Way Too Cool Retro Cars at FFL!

1961 Corvette C1 and 1957 Chevrolet Nomad Truck Conversion

Sweetie and I walked for miles last weekend at Fashion Fair for Life-- an event in which a percentage of all sales is donated to the nonprofit cancer-fighting Relay for Life.

We bought a bunch of outfits, but whe we reached the FFL Amble sim I paid more attention to the cars that were placed for decoration than to the vestments.

Most and maybe all of the cars were made by Surplus Motors or Jupiter Motors. Some were factory standard, some were slightly modified, and others were radically modified.

1935 Ratrod Bobber

The C1 Corvette pictured just below sold for just under $4000 USD; about 10,000 were made. It was equipped with a 315 hp (235 Kwh) V-8 engine that displaced 283 cubic inches (4.6L).

1955-1957 Nomads were a station wagon with two doors instead of the customary four. The roof supports tilted rakishly forward, giving them a unique look and making them collector's items. The one just below was configured as a pickup on a car frame-- like Chevrolet's later El Caminos. El Caminos weren't introduced until 1959, so this one is definitely a custom job.

1957 Chevy Nomad. This One Isn't the Higher-End Bel-Air Model.

Just above is a 1959 Nomad 210 model. Below is the fancier 1957 Chevy Bel-Air, this one a convertible. The chrome trim and triangular panel on the side just makes the car.

I owned a '57 Chevy once-- unfortunately, not a convertible. It was a two-door sedan with a 283 c.i.d. V-8 engine, and I paid $100 for it. I was offered twice that before I drove it off the lot. I should have taken the offer, for it was a bad-luck car.

On my first outing it took me 30 minutes to find the gas cap. It was cleverly hidden behind a swing-out panel on the back side of one of the tail fins. After all these years I want to say the left one.

There were some muscle cars present. Here's a modified Plymouth Barracuda in Poison Green colors.

Check out this 1957 Thunderbird. It was the last year it was a two-seater roadster. T'Birds would soon become four-seater mushy-driving hogs of the road.

Here's a later model Vette with a T-Top.

This is a 1959 Chevrolet Impala. 1959 was the peak year for tailfins.

The most extreme and ridiculous manifestation of the non-functional tailfin was the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. Wouldn't you know, there was one on the ground.

Some of the cars had detailed engines. I trust the builders have provided a way for owners to open and lower the hood, for otherwise all that work would be for naught.

I had to derender the hood, a fender, and eight or nine other prims to get this shot.

Trucks were represented as well as cars. Here's a late 1950s or early 1960s Chevy Fleetside pickup that has been jacked 'way up.

Fleetsides have a wide bed which extends past the outside of the rear tires, requiring semicircular covers inside the bed.

Check out the detail!

Wow, I was really taken back to my younger days, when these cars were actually on the road. And so I jumped to Jupiter Motors and paid $1999 for the 1961 C1 Corvette.