Thread by @iowahawkblog

Today's #DavesCarIDService is brought to you by the all new 1973 AMC Gremlin Levi's Edition! Why wear pants when you drive, when your seats are already wearing them?

Yes, it was real and spectacular. and debuted at the Chicago Auto Show 50 years ago today. The Levi's option was also available on the Hornet and Pacer, and is sort of a collector's item today. As an upholstery material, not quite rich Corinthian leather quality.

The 1973 OPEC embargo and federal emissions laws were a double asteroid strike that killed off the firebreathing muscle car age; car makers could only respond by groovy-ing up their defanged cars with wheel & decal engineering. Some are kind of charming now, in a dopey-goofy way.

Before we embark on today's magical mystery car tour, please rise and recite the car ID request pledge (especially those of you who have been spamming the hashtag with irrelevant stuff):

These Scottish laddies were rolling through the Rockies in a 1971 Ford LTD. I guess I have to ask: were you more astounded by the size of America's mountains, or the size of America's cars?

https://twitter.com/Billwhiteford/status/1627056779560644612

Ah, the magnificent indomitable wild mustang, its mane flowing in the breeze as it runs free across the American Southwest, digging up lawns and flower beds. The car back there is a 1951 Ford, but not a Mustang (a Sedan Deluxe).

https://twitter.com/prufreeder/status/1627032841463947264

Now how's this for a family keepsake? The photographer said "Frankly Grandma, I don't give a damn" to her no-photos rule, and captured this terrific shot of Clark Gable with the family and their 1955 Oldsmobile.

https://twitter.com/ByronBunch3/status/1626382168711651329

I would like to say that is A+ car ID request material.

I had never previously heard of the movie "Band of Angels" but apparently it was one of those Tennessee Williams / Faulkner-style Southern Gothic potboilers that were all the rage in Hollywood at the time.

Aw jeez louise, this California fella is practicing some kinda iffy jack safety dere on his 1953 Lincoln Capri. And if I know my Coen Brothers, I tink dere's a suitcase back in the field dere with Jerry Lundegaard's ransom money.

https://twitter.com/sprint955rider/status/1626025759130230784

Oh man does that 1974-76 Yamaha GT80 take me back to my boyhood dirt biking days (I rode a Honda SL125 tho). Kinda stole my thunder on the 67 Ford Cortina, as it's a tougher ID than the 1971-73 Buick Estate Wagon in front of it.

https://twitter.com/Weirddave0/status/1625746647710945281

*I bet I could still pull a wheelie for 50 yards, I just choose not to. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Happy Anniversary to these snowy Cornhusker newlyweds, about to tear off to a warm honeymoon cabin in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air that's rocking some Cragar S/S mag wheels. Foreground car I thiiiink is a 66-67 Dodge Coronet.

https://twitter.com/Wolfe_Benjamin/status/1625501586675077126

You will not be able to contain your SCREAMS as VINCENT PRICE is driven to HOMICIDAL MADNESS by a 1958 Ford COUNTRY SEDAN STATION WAGON

(h/t @moparheader)

https://twitter.com/el_zombo/status/1625216235159027713

Yes indeed (and thanks for adding the subsequent hashtag). The photo falls into the "county fair souvenir photo with one of those newfangled horseless carriages" category, and the photographer's prop here is a 1905ish Cadillac Model F.

https://twitter.com/wildauburnrebel/status/1624842504905392129

These souvenir car photos are always kind of fun to get, and almost all pre-1910. Cars were so rare and costly that you'd plop down two bits for a photo in one. Thanks to the Ford Model T, by the early 1910s cars were common, and this genre of car photo disappeared.

The Pitts boys say "sun's out, guns out" as they hit the beach in their circa 1916-19 Ford Model TT truck. Not a missprint; Ford's heavy duty trucks at the time were Model TT, not T. Similarly, subsequent Ford big trucks were AA, and BB.

https://twitter.com/SaintJKP/status/1624893342478659584

Lil' Great Unk is in front of a 1927 Chevy Capitol 2 door sedan, but he doesn't seem too thrilled about it. Love the "Duluth" souvenir arrow emblem on the radiator. Gitchee Gumee! Too bad it wasn't a 27 Chevy Superior, which would've tied it all together.

https://twitter.com/TheTaxBastard/status/1624855804263161857

Gotta say the clothes and car (1952 Ford convertible) are more redolent of 1959 than 1969. In an early day I bet Dad could've competed with John Garfield for some romantic tough guy roles.

https://twitter.com/Survcon63/status/1624822746239598593

Yes indeed; behind Grandpa on left are a circa 1960 Volvo Amazon S and sliver of a 1961 Chevy; behind freshly minted Army man Dad on right are a sliver of 1960 Ford and a 1957 Chevy.

https://twitter.com/therealmjfox/status/1624816017942740992

Photographic proof that not even innocent toddlers were spared the fashion horror show that plagued 1973 America. And the car is... oh man, let me first describe the ID struggle that has rendered me embarrassingly stumped here. 1/2

https://twitter.com/TeaterJohn/status/1624793400863076353

I strolled into this one like "haha, great pic, ID will be a breeze." At first, the hood bulge/ grille said 71-72 Chevelle, but headlight bezels... ??? Suffice it to say the combo of bezels-grille-hood-round emblem defeated me.

Go ahead and ID it, and I'll take the lumps. 2/2

I thank Allen for solving the mystery car behind the Two Wiiild and Ca-razy boys: indeed, a 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner. I shall now self-flagellate with a fanbelt for my embarrassing ID brain freeze, and vow to do better.

https://twitter.com/arlasko/status/1629527055967703041

Not much to go on and a bit out of focus, but I believe a 1927-28 GM sport coupe; Chevy, Pontiac, Buick or Olds. Bigger mystery is the garter-clad androgyne, who seems to be auditioning for Cabaret or the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

https://twitter.com/silosmasher/status/1623949830895685632

Mom in-law was clearly the apple of her grandma's eye, and thanks to the sharp focus I can say the car here is a 1926-27 Pontiac or Oakland sedan.

https://twitter.com/MyStory21256924/status/1623804039166103554

*Pontiac began as a low-price spinoff companion brand to GM's Oakland; its immediate popularity doomed Oakland, which GM killed off in 1931.

A "trunk"? How dare you let the memory of the rumble seat fade away, sir! Boy howdy, did this one required some triangulation, but I can offer a confident ID of 1930 Nash coupe.

https://twitter.com/Engelsmung/status/1623387995091963905

I can tell you the oval window VW Beetle there is a 1953-57, and clothing styles of the folks seem to be of that approximate era as well.

https://twitter.com/north_peterson/status/1623347479029731328

I think thoroughly modern Lucille is the earliest Motorcycle Mama ID I've ever gotten; the bike is a 1925 Harley JD, and car behind it a circa 1922 Dodge Brothers.

https://twitter.com/HazeDoran/status/1622425984627793923

Sorry for the abbreviated ID session today, but time for me to head to the Dell Diamond in Round Rock to catch a few inning of my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes versus Bayou Bengals of LSU.

But I will be back again tomorrow, and until then I leave this in tribute to the 1973 AMC Gremlin Levi's Edition: Chicago's great imaginary 1970s yacht rock giants, The Blue Jean Committee.

Happy Motoring!