That of course is Richard Dreyfuss and Suzanne Sommers from George Lucas's greatest film, American Graffiti. Dreyfuss is in a 1958 Edsel Corsair 4-door hardtop; unseen in the front seat are Ron Howard and Cindy Williams. 
For newcomers to this thing, I invite your requests to ID mystery cars, provided they fit the guidelines. And if you're familiar with the guidelines, I deputize you to admonish and/or ticket scofflaws in my timeline. dcids.substack.com/p/dcids-the-te…
I usually like to start off with old family photos, but this one was too good to ignore (ht @JetJacket). This groovy bird is atop the Strip Star, built by immortal custom car legend @GeneWinfield in 1965, and I believe at Gene's shop in Mojave.
https://twitter.com/Christy_StJohn/status/1484973986781884416
*the car on the container is a '57 Chevy Bel Air.
Here's another groovy beehive bird with the Strip Star, shortly after it was built; it runs a full race 427 Ford engine. You may have seen it in Back To The Future 2, still a car of the 2015 future in 1989.
Here's another groovy beehive bird with the Strip Star, shortly after it was built; it runs a full race 427 Ford engine. You may have seen it in Back To The Future 2, still a car of the 2015 future in 1989.
**Like George Lucas, Gene is a graduate of Modesto (CA) HS, real life site of American Graffiti, and has contributed to a number of sci fi films. Here's the Strip Star in BTTF2, the Jupiter 8 (nee Reactor) from Star Trek, the Spinner from Blade Runner, &the 6000 SUX from Robocop.
***Not to mention the Star Car from Last Starfighter, and the Piranha car in the Man From UNCLE. Gene's Reactor also doubled as Catwoman's car in Batman.
And Gene's still customizing cars (and wowing the ladies) at 94 years young.
And Gene's still customizing cars (and wowing the ladies) at 94 years young.
Oh YEAH! Kool-Aid, cake, and ice cream!
Directly behind Great Grandma and the party table is a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, and just a bit yonder is a 1956 Chevy Bel Air.
Directly behind Great Grandma and the party table is a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, and just a bit yonder is a 1956 Chevy Bel Air.
https://twitter.com/breathem_rpl/status/1484387792373227521
This duffer hooked his tee shot so bad he had to go look for it in his 1928 Buick Standard 6.
https://twitter.com/fobrg/status/1484275483340644353
Too much photo damage for a solid ID on the car behind them, but I think a 36 Chevy or Pontiac; next car is a 1936 Plymouth P2 sedan, and yonder is a 1936-37 Hudson Terraplane.
https://twitter.com/ohiospud/status/1482853692206624768
obviously it's a Jeep, but more specifically a 1946-49 Willys CJ2A, the first postwar civilian Jeep model. And I bet it was hella fun learning to drive in one.
https://twitter.com/FatOldDrunkGuy1/status/1482841959165267976
Behind Dad and his buddy is a 1949-50 Chevy Styleline, and the glimpse of taillight/fin in front of it belong to a 1957 Ford.
https://twitter.com/mdrache/status/1482743813630275598
Man, this is a toughie and best I can do here is suggest possible candidates: circa 1909 Stearns, Stoddard-Dayton, maybe Washington. Gotta say Grandma's family is far more cheerful than the usual grim scowlers you see in pictures from the era.
https://twitter.com/ztbatey/status/1482736551222079489
This scared-looking kid is doing his best to hide from the neighborhood bully. Headed into the carport is a 1941 Chrysler sedan, and behind it is a 1949-51 Mercury.
https://twitter.com/fobrg/status/1484275335113891849
Since I went on a Gene Winfield tangent earlier, this one fits in: the Landmaster from Damnation Alley (1977), which now resides at Gene's shop in Mojave. Not built by Gene but fellow custom car legend Dean Jeffries, best known for the Monkees' car.
https://twitter.com/blu_etalon/status/1484192389778575364
*Sadly, he is no longer with us. Like Missouri-born Gene Winfield, Iowa-born Dean Jeffries was a Midwest kid who grew up in California, and made it big in the custom car / movie car biz. And like Gene, a chick magnet.
