Category: 1953

1953 was big year for American cars. Which of these four would you choose for your dream garage? – Matt Litwin @Hemmings

1953 was big year for American cars. Which of these four would you choose for your dream garage? – Matt Litwin @Hemmings

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As it happened, 1953 turned out to be a pretty big year for the domestic auto industry. Material shortages initiated by the Korean war had ceased to be a problem, 50th-anniversary celebrations spawned special models, and several manufacturers were in the process of, or had just introduced, a new line of V-8 engines. In our latest edition of This or That, we’re celebrating the domestic class of 1953. Let’s take a closer look at four fun examples for you to ponder, all of which are currently available in the Hemmings classifieds.

Chevrolet wasn’t on the anniversary list this year, but it did make a mark for itself by introducing the Bel Air into its own line of top-tier cars. Simultaneously, the entry-level 150 designation effectively replaced the Special, while the 210 Series – like this four-door sedan – supplanted the mid-priced Deluxe line. With the exception of the station wagon, this would be the only four-door passenger car in the 210 series this year. Costing $1,761 (or $17,180 today), it came standard with a 108-hp straight-six engine and manual transmission. It was also the biggest seller in the series, attaining 332,497 buyers. According to portions of the seller’s listing:

It underwent a complete frame off restoration by Skyline restorations in 2010/2011 where it was totally gone through. It features a two tone Horizon Blue and Regatta Blue combo which works well on a 50s car like this. The body is all rust free and the steel panels all straight. All of the chrome and trim pieces are in good condition with a nice shine. The glass is all new, in good condition and is tinted. It has 70,920 miles on the odometer and based on its condition these are believed to be original. The inline 6 cylinder motor runs well and still utilizes its original 6 volt system but an 8 volt battery was added for extra starting power. It is combined with a column shifted 3 speed manual transmission that moves through the gears smoothly. The brakes, hoses, wheel bearings, gas tank, sending unit, exhaust, etc., were all replaced during the rebuild. The interior is done in a two tone to match the body. The upholstery is in excellent condition and it has a bench in front and rear. The dash has the stock layout and keeps with the two tone Blue theme which looks very clean. Even the steering wheel has the two tone look which looks really sharp.

Conversely, Ford was honoring its 50 years in the business of building and selling cars. But other than a little levity, not much was made of the anniversary except for special steering wheel trim. This meant the lineup remained unchanged from the previous year, with the entry-level Mainline and upscale Crestline series book-ending the Customline, such as this two-door Club Coupe. It was offered in six-cylinder guise starting at $1,743 (or $17,004 today), or with the famed “flathead” V-8 at $1,820 (or $17,755 today) without options. Our featured example contains the V-8, making it one of 43,999 built during the year. According to portions of the seller’s listing:

Inside is a tasteful gray interior. The comfortable velour-like cloth has the fresh feeling of a more recent investment, but this design has a great ’50s look that will keep you loving this vintage ride. In fact, this one really likes to keep the classic attitude going, right down to details like the working AM radio. And don’t forget to check out the steering wheel. 1953 was Ford’s 50th anniversary, and so these have a special center cap commemorating it. Ford’s flathead V8 is a legend all on its own for the power it provides, and the 239 cubic-inch displacement would be the largest installed in the Ford cars. It presents well in the engine bay with the tall oil bath air cleaner and copper-colored block/heads. This is a well-maintained package that fires up readily. You get proper control from the column-shifted three-speed manual transmission and the manually engaged overdrive adds to the cruising versatility.

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The Corvette Debuted 68 Years Ago – Elizabeth Blackstock @Jalopnik

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On January 17, 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette prototype was unveiled at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City at Motorama. But the car that we recognize today as synonymous with (relatively) accessible sportiness wasn’t as loved when it first appeared.

(Welcome to Today in History, the series where we dive into important historical events that have had a significant impact on the automotive or racing world. If you have something you’d like to see that falls on an upcoming weekend, let me know at eblackstock [at] jalopnik [dot] com.)

Harley Earl, head designer over at GM at the time, was convinced that a two-seater sports car was the way to go, and introducing a good one could make an impression in what was then a European-dominated market. People were curious, so Chevy had to make sure it filled its expectations.

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Doesn’t look like it would take much to make a daily driver out of this 1953 Kaiser Manhattan – Daniel Strohl @Hemmings

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Does anybody look for a classic car to drive anymore? Not to drive to shows or on occasional club tours, but to drive on a regular basis – if not daily, then at least a few times a week? (Excepting, of course, certain seasons in certain parts of the country…) After all, that’s what all cars were built to do, and nothing has fundamentally changed to prevent them from continuing to serve their purpose, right?

