Hi, Folks,
Well, this is a little more like it! I received today a copy of "Auto
Show," the 1958 edition. To my surprise, it does not refer to any
particular car show, which I assumed it would. Instead it seems to be a
once a year publication, which gives multi page layouts to "All The Newest
Cars Of The World." By this it means the USA and Europe.
The pics and layout are good, the information scant but consistent and
serviceable. It does not include prices. Imperial comes out very well,
although one picture caption says the make has lost its continental kit, by
which I assume it means the phony spare tire carrier, AKA 'Toilet Seat,' on
the trunk lid. It makes up for this with a cool license plate, that reads,
"IM-19-58" with IMPERIAL underneath in small letters.
On the subject of Continental, with a big 'C,' it states the line is no
longer separate to Lincoln, which is just as well, as the Capri and the
Premier look indistinguishable from them anyway. I was also surprised to
find that Cadillacs was a three line make even back then. The Brougham was
216.3 ins. long, the Series 62 was 221.8 ins and the Fleetwood was 225.3
ins. Each has a corresponding wheel base difference. No doubt, Buick and
Oldsmobile will have similar variations.
As I had just read the big three were bringing over some of their European
brands, to test the waters for smaller American cars, it was not a surprise,
but a great interest, to see what they included in the list of "Detroit
Imports." Among the usual suspects was none other than Mercedes Benz,
imported by Studebaker-Packard and sold through their dealership
organization.
The book is large and 100 pages long. Of course I will be sending the
Imperial stuff to the web site but if anyone has a fondness for a certain
make, I would be delighted to copy the relevant pages and send them to you.
Oh, the Goggomobil? It's on page 93, in-between the "Frisky" and the
"Zundapp."
Hugh
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