Watching the Parade

'Watching the Parade'  Cincinnati  (1938?) John Vachon photograph.

1998 Volvo V70R

This car was priced at $1700 on Jalopnik's Nice Price or Crack Pipe? You decide. 258.000 miles.

Chicago Parking Lot 1941

John Vachon photograph

1964 Chevrolet C10, Nebraska

 Jay DeVries©2020 all photos.

1967 Ford F 200 stake Colorado Springs

1952 GMC 250 Advanced Design

The Bison Brothers are in Alberta, Canada. They seem to be digging out a lot of old metal, mostly long-retired farm trucks, from the prairie provinces. From their website:
"1952 GMC 300 New Design Pickup Truck. Very solid truck with the rare 9 foot express bed. We acquired it from a very elderly farmer who's son painted it orange in the 70's, put a radio in it and used it to drive to school. Then when he left for college it was stuffed into the corner of the barn and forgotten until now. Selling with No Reserve to the highest bidder. Contact must be made within 24 hours of the auction ending or it will be assumed that you have no intention of honoring your bid and the truck will be offered to others. Zero Feedback bidders must make contact prior to bidding.
This truck has a good solid body with very minimal rust. The floorboards are very good with only minor rust in the usual area of the passengers side floorboard but far less than is often seen on these. The drivers side cab corner is very good but the passengers side has a little rust. The fenders have no signs of rust. The bed has no rust. The running boards have no rust. The doors have no rust. Overall this truck is a remarkably solid basis for a restoration with far less rust to contend with compared to most examples.
The interior is complete and in good condition for its age. The original seat will need reupholstering like with any unrestored farm truck of this era. And a 70's GM car steering wheel has been installed, likely at the same time the radio was added and the truck was painted orange.
Mechanically this truck is complete but has not ran for several decades so will need fully going through. All tires hold air and it rolls and steers freely."

Miller Crankshaft

Don Palmer's Bonneville, mid-1950s.

House. Houston, Texas 1943

John Vachon photograph

Biscuit, in Center Harbor

She's wood, not metal, and we've been here before, but the light is coming back in New England so AL is thinking boats and Brooklin. She's an unmistakeable Arno Day design, Brooklin-built. Bever a working boat but could have been. 

Ford Vicky? Chevrolet Confederate?

 Not sure. Ford Vicky? Chevrolet Confederate? Pretty cool.
Michael Moore says Ford Model B--there's one for sale at Hemmings

The '57 Pontiac Laurentian, and a request.

Dear Autoliterati,
there is something in the plainjaneness of this Alex Emond photo that we really admire. A clean, straight profile shot is always appreciated, especially when followed-up by fore and aft photos, and details. This time of year, interesting metal in New England is hibernating. If you are in warmer, drier and less road-salty part of the world, please keep you camera close at hand and share any sightings via jpeg to autoliterate@gmail.com
best regards,
AL

Porsches on the PCH, Malibu

 Jaguar, too. First Deal cars of another era.

Car Wash? Twenty bucks. Cash.

from Sandra Garcia's piece in New York Times today on freelance car-washers of Upper Manhattan:
On a record-breaking 68-degree January day, New Yorkers were unnerved, enjoying the weather and wary of what it meant. But for the guerrilla carwash guys of Upper Manhattan, it was only good news. As of 11 a.m. that Saturday, there were at least six carwashes set up on Ninth Avenue from 201st Street to 207th, with numerous Fords, BMWs and a Toyota already soaped up, and more were waiting.

For as long as anyone can remember, there has been a thriving cottage industry, operating out of vans and without conveyor belts, mechanized brushes or complicated hydraulic systems, along an industrial stretch near the Harlem River in Inwood.

“Park right here so I can wash it for you,” a car washer said in her raspy voice to a car that had pulled up. The driver crept to her, then sped off. There would be others.

The car washers are there every day of the year, rain or shine, and a full-service wash, inside and out, will run you $20.This off-the-books economy is, strictly speaking, not legal. But it is crucial to dozens of residents from Inwood and the Bronx, many of them recent immigrants.Each carwash operates with informal teams of two to four people. When a customer stops, a symphony of tasks begins: One person dunks two large giant sponges into a bucket and soaps down the roof of the car, the doors, hood and the trunk by hand. Another person rinses the car with a hose with a power-washer attached to it. Another pulls out the car mats and hoses them down until they glint in the light. The exterior of the car is usually done in 10 minutes or less.

As reliable as they are, the carwashes are threatened by future development. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has opened this area to rezoning. A 27-story apartment building is part of the proposal being considered.Until then, there’s not much for the car washers to do but keep washing cars...

1969 Mercury Monterey

Living large in the late Sixties. The Merc's for sale at Motorland in Arundel, Maine.

c. 1975 ford F-350

Photos from Don Culbertson. The truck lives in Terlingua, Texas, down in the Big Bend.

1959 Mercedes Benz 190Db Kombiwagen

Only thing is, it looks kinda like a hearse. The wagon is on the block at B-A-T.

Lincoln in a hurry

1965 Lincoln Continental. On I-10 somewhere between Sierra Blanca, Texas and El Paso. We like this era of Continentals. Like the '63 we caught in Cambridge, Mass.

Marfa Yard Dogs: 1966 Ford F-100

Jeep J-2000 Marfa, Texas

1963 Land Rover Series IIa Pickup

Did you catch our post on that legendary L-R, Grizzly Torque? This Series II pickup is on the block right now at Hemmings.

1966 Mercedes Benz 200

Always liked the plainjane Benz saloons. They made great, hard-driving Euro-taxis, though mostly in the diesel edition, which this one isn't. It's a clean car & on the block today at B-A-T. 
We saw a Benz 230, same era, in West Texas last year.

"Warrior Motel" and "Ed's Garage"

Both photographs by Patrick Arnold ©2020 

"The Warrior Motel is on Rt.19 a few miles west of Cherokee, North Carolina, on the Eastern Cherokee Reservation near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

"Ed’s Garage is (was) located on State Rt.3 that tracks with the Mississippi River in Southwestern Illinois. The nearest town is Murphysboro, Il. a few miles east."

Mercury trucks

This Canadian truck is in Washington state and on the block at Hemmings. It's a 3/4 ton pickup. We found the one-ton version, slightly newer--a 1951 Mercury M-3 --a few years ago on Nova Scotia.