In that spirit, let’s take a look at this 1953 Kaiser Manhattan for sale on Hemmings.com. It’s not perfect, but it also seems like there’s nothing that would keep it from regularly setting tire to road. Flathead six-cylinder? Just learn patience. Carburetor instead of fuel injection? Pump the pedal once or twice before turning the key. No seatbelts? Add a few. Then, while putting some miles on the car, you can really get to know it and start to appreciate it in a way you wouldn’t merely by leaving it in the garage. From the seller’s description: here

Video: Engineering the 1953 Ford – @MacsMotorcityGarage

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We really enjoyed the introduction to this neat old color movie about the 1953 Ford line. “Jim Johnson’s a pretty normal guy ordinarily, but lately he’s been acting very strange,” the narrator explains. “His mind seems to be a million miles away. Mrs. Johnson and Julie are getting worried about him, Last night, for example. He turned down a piece of his favorite pie. The other day, he even kicked that car he’s always been so proud of. And he’s always writing figures of some kind on the backs of envelopes.” Of course, we the viewers know there is only one cure for this peculiar ailment. Jim Johnson needs a trip to the neighborhood Ford dealer, stat.

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Another Sport Custom Surfaces: Meet The 1953 Porter Pegasus – Geoffrey Hacker @UndiscoveredClassics

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Hi Gang…

I love Sport Customs – but it took me a long time to learn to call them by this name.  If you think handcrafted fiberglass specials from the 50s are rare, just try to find a sport custom.  We estimate that for every 10 or more fiberglass specials that were built, there may have been 1 sport custom.  But what is a sport custom?

The term “Sport Custom” was first used by in “Dan Posts’s Blue Book of Custom Restyling” in 1949.  Dan Post had discussed the definition of the car in an early 1947 book but not given the term.  But in 1949 nearly on page 1 is his first chapter “Sport-Custom Cars….How They Came To Be.”  The is the first usage of the “Sport Custom” term I can find.  For those of you wanting to explore more of the Dan Post custom car archives, click on this link.

Another term often used for these cars is “American Boulevard Cruiser.”  Both terms describe a car with the following characteristics:

  • Sporty in nature
  • Most were made from steel, a few in aluminum and less in fiberglass
  • Powerful drivetrain
  • Larger than a sports car in size with a typical wheelbase of 110 inches or greater
  • A completely new body design or one so heavily restyled that it has taken on an original (or nearly original) shape

And the funny thing about American Sport Custom cars is there’s hardly any left.  Connect that to the rarity of the cars to begin with and the fact that unlike fiberglass specials, nearly every sport custom is a “one-off” and you can begin to understand why I find them fascinating.  And exciting when a new one is discovered.  And that’s what recently happened to me when Richard Brown sent me a photo of a car that he had recently acquired.  A car that he calls the “Porter Pegasus.”

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1953 Wright Special Race Car Could Have Inspired the Shelby Cobra – Daniel Patrascu @autoevolution

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It may look like it’s made to be soft, both physically and mechanically, but it’s not. This special race car, built on a Maserati chassis born before the second world war, reached back in 1957 quarter mile top speeds of 117 mph (188 kph).

What we have in front of our eyes is called the 1953 Wright Special Race Car, named so after Johnny Wright, the man responsible for coming up with the body of the car. A body that looks as if it’s made of Play-Doh, but is actually a hand-crafted aluminum piece that has a strange familiarity to it.

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The last of the first Corvettes heads to auction in Monterey – Kurt Ernst @Hemmings

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Of all the ‘Vettes you’ve loved before

It was Harley Earl that sold GM on the need to produce an all-American sports car, and to test the waters, his Special Projects team created the EX-122 concept for display at the 1953 Motorama display in New York City. Less than six months later, the car – now named the Corvette – was in production, hand-built by a team of workers in Flint, Michigan. Just 300 examples were built that year, and this August, chassis E53F001300, the final 1953 Corvette built, heads to auction at Mecum’s Monterey sale.

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Restored 1953 Ford F-100 Sports Grandpa’s Custom Touches – Shane McGlaun @FordAuthority

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Older adults around the country who lived through the Great Depression rarely throw anything out that could be useful down the road. Such is the case with this perfectly restored 1953 Ford F-100 truck. When Luke Lagrant, his father, and his grandfather pulled the truck out of the woods where it had been parked for many years, it was very rough. As the story goes, Lagrant’s grandfather tired of the 1953 Ford for some reason and decided to park it in the woods and walked away.

Lagrant says that his grandfather had replaced the 1953 Ford F-100 truck with a 1964 Chevrolet truck and the old Ford sat rusting in the woods until 2009 when the trio hooked it to some heavy machinery and towed it back home. Luke Lagrant was only 11 at the time and was in charge of putting screws in bags since many of them couldn’t be replaced.

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Moto Exotica – 1953 Kaiser Dragon – David Conwill @Hemmings

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THE ENCHANTING TRIM OF THIS 1953 KAISER DRAGON RECALLS THE MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC

Exposure to the exotic vistas of the Pacific stuck with a great number of World War Two veterans when they returned home in the mid-1940s. That affinity led to an explosion of interest in Polynesian culture and aesthetics that would lead to the rise of Tiki bars, Exotica music and the 1949 Broadway hit, South Pacific.

The Bambu-vinyl-and-Laguna-cloth interior is the star player in the Dragon, and it is well supported by lavish chrome trim and accessory lighting inside. That padded dash complements a pop-out windshield to add an extra bit of safety to all 1951-’55 Kaisers.

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