Happy Easter! Kicking off today's #DavesCarIDService egg hunt with these dressed-up Catholic kids heading for Easter mass in a mid-priced 1958 Chevy Brookwood wagon (base model was the Yeoman, top of the line was the Nomad).
It will never cease to amaze me to think about the radical styling changes of Chevrolet from 1957 to 1958 to 1959. New body stampings every year, with compound curves, all done without computerized manufacturing.
All of Chevy's GM sister brands underwent similar radical styling changes 1957-59. Here's a 1958 Buick Roadmaster 4 door hardtop doing float-pulling duty for Friona's Maize Queens. Maybe the most amazing grille ever made.
And here's a new-look 1958 Bonneville from GM stablemate Pontiac (photo 2 is a 1971 or 72 Dodge Dart Swinger).
The quad headlight look was all the new rage at both GM and Ford in 1958, although they first appeared on Mopar cars in 1957. Here's a 1958 Mercury Montclair.
And on the streets of Havana, another chrome-smothered GM offering for 1958: an Oldsmobile Super 88 4 door hardtop, wearing Cragar SS-style chrome spoke wheels
Also new for 1958: Ford Motor Company's ill-fated Edsel brand. You can see one of the debut year Edsel's taillights peeking out of the carport in this picture.
I think that exhausts all the 1958s in my hashtag inbox, let's move on to some other years. Uncle Ralph's pride and joy was a 1965 Plymouth Fury convertible, from the era where stacked quad headlights were becoming the rage.
The fenders, wheels, and buggy spring/wishbone suspension suggest the ill fated vehicle here was a 1917-20 or so Ford Model T delivery truck, tho not 100% sure
1947-53 Chevy 3100 pickup (trucks didn't go through the same rapid styling changes as cars, but by late 50s model year changes were speeding up)
This is somewhat outside my ID comfort zone, but I'll take a wild stab at a mid-late 80s Nissan pickup. Happy to be corrected by a Japanese truck aficionado.
Again, Japanese cars aren't my strong suit so I'll wild-stab the compact as a ~1970 Toyota Corona (yipes). Wagon is giving me fits; wing windows =pre 1971, can't find a match for above-beltline woodgrain. I guess a 69 or so Mopar midsize.
Miss Brewster I believe is pointing at a 1926 or so Yellow Cab, manufactured by John Hertz of Hertz rental fame. Note taxi trade friendly tall doors and unadorned no-big-deal-if-dented bumper and fenders. Snazzy signage graphics there too.
like Hertz's Yellow Cab company, Checker was another taxi service that branched into manufacturing cabs, and their competition was fierce. If you think Capone vs Moran was intense, wait'll you read about Chicago's bloody taxi wars of the 1920s
chicagology.com/notorious-chic…
chicagology.com/notorious-chic…
it is indeed a 1953 Buick, and I would only add I am disappointed that I can't read the racy Just Married signage
Now THAT'S more like it, racy Just Married sign-wise. These newlyweds on the cover of John Prine's album are off to visit Hot Springs in a 1954 Ford.
Also from my wedding pic requests: the Buick style venti-ports here are strictly faux, as this car is a 1949 or 1950 Ford. I assume Dad ordered these dress-up accessories from the JC Whitney catalog.
I guess I have to say this in every ID thread: if you just tweet a car picture at me without the #DavesCarIDService hashtag there's a high likelihood I will never get to it. I've got a big request backlog and it's how I keep track. So please use hashtag and be patient.
Finally a Japanese car that's more of a layup for me: 1967-69 Datsun 1600
Grandma with a 1937 Chevy sedan (license plates are Iowa 1937 Kossuth County), and Mom with 1928-29 Ford Model A coupe. Mom must've been fairly frugal, catching dinner in a 14-15 year old car.
I think this picture of the aspiring track & field athlete is probably late 1972, as the fuzzy car in distance seems to be a Lincoln Continental Mark IV with the big-ass 1973 federally mandated 5 mph bumpers
Now here is a nice series of photos from Grandpa's 23 Skidoo youth. In order, 1. 1926-27 Ford Model T roadster; 2. 1927 Chevy sedan; 3. 1930 Studebaker coupe. Can't help you much on bus #4, but looks like circa 1930 Chevy taillight
young FIL is looking kinda guilty about something in front of a 1949 Chevy
Passing by the Road To Glory is a 1932 Oldsmobile coupe
My request: stop following me
1968 Ford Torino, so new it still has the dealer window sticker
1991 Nissan Figaro, a Japanese market only retro design. No sales in US due to safety standards, they've started to show up here because of 25 year antique car exception
The provocative Nash Metropolitan flying lady. A pretty damn sexy hood ornament for a goofy circus clown car.
1965 Chevy Biscayne sedan, can't help you with fish ID
These hombres are headed south of the border in a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker, already with a case of the dreaded Mopar body cancer and a homemade Sawzall sunroof
Not a Packard, but a 1940 Ford Deluxe convertible. And may I say this trio is looking quite natty in that 1940s casual wear
these two precariously perched toddlers are being distracted by something inside a 1927 or 28 Packard open car (roadster or phaeton). One thing old photos reveal is how baby safety standards have evolved.
1942 Studebaker Commander
1946-48 Buick Roadmaster Sedanette, and Gramps' hangdog look makes him a dead ringer for Joel Hodgson from MST3K
Exhibit B 
1960 Chevy Biscayne
I believe this teeming brood is with a 1930 or 31 Hudson Standard 7 passenger sedan that still didn't have enough room
1940 Chevrolet right there
now for a junkpile speed round: 1947-49 Studebaker, 1946-48 Ford Tudor, 1942-47 Ford F3 truck
not difficult if you are familiar with Ford Model T flathead engine. This one I'd say is 1917-24 issue
1937-38 Chevy sedan, giveaway is the downsloping linear crease from the cowl onto the door
Not 100% sure but I think a circa 1950 Anglia (British Ford)
1942-47 Ford F1
1947 Oldsmobile coupe
1940 Chevy or GMC pickup
1926 or 27 Ford Model T coupe
One last junkpile for the day: another 26-27 Model T, this one a channeled hot rod roadster with a circa 1957 3 deuce TBird special 312 Y block, dagoed Model A axle & wishbones. Tell your sis I'd be happy to give her $1500-$2k for it to haul it away.
That's it for #DavesCarIDService today, wife is baking pies and the aroma beckons.
“Dago” was old timey slang for San Diego, like “Frisco” for SF or “Berdoo” for San Bernardino. Some San Diego hot rodders in the 50’s developed a method for heating a car axle with a torch and bending it to achieve a lower stance, thus the term “Dago axle”
also “wishbones” are the steel tubes that locate the axles to the chassis on a car with a transverse leaf spring, like old Fords. “Split wishbones” are another way to lower a car. Later we will discuss c-notching, reverse spring eyes, lowering blocks, and drop spindles
