Studes in Roadside Americana photos

[BobPalma]

Impound lot? Colorado plate on the Fairlane.

Possibly, Skip: Here's the caption to that photo appearing with it in today's Old Motor:

Coberley Salvage Yard by Carol M. Highsmith in Lamar, Colorado, 2015.

That was apparently a typo. One of the responders in the comments about that photo posted this:

RE: The junkyard in Lamar Colorado — this is a typographical error either by the photographer or by the Library of Congress. The correct name is not “Coverley” but “Coberley”. (B and V keys are next to each other on the keyboard…) They are still very much in business. Coberley Motor Sales, 9181 Hwy 50, Lamar CO. Google Earth view of the place is quite impressive.

[BobPalma]

Here's a tough one: There is an automobile manufactured by [probably, by then] The Studebaker-Packard Corporation in this photograph. Can anyone identify it and its location? BP

[8E45E]

The green/white '54 Caribbean where one can see the continental kit to the very left!!

I'd like to know what's blocking the view of it.

Craig

[Skip Lackie]

1953 New York plates, plus a lighter-colored one (RI?) on the Pontiac. NY had two plates in those days, but dealer plates were issued as singles, which is why the brand-new 1954 Chrysler products with the girls in them have no front plates.

[BobPalma]

The green/white '54 Caribbean where one can see the continental kit to the very left!!

I'd like to know what's blocking the view of it.

Craig

BINGO...and ditto, Craig. The Old Motor posed that question about the vehicle blocking the view of the Caribbean, but no one has offered an answer. BP

[BobPalma]

Thanks, Skip.

So, all, what is the smallish yellow convertible between the blue Chrysler convertible and the red DeSoto convertible in the parade? (I don't know.) BP

[Greenstude]

Two each of 1954 Michigan and Ontario license plates = probably a border city. The year is confirmed by the new Plymouth convertibles. A Meteor parked in front of the flower shop, probably a Canadian Pontiac in front of it, and a Birks Jewellers = almost certainly on the Canadian side. So, probably Windsor. The view of the Caribbean is blocked by the top front corner of a bus, probably the same model as the one parked across the street.

[8E45E]

The view of the Caribbean is blocked by the top front corner of a bus, probably the same model as the one parked across the street.

That transit bus across the street is a Twin Coach with its unique, pointed six-piece windshield. I'll guess that it is a Mack tour bus.

Craig

[Dwain G.]

Maybe the yellow convertible isn't as small as it looks. I'm thinking '54 Ford.

[Skip Lackie]

Two each of 1954 Michigan and Ontario license plates = probably a border city. The year is confirmed by the new Plymouth convertibles. A Meteor parked in front of the flower shop, probably a Canadian Pontiac in front of it, and a Birks Jewellers = almost certainly on the Canadian side. So, probably Windsor. The view of the Caribbean is blocked by the top front corner of a bus, probably the same model as the one parked across the street.

I like all of your conclusions, but I still think the plates on the near blue DeSoto and the white Dodge(?) in the nearest lane look more like orange-on-black 1953 NY plates than dark-yellow-on-blue 1954 Michigan plates. It was that clue that send me to the New York conclusion. But maybe it's just my aging eyesight.

[Greenstude]

I like all of your conclusions, but I still think the plates on the near blue DeSoto and the white Dodge(?) in the nearest lane look more like orange-on-black 1953 NY plates than dark-yellow-on-blue 1954 Michigan plates. It was that clue that send me to the New York conclusion. But maybe it's just my aging eyesight.

Skip, the license plate on the DeSoto, which may be AE 43-56, appears to have the more square Michigan dies (font). Also the letters are separated from the numbers; a New York plate would be more like AE43-56. The Pontiac in front of the DeSoto definitely has an Ontario plate, in a format and font used by that province for many years. It appears to be the Canadian Pontiac model (built on a Chevrolet body shell) rather than the larger U.S. model.

[8E45E]

The Pontiac in front of the DeSoto definitely has an Ontario plate, in a format and font used by that province for many years. It appears to be the Canadian Pontiac model (built on a Chevrolet body shell) rather than the larger U.S. model.

The chrome silver streaks on the trunklid is a dead giveaway that it's a Canadian Pontiac.

Craig

[rockne10]

Maybe the yellow convertible isn't as small as it looks. I'm thinking '54 Ford.

I agree with you on the size. I think it's just more to the right than the other cars in line. Could be a Lincoln or Mercury as well.

[Skip Lackie]

Thanks. Agree on the Canadian Pontiac and the different plate formats, but on my laptop, I can't read any of the characters, or even see their spacing. I was going by the color and the overall size of the plates alone.

[Jeff_H]

Got some photos from a 2nd cousin today. One of them has a picture of a cousin of my Dad with her husband and some kids taken on a street sidewalk in Chicago in May 1956. I cropped out the part showing a parking lot across the street where there is what looks like a '55 Studebaker "C" body coupe.