Thread by @iowahawkblog

Today's episode of #DavesCarIDService salutes Dashboards With Dash:

1. 1958 Edsel
2. 1959 Pontiac
3. 1960 Imperial
4. 1961 Chrysler 300G

I'm a sucker for a fine dashboard & they are often a vital clue when I ID a junkpile car. The period 1958-62 was the absolute apex of the dashboard arts, providing the American motorist an over-the-top Googie cockpit worthy of a UFO. Sadly we will never see their likes again.

Before getting to today's batch of IDs, here are the guidelines for any newcomers with a mystery car to solve:

Dig this crazy pic, man. Dad & Mom looking like young Chet Baker and a proto-beatnik chick headed to Frisco in their 1948 Olds Dynamic coupe to smoke jazz cabbage at a bebop poetry coffee house, leaving homespun Aunt Nellie to stay on the farm.

https://twitter.com/USSIndianapolis/status/1388667091167981569

Another 1946-48 Olds (can't distinguish year from this angle), this one a convertible, with a 1952 Plymouth foreground, and an unidentified prim matron on her way to the Garden Club meeting.

https://twitter.com/yourlyingeyes/status/1388524684082356232

*oops, correction, foreground car is 1951 Plymouth.

Fellow alumni of Siouxland car cruising will recognize this DQ as a key stop on the Sioux City Loop (up Nebraska to 13th, down Pierce to 4th). Pic is a bit fuzzy but I believe a 1948ish Harley EL or FL with factory sidecar.

https://twitter.com/DaveHolmberg2/status/1387618789357916160

This young man in uniform has enlisted his sister to earn a merit badge for helping ladies cross the street, to a (L-R) 1950 Ford and 1953 Pontiac.

https://twitter.com/jonathanmmeola/status/1386311158689411073

Italians and their cars is one of my favorite subgenres of ID requests, like these fellas and their beloved family heirloom 1963 Ford Fairlane 500 2 door hardtop.

https://twitter.com/StephenDeGenaro/status/1386304844860952579

presuming the showroom Ford Galaxie is new, I can unequivocally date this photo between October 1960 and October 1961. Other cars (L-R) are 1959 Chevy Impala, 61 Ford Falcon, 61 Ford T-Bird, and a very Christine-like 58 Plymouth.

https://twitter.com/KM7879/status/1386066040950493189

Another brother & sister duo, here modeling the latest in youth fashion (pedal pushers & Keds / buzzcut, cuffed dungarees & Chuck Taylors) with a 1956 Ford Deluxe Ranch Wagon.

https://twitter.com/brickben/status/1385990835662168078

Another favorite subgenre of ID request is Toddlers Perched Precariously On Cars, like these two lil' missies atop a 1947-48 Chevy Fleetmaster coupe.

https://twitter.com/ElizabethEpopa/status/1385979050808672256

You can almost see the early 60s morph to the late 60s with these sunbleached California coeds, possibly off to see the Mamas & Papas or ski bunny at Mammoth in a 1962-63 Rambler 440.

Not sure Coop was the satanic Uber driver here, a bit before his time.

https://twitter.com/jjmcmahon/status/1385277412221472776

I really have to marvel at Cousin Willie's magnificent 'stache here. Thanks to the note on back of photo, can confirm 1911 Hupmobile Model 20 touring; photo 2 is a crapshoot, I'd guess circa 1924 Maxwell but not a lot of confidence.

https://twitter.com/Hackknife/status/1384598234698502147

A couple of awesome vehicles here: Hal Roach's superstar urchins are razzing the cop from a 1930 American Austin Bantam coupe, while he tickets them from his Chicago-made 1928 Henderson Deluxe cop bike (ht @taand99)

https://twitter.com/marinamaral2/status/1382764478350172160

Good ol' Aunt Sue is perched demurely on the trunk lid of a 1955 Ford Customline (ordered with overdrive transmission I might add); the Long Tall Texan and his ladies in #2 are flanked by a 55 Chevy station wagon and 50 Chevy Fleetline sedan.

https://twitter.com/EssBee44/status/1385091397061992451

Holy shnikeys! I always encourage / admonish you to use the hashtag so I don't miss out on great photos like these. Great-great-gramps sure had a mighty fine stable of cars, which I will now attempt to tackle individually...

https://twitter.com/katy1434/status/1385392255620550663

first up, this graceful gal is getting into a what I believe is a circa 1910 Hupmobile Model 20 coupe, a very rare enclosed car for the time, and making this a rare 2-Hupmobile ID session.

*here's the receipt on that one. Enclosed cars (especially gasoline powered coupes) were quite rare at the time, due to high cost and safety fears about glass & fumes.

next up, another very chic lady in an equally chic circa 1911 Baker Electric; patent leather fenders, btw. Enclosed electric cars like this were more common than enclosed gasoline at this point, and popular with well-heeled city women.

I'm gonna put a pin on the rest of Katy's amazing photos to save for a later #DavesCarIDService episode. All will take a bit of research and want them to be as accurate as possible.

Now on to the street find and junkpile forensics portion of our program...

Without seeing grille, afraid I can't narrow it down beyond 1946-48 Buick Century.

https://twitter.com/shawnconnelly/status/1385368910875095042

oops, deleted last tweet because I think I can ID it as a 1930-31 Ford Model A Fordor; we are looking through the roof hole into the floorboards, and 2 passenger side doors are missing.

https://twitter.com/HollywoodDan/status/1385571566520619008

Not unfair, and not technically customs; 1964 Cheetah coupes, designed by Bill Thomas as a Chevy-powered "Cobra killer." It had some clandestine factory support from Chevy and some track success but was gone by 1965. Rare and very collectible today.

https://twitter.com/HazeDoran/status/1385580839841386496

Watch out, you're being tailed by the FBI's elite Hot Rod Squad in a 1930-31 Ford Tudor.

https://twitter.com/tompullin/status/1385635657423507462

1928-29 Ford Model A coupe, now possibly a home for chupacabras or Area 51 escapees

https://twitter.com/HEADLINES_Etc/status/1386029998671228930

A couple people passed this onto me so I'll chime in: 1954 Pontiac Star Chief 2 door hard top, nicely street rodded

https://twitter.com/wondergirl60s/status/1386074336767795203

1932 Ford phaeton (but certainly a fiberglass reproduction), 40 Ford steering wheel, Auburn-style dash panel, hairpin radius rods, powered by small block Ford

https://twitter.com/ImStillJeremy/status/1386301543167705093

This gruesome discovery in the Jersey swamps is a whacked 53 Plymouth who may have been informing to the Feds

https://twitter.com/GrizzledOak/status/1386374811555975179

That wraps up today's ID session, back next weekend for more. Keep those old family car photos coming - especially if you have vintage prom, graduation, or wedding photos, for special future ID threads.

Until then, keep your eyes on the road and Happy Motoring!