*incidentally, the car in the photo above is Dean Jeffries's own 1947 Mercury which he customized and added his own flames/ pinstripes. It catapulted him to fame after it appeared in a 1956 Rod & Custom article, and is now one of the lost Dead Sea scrolls of hot rodding.
**the last known whereabouts of the Jeffries '47 Merc were in England, somewhere around 1994. So if any of you Limeys happen to stumble on a weird old American car with a faded flame job in a dusty barn, HMU
Dang, I really really want to say circa 1909 Buick Model 10 Tourabout, but there are a few features that don't quite match.
https://twitter.com/jonathanmmeola/status/1476607362110828553
#1 here is 1909 Buick Tourabout, the iffy bits are the front 12 spoke wheels, cowl, and rear seat area; 'fraid that's the closest I can say without deeper research.
Like I say, I'm neither infallible nor unstumpable, I just give it my best shot.
Like I say, I'm neither infallible nor unstumpable, I just give it my best shot.
Not all Roaring 20s girls were pearl-twirling Charleston flappers. These early auto shop coeds are wrenching on a 1920ish Stephens Salient 6, made in Freeport IL and founded by the owner of the Moline Plow Company (ht @crobruncato)
https://twitter.com/fakehistoryhunt/status/1484732256849641474
*Moline Plow Co. eventually begat Minneapolis-Moline tractors. Their bigger crosstown rival John Deere also sorta spawned a car company, Velie, founded by a JD heir and made in Moline. A few Velies have appeared in my car ID case files.
**also, Stephens is not to be confused with Massachusetts-made Stevens-Duryea.
OK, time to move on to some street and wilderness finds. And submarine finds. Pretty sure this fish habitat is a circa 1975 Ford Pinto, possibly dunked to put out a fire.
https://twitter.com/Multi_Path_Fade/status/1484999100227629059
This Ranchero is a '59, wearing pinner whites and TorqThrust II wheels. The Ranchero goes back to 1957, and 1959 was the last full size year. In 1960 it was downsized to Falcon platform, and 1967+ was based on midsize Fairlane/Torino.
https://twitter.com/N9830G/status/1484960930945544197
Another '59 Ranchero that's not really a Ranchero; a clever chimera based on a 1959 Lincoln Continental, with its trunk replaced with a pickup bed. 1958-60 Lincolns were some of the biggest and weirdest production cars ever made.
https://twitter.com/pastorms/status/1484579174572515337
Answering the question "How much funny can you fit into the trunk of a 1963 Chevy Biscayne?"
https://twitter.com/DrGeorgeBurdell/status/1484566005095354370
Foreground a 1955 Chevy Bel Air with custom grille & rubber band tires on big hoops; behind it is a 1954 Chevy 3100 pickup. I would've gone with Cragar S/S rims on both, but that's just me.
https://twitter.com/JuvenileBluster/status/1484547163464032256
Gotta say I.... *ponders* .... really like it. 1974-78 Volvo 240 or 244, slammed, with murder rims, and a Juicy Fruit paint job that I'd love to drive to Wrigley Field.
https://twitter.com/BizballMaury/status/1483899783618039810
*hat tip on that one to @cptjtspaulding.
1940-41 Ford panel truck, chopped/ shaved/ nosed/ decked/ etc. (ht @LevinInches)
https://twitter.com/bubulaboo/status/1482712288310317057
pretty dang sweet 46-48 Plymouth.
https://twitter.com/toddva99/status/1482728582954819593
Thought I had seen most every 1960s car-related album that existed, but this one was new to me. The cover car is a 1961-ish MG MGA.
https://twitter.com/rockmom/status/1482726480169910272
*I had never heard of Oscar Brand before either, and research says he was a kind of bizarre mashup of Pete Seeger and Redd Foxx:
And on that bawdy note, I will conclude today's episode. Back next weekend with more, and until then Happy Motoring!
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