and did some magic and then things were back to normal.
