Studes in Roadside Americana photos

[aarrggh]

[BobPalma]

'Think that'll buff out, Andy? BP

[BobPalma]

Man, that's a good Ford dealer in town; three '59s to the one '59 Chevy! BP

[JRoberts]

[starliner62]

I could use some of those Ford parts.

[Bill Pressler]

Bob, remember that in '59, like '57, Ford outsold Chevy...although personally, I have never liked '59 Fords in the least. I do like '58's a lot and also like '60's; especially like '61's though.

In the "Different By Design" '64 Studebaker video, there is film footage of an Avanti merging onto a highway behind a low-line '59 Ford and that Ford looks positively ancient compared to the Avanti!

[8E45E]

Bob, remember that in '59, like '57, Ford outsold Chevy...although personally, I have never liked '59 Fords in the least. I do like '58's a lot and also like '60's; especially like '61's though.

Careful....the Australians must have liked them well enough to have kept that '59 body style right through the 1961 model year!

Craig

[BobPalma]

Bob, remember that in '59, like '57, Ford outsold Chevy...although personally, I have never liked '59 Fords in the least. I do like '58's a lot and also like '60's; especially like '61's though.

In the "Different By Design" '64 Studebaker video, there is film footage of an Avanti merging onto a highway behind a low-line '59 Ford and that Ford looks positively ancient compared to the Avanti!

That has always been a classic lesson in something, Bill, although I'm not sure what.

Supposedly, when the '59s came out, Ford was scared to death of the sleek new batwing '59 Chevys and braced themselves to get slaughtered in the marketplace.

They immediately started styling the 1960 Fords to sort of ape the '59 Chevys, especially in the rear end with horizontal fins.

Well, lo and behold, the market liked the '59 Fords better and bought more of them! But Ford couldn't react fast enough to pull the plug and again redo the 1960 Ford, so went ahead and produced it and promptly lost their #1 sales position big-time because Chevy went the other way, softening the 1959 Chevy's lines for 1960 to have more market appeal than did the '59 Chevys! 'Talk about heads rolling at Chevrolet during 1959 and Ford during 1960, trying to second-guess the market.

Of course, Ford kinda got the last laugh when the new 1960 Falcon handily outsold the bizarre 1960 Corvair, so it kind of all washed out after all. 'Lots there to fuel armchair marketing quarterbacks for two model years, though.

I still remember climbing up on the roof of an adjacent building in Paris IL, with a couple friends, to peer down from the second-story windows of the service area at the Chevrolet-Cadillac dealer in Paris, to see the 1960 Chevys hidden in "the shop" before introduction day, which we did, and then running home to tell my Dad about the changes.

At age 13 in the fall of 1959, it really was the best of times. BP

[JRoberts]

I grew up in a military family and in 1959 we moved from Eritrea to North Carolina. My dad bought a new 1959 Chevy while another family who we were close to made the same moved and bought a new 1959 Ford. I was so disappointed because their car was so much fancier than ours. At age 11 and away from new U.S. cars for quite some time I did realize it was an unfair comparison as our car was a Biscayne and theirs was a Galaxie. I guess I still prefer the '59 Ford over the Chevy for that same illogical reason.

[Noxnabaker]

I've always found 59 Fords boring 'cause of their flat front & also quite flat rear & even the sides are flat as a house wall. (Like 58 Pontiac, Buick & Oldsmobile)
57 on the other hand I find the most beautiful & the 60 second most beautiful, Ford's that is...

& I wouldn't be surprised if the photo was taken from a 59 Ford as well, all 4 of them being delivered somewhere.

[aarrggh]

Sorry , No turkeys in this pic . !

[Sam Ensley]

What a nice pair...of Studes.

[BRUCESTUDE]

#3416: my newest most favorite photo....

[BobPalma]

#3416: my newest most favorite photo....

True, Bruce; you hardly ever see a cheapie Champion Custom with a radio and a spotlight, right? BP

[DEEPNHOCK]

Awesome pic!