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Location: The Mile High City | Generally, I am not wild about paying money to show my car - but this one is interesting. There is a $200 cash prize for the people's choice. It sounds like fun - if you have ever heard of Charles Phoenix, he will be a judge. He has created his own fame through his passion for modernism or "mid-century" modernism - and he seems like a interesting person. Here are a couple of links: http://www.denvermodernism.com/artists.html http://thingsyoushoulddo.com/colorado/denver-modernism-show The first link has a picture of a '57 Chevrolet and I am sure a Forward Look car would win out over anything like that. As far as the most "modernistic" Forward Look car, I would have to say Joe's BTB 60 Plymouth is a good candidate or any of the cars with the Astrodome dashboard! Maybe even a '61 Plymouth with that wild grille... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 452
Location: Southern California | Well heck, Mike, I'll nominate your Firedome!! |
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Expert
Posts: 1288
| Mike --
It sounds interesting, plus the car show scene has been so curtailed by the economy that I'm getting frustrated. Double plus, it will give us another excuse to visit our daughter up there.
Gid --
Heck, the "stabilizers" (official Plymouth name for them in 1960) on the Big-Tailed Beast are about 2" higher than the fins on your DeSoto -- right, Mike?
Joe |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Sonoramic60 - 2009-07-19 7:08 AM
Gid --
Heck, the "stabilizers" (official Plymouth name for them in 1960) on the Big-Tailed Beast are about 2" higher than the fins on your DeSoto -- right, Mike?
Joe
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Joe,
Word on the street is that length is a plus. Our fins start at the door. By this logic, the BTB might be nicknamed "Stubby". |
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Expert
Posts: 1288
| Doc --
"Stubby"? I'll have you know that the BTB is only about 6" shorter than MD2 ("Moby Dick II" or the "Great White Whale," my '57 300C). I believe it to be about a foot longer than classic '57-'58 Furys). Honest, I never would have believed it myself until I parked the Beast and MD2 side-by-side.
Joe
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Location: Parts Unknown | Joe,
Hate to burst your bubble, but when talking about the length of your unit, we ain't talking the WHOLE car ! .... just the "unit".
From start to tip, how long is the FIN ? |
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Expert
Posts: 1288
| Aw, Doc, you're cruel.
Joe |
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Location: The Mile High City |
You guys are a hoot!
I know any De Soto is going to look a bit more futuristic than that '57 Belaire, but I imagine they would really go for that square wheel and all the funky gadgets on some of those Later Lookers (Foward Lookers, that is). |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Sonoramic60 - 2009-07-20 5:27 PM
Aw, Doc, you're cruel.
Joe
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If it is any consolation, the wagon fins are "bolt on" and only about 18" long. |
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Expert
Posts: 1288
| Doc --
Now, if we used area rather than strictly length, I think I've got you DeSoto guys there as well as in heighth. But don't ask me to compute the square footage as my math has gone the way of my memory.
However, while I concede to you in fin length, I think "stabilizer" is cooler than just plain ol' "fin."
Joe Cool |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7401
Location: northern germany | hey lenghts is not important IF it can't stand tall! the btbs fins are a gazillion times taller! if you're talking about lenght forget 58 desotos look at 60/61 desotos/chryslers! |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Sonoramic60 - 2009-07-21 5:42 AM
Doc --
Now, if we used area rather than strictly length, I think I've got you DeSoto guys there as well as in heighth. But don't ask me to compute the square footage as my math has gone the way of my memory.
However, while I concede to you in fin length, I think "stabilizer" is cooler than just plain ol' "fin."
Joe Cool
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"Stabilizers" .... ? Is that like Zoloft or Effexor ?
And who measures their "unit" in square footage ! |
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Expert
Posts: 1288
| Doc --
"Stabilizers" .... ? Is that like Zoloft or Effexor ?
Neither, it's just the way the Plymouth ad guys made their appeals to cool guys like me back in 1960.
And who measures their "unit" in square footage !
There's an old saying in the law trade:
"If you have the law, pound the law.
If you have the case, pound the case.
If you don't have either the law or the case, pound the table!"
I'm pounding the table.
Joe
PS, I bet the "fins" (and not "stabilizers") on Ol' MD2 are at least as big as those on your DeSotos -- same body shell, right? |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I spend most of my time pounding sand, so ....
Yeah, the 57-58 body shell was pretty much the same from the cowl back on like body types. A 2HT shell is quite similar to the convertible, and can be made either way with only a few key parts changed out. But yes, the fins are the same.
What color is MD2 ?
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Expert
Posts: 1288
| Doc --
MD2 = "Moby Dick II" as Melville's "Moby Dick" was a great white whale and my '57 is another "white whale."
Joe |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I didn't want to assume too much. I already was thinking "whale's tail" was referring to the fins. Found a black "C" today that I did not know was sitting under my nose. I was asking around about a 57 NY'er that was promised to me at one time, but disappeared and then just recently showed up in a storage yard. This led to the black "C". Good to meet another FL enthusiast around these parts. Not too many in this area. |
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Location: The Mile High City | Well, I went to the show and here are the forwardlookers that I saw:
(57 Fireflite 1.jpg)
(61 Chrysler 1.jpg)
(61 Chrysler 2.jpg)
(DeSoto pair 1.jpg)
(DeSoto pair 2.jpg)
(DeSoto pair 3.jpg)
Attachments ---------------- 57 Fireflite 1.jpg (218KB - 190 downloads) 61 Chrysler 1.jpg (146KB - 174 downloads) 61 Chrysler 2.jpg (199KB - 199 downloads) DeSoto pair 1.jpg (199KB - 182 downloads) DeSoto pair 2.jpg (172KB - 262 downloads) DeSoto pair 3.jpg (245KB - 188 downloads)
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Location: Parts Unknown | That low shot "desoto pair 1" really makes that car of yours look great !
