Peter is a “photographic observer” who is living in Australia. Today’s collection of photographs from Peter are of some very interesting Bits and Pieces of photos that he has taken here in the US and in Australia. I like that we get to see how Peter shares his views and stories of the hobby here in the US and in Australia.
These photos have a bit of everything in them. History, Stories and some Car Culture. Peter, wants to thank you for following along.
Charger Australia Mopar Collectables.
In the 1970’s, Peter worked as a service technician for a Chrysler dealer in Perth, West Australia preparing new Chargers for the showroom floor. The Chargers photographed here were taken by Peter 2 years ago. They are rare and collectable today and it has been a long time coming. Peter knew their time would come, but it is too late for these two.
Peter sent me this link to an article that portrays the Charger development by Mopar Australia with the help of Mopar USA. Click the link below to see Chargers you never saw and secret styling proposals revealed!
Click this link to read the article.
Queensland Car Lot
Peter found this clean right hand drive 1965 Ford Mustang on a Queensland car lot for $50,000 AU. Peter did not know how it ran but, he remembered that he was not in favor of the “squat”, that means a harsh ride.
This memory goes back to when Peter was in the Navy. A fellow sailor owned a new 1965 Mustang and they made the drive from Virginia to Massachusetts and back