Saturday, November 11, 2006

Seen on the street today...

...well, seen on the street in Beverly Hills, where people can afford such things....

It's a very nice 1954 Corvette...



'54 was the second year of production for the 'Vette. It was still powered by the "Blue Flame Six" engine, still available only in Polo White with a red interior...



And had a two-speed automatic transmission, controlled by that tiny lever at the lower right of the picture...



Racy, no? I always loved the "rock screens" over the headlights, which happened to be illegal in many states...



The jet-exhaust tail lights were a neat touch, too...



Wish I could afford one. They are neither the fastest, most comfortable or even fun-to-drive cars in the world -- a Jaguar or Austin-Healey of the same period was a much better deal -- but there's something about a classic 'Vette that pushes my buttons.

16 comments:

MrScribbler said...

JF -- some states claimed they cut down on the light coming from the headlamps. Any kind of covering was illegal.

Anonymous said...

How did the '63 Sting Ray stack up, compared to anything else of the time?

Anonymous said...

My ex had a 55 (I think) Corvette when we got married. It was his baby. He still has it. He's worked on it for about 30 years, lol. I had a 57 Chevy but I sold it. :(

MrScribbler said...

L&s -- the '63 was a hell of a car, fast, fun and easy to drive. As a racer, it had a bad habit of eating brakes (in '65 it got discs), but was a Hot Item until Shelby's Cobra came along and played whoop-ass on it.

As a driver, I'd rather have a '63 than any previous 'Vette. Or many newer ones, for that matter.

Anonymous said...

So when you taking me for a ride? Oh, wait that car isn't yours :P

MrScribbler said...

No, dear, that's not mine. A good '54 is worth more than I am.

Don't tell me a rusty Chevette Scooter is worth more than I am. I've heard that already.

Anonymous said...

I was being a smarty arty, sheesh. Someone is touchy today. I don't even know what a "Scooter" is. Unless you are talking about the kind kids use, lol.

MrScribbler said...

Int -- yeah, I'm touchy, but not because of you...

For your information, a Chevette Scooter was the the cheapest lump-o'-dung car you could back in the mid-1970s. It was hideous. No, it was worse than that.

Anonymous said...

lump-o-dung? LOL.

Got a pic of one? The ugliest car I can remember as a kid was an "Acer" I think, from AMC.

Also, why when I read the comments here or when I post one a box pops up asking me if I want to display the non-secure items on the page? Are you running some sort of illegal journal here?

*raised eyebrow*

Anonymous said...

Correction....

Amc "Pacer." Man it's been a long time, lol.

Anonymous said...

THat is the "oh my" model Stingray.
If you look closely at the front, it has the features of someone saying, "oh my." Like in a chat session, which we have not had yet.
Also, some call that model the "CorBird" or "ThunderVette."
I prefer the latter.
After all, both manufactures were stealing from one another to get something cool out there.
Now, in 1961, there was a OlderBird that had the features of a Lincoln and a Torinado. Yes, I know, Torinado wasn't out yet, but, it was on the drawing board.
Also remember that Torino wasn't there yet and the name was used in a longer matter, hence the Torinado! See, they stold that name and shortened it!
Bastards!
Now back to the ToroBird, which had disks in 62 but weren't used until 63, and that is when cheap ass Chevy stole the plans and used them on all the future failures that might be produced that year. Got it so far?
oH, what's all that about scooters? I know a lot about them.
In 1971 . . .
Lol

Anonymous said...

Hi MrS
I think I wandered off yesterday, sorry!
(Aside)
Betty I can't believe he still has that Corvette. Mr McQueen... Better tell MrS about your Bluebonnet Blue Mustang...

MrScribbler said...

Since everyone seems to have forgotten the Chevette Scooter -- and I don't blame you a bit; people who owned them have tried to forget, too -- I'll snap a pic if I ever see one, which is unlikely. The last one I saw (maybe 15 years ago) was sitting by the road with flames pouring out from under the hood. A fitting end.

Elin said...

they really are nice.
Looks like a piece of soap . . .

Doug said...

There is someone living in our building who owns a Chevette. I used to have a Pontiac Acadian--the same cheap lump-o'-dung with poor heat that the Scooter was. The color was so ugly that I would tell people "If sh-- was blue, that's the color it would be".

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