You keep posting pix like that. Puts a fire under my seat ! |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13049
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | Looks like a car dealer from back then - which car do you want to buy? Really nice cars! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 612
Location: Kingston Springs , TN | Doctor DeSoto - 2009-08-30 11:54 PM
That low shot "desoto pair 1" really makes that car of yours look great !
Concur! |
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Location: The Mile High City | Thanks, fellas - that four door '57 Fireflite was a nifty car - the camera did not capture the paint scheme very well. It was a nice green-blue with soft yellow roof and spear. According to the owner (a noted local forward look collector), it was all original. |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Give that fella a wonk on the head with a folding chair and let him know those ugly-ass radials are NOT original !
These 57-58 side-by-side photos present an excellent argument for how good these cars look with the correct tires and conversely, how bad they look with those 71 Ford LTD tires. YUCK! |
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Location: The Mile High City | He did get the ribbon for "best original condition" car. Wayne Maddox is a very interesting guy - he usually displays a car with an introduction of "this is exactly how I got it - what you see is what I have." Like the amber lense on the DeSoto - he could easily replace it, but he doesn't because that was part of the car when he got it. Somehow, he gets all these amazing forwardlook cars. He polishes them up and trots them out to show. |
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Location: Parts Unknown | I can kinda understand that. I just have such a major malfunction for those skinny white stripe radial tires that people put on our cars when they no longer cared. Back in 76 our cars were considered and treated like junkers. It was the rare owner that really kept a FL car in period appearance. That's my pet peeve ju-ju.
If a guy goes radials and mags / custom wheels, then fine .... it is a different look he's going for. But to just slap them ugly-ass low profile radials on stock rims and wheel covers justs looks like it fell into the hands of some white trash dirtbag that don't care, no how. Have some pride ! Yer driving the pinnacle of cool and grace ! Aaaarrrgghhh ! |
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Location: The Mile High City | There was a bit of a discussion about his tires. The general consensus, including Wayne, was that wide whites would make the car look much better. As to whether Wayne buys them or not is all up to him! |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Demerit tires or not, your car sure looked like a million bucks !
What's with the flags ? |
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Location: The Mile High City | Thanks, Doc! Those are my Grand Lake Yacht Club flags. I love hoisting them up the antennae when the yacht is parked. I wouldn't dare drive with them on! Million bucks or less, I didn't even win the ribbon for best '50's car...that went to a '54 Buick Skylark convertible. I was blanked |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Not to come off as being *too* arrogant, but I am sure you would agree with my exquisite taste and sense of design that anyone so fortunate as to claim priviledged ownership of such a fine car as yours is driving pretty much the absolute zenith in post war automotive design. There is no discussion here. This is it ! It does not get any better than this ! What kind of limp wristed silly people were running that show, anyway ? Prolly just a gaggle corn-swogglin' lop-eared galoots ! |
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Location: The Mile High City | Doctor DeSoto - 2009-09-03 10:09 PM
Not to come off as being *too* arrogant, but I am sure you would agree with my exquisite taste and sense of design that anyone so fortunate as to claim priviledged ownership of such a fine car as yours is driving pretty much the absolute zenith in post war automotive design. There is no discussion here. This is it ! It does not get any better than this ! What kind of limp wristed silly people were running that show, anyway ? Prolly just a gaggle corn-swogglin' lop-eared galoots ! :laugh:
You pegged it, Doc! Thanks for the pick-me-up |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Mikey ~
An unrelated "heads up" . ....
I finally got you a pic of that lever you were asking for. It is posted over on that thread in the parts wanted folder. |
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Location: The Mile High City | Well, that Modernism show may not have been a total fiasco - a fella sent me an e-mail today and said he was making a calendar of finned cars. He said he took a picture of the DeSoto fin at the show and it turned out great. He would like to use it for the calendar and asked me to sign a release form - for that, he will give me a free copy of the calendar. Doesn't sound bad to me! |
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Location: The Mile High City | Well, I received the calendar a few weeks ago (with a little prodding) - my DeSoto's fins are February 2010. The shortest month of the year! DeSoto's get no respect, I tells ya! |
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Location: Colorado, Pike's Peak | Sounds good to me. I wish the FL site still did a calendar! Slim
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Location: Colorado | Scan it and post a pic Mike. |
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Location: The Mile High City | Here it is ray. I think there was one other forwardlooker in the calendar. His website is http://www.horton.com/photosite/index.htm but I can't find a link to the full calendar anywhere.
(DeSoto Fin Reduced.jpg)
Attachments ---------------- DeSoto Fin Reduced.jpg (184KB - 164 downloads)
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Location: Colorado | Cool! Thanks for posting Mike! |
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Location: The Mile High City | getting closer to finding the band that posed with my car...
(ModernismAug2009024.jpg)
Attachments ---------------- ModernismAug2009024.jpg (113KB - 136 downloads)
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Location: The Mile High City | It looks like they are ramping up again for this weekend:
http://denvermodernism.com/car-show/ |
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Location: The Mile High City | I was talking to John Tuthill from the WPC Club the other day and he said he and Wayne were working on Wayne's 1957. John removed the amber lens and discovered that it was just an amber film over the stock lens. They peeled off the film and the lens was as good as new. |
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