1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Townsman 4-Door Wagon

While Ford and Plymouth had all-new cars for 1957, the now-iconic 1957 Chevrolet was simply a substantial facelift, the last year of what is now known as the “Tri-Five” models introduced in 1955. The 1957 Chevrolet added two more engine options not available in 1956, for a total of seven, including five versions of the Chevrolet 283-cubic-inch V8 ranging from 185 to 283 horsepower, the most powerful featuring Ramjet mechanical fuel injection. Chevrolet offered a variety of station wagons for 1957, but the Bel Air line had only the exclusive 2-door hardtop Nomad and the 4-door 6-passenger Townsman shown here at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show.

1952 Studebaker Commander Land Cruiser 4-Door Sedan

The year 1952 was Studebaker’s 100th Anniversary, and the automaker had been planning an all-new design to celebrate, but ended up having some problems, so a new car would have to wait for 1953. For 1952, Studebaker had to do another facelift on its now 6-year-old design, with a low full-width grill hinting at 1953’s styling replacing the bullet nose of the 1949 to 1951 models. Otherwise, they were very similar to the previous years, with Champions powered by an 85-horsepower 169.6-cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine, while Commanders and the long-wheelbase Land Cruiser pictured here at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show were powered by a 120-horsepower 262.6-cubic-inch V8 engine. 

1966 Lincoln Continental Coupe

In 1961, the Ford Motor Company had reinvented the Lincoln Continental as a four-door only convertible or sedan, and it saw little change over the next four years, with perhaps the biggest change being an increase in the wheelbase from 123 to 126 inches in 1964. In 1966, the Lincoln Continental received a new body, and with it, a new two-door hardtop coupe model. It still used the 126-inch wheelbase, and styling was still very similar, with changes including an extended front adding nearly 5 inches to overall length, a grille with fine horizontal bars and a bulged center section, a front bumper that wrapped around to the front wheel openings, a slight rear fender bump-up just ahead of larger rear wheel openings, and flat instead of curved door glass. The 1966 Lincoln Continental was powered by a bored and stroked 340-horsepower 462-cubic-inch V8 engine, and the coupe started at $5,485. Thanks to the new coupe, Lincoln production reached almost 55,000 in 1966, though that was still only 25% of competitor Cadillac’s total. This example was photographed at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show.

1968 Dodge Monaco 500 Hardtop Coupe

The Dodge Monaco was introduced as a hardtop coupe only in 1965 as a top-of-the-line version of the full-size Custom 880 and Polara. The following year, the Monaco name replaced the Custom 880 line, with the Monaco 500 Hardtop Coupe at the top. The standard engine was a 315-horsepower 383-cubic-inch V8 with 2-barrel carburetors. A 330-horsepower 4-barrel version of the 383-cubic-inch V8 engine and a 375-horsepower 4-barrel 440-cubic-inch Magnum V8 engine were also available. The base Monaco came standard with a 3-speed manual transmission with a 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission standard on the Monaco 500. A 4-speed fully-synchronized manual transmission was available with either 4-barrel V8. The Monaco 500 also featured front bucket seats, electric clock on instrument panel, cornering lights, body-side double paint stripe, and sill and wheel-lip mouldings. 1968 would be the last year for the first generation of Dodge Monaco and the final year for the Monaco 500 in the United States. This example was photographed at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show.

1940 Nash LaFayette Convertible Coupe

The LaFayette Motors Corporation was founded in 1920 but was taken over by Nash and discontinued after 1924. Nash brought back the LaFayette marque in 1934 as a low-priced brand, but in 1937 the LaFayette became a low-priced Nash model with the same styling as the larger, more expensive Nash Ambassadors, just on a shorter wheelbase, and powered by a 99-horsepower 234.8-cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine. 1940 would be the last year for the Nash LaFayette, as it would be replaced in 1941 with the all-new unibody Nash Ambassador 600. This 1940 Nash LaFayette Convertible Coupe was photographed at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show.

1963 Mercury Comet Convertible

Introduced in 1960 as an upscale version of the Ford Falcon, the Comet was originally designed as an Edsel, but with the demise of the short-lived marque, the Comet ended up as a Mercury. Previously available only in sedan and wagon form, Comet convertibles with power-operated tops were introduced in 1963, along with the Sportster hardtop coupe. Initially, 1963 Comets were offered with a choice of Thriftpower inline 6-cylinder engines: a 144-cubic-inch version producing 85 horsepower and a 170-cubic-inch version producing 101 horsepower. A 164-horsepower 260-cubic-inch Challenger V8 became available mid-year. 1963 would be the last year of the first-generation Comet. This example was photographed at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show.

1932 Chevrolet Series BA Confederate 3-Window Deluxe Coupe All Steel

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Chevrolet used a different model name for each year; the 1932 Chevrolet Series BA Confederate replaced the 1931 Chevrolet Series AE Independence. For 1932, the 194-cubic-inch “Stovebolt” six-cylinder inline engine featured a new downdraft carburetor and higher compression to produce 60 horsepower, up from 50 the previous year, and was now mated to a 3-speed Synchro-Mesh transmission with a Simplified Free Wheeling feature that allowed the car to coast while not pressing the accelerator. The 1932 bodies by Fisher featured a sloped non-glare windshield with no external visor above, and the hood louvers were replaced by opening vents. In 1932, the Confederate line featured two trim levels, Standard and DeLuxe. DeLuxe models are distinguished by chrome hood vents, chrome cowl lamps, and two spare wire wheels mounted on the running boards. This highly customized example at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show features the cowl lamps of a DeLuxe model despite its painted vents and no spare wheels on the running boards. The 1932 Chevrolet still featured a great diesel of wood framing; many of these cars had all the wood replaced with steel framing when rebuilt as “hot rods” like this one.

1976 Ford Gran Torino Starsky & Hutch Edition

The Ford Gran Torino received its last facelift for 1974, and would remain virtually unchanged through its final year of 1976. Externally the three model years are virtually indistinguishable. Engine options for the final two years included 351, 400, and 460 cubic inch V8s, all with a three-speed automatic transmission. The 1975 Ford Gran Torino was chosen for the then-new television series Starsky & Hutch to be the car belonging to Detective David Starsky, played by Paul Michael Glaser. Multiple Gran Torinos were used for the series, painted bright red with a distinctive white vector stripe. The new show’s popularity led Ford to offer factory replicas of the TV car for 1976. Approximately 1,300 of the factory replicas were built, though many regular Gran Torino owners had their cars painted to create their own replicas of the car from the TV show, which aired new episodes through May 1979. I am assuming this car at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show is one of the factory replicas from 1976; if not it could be from any of the three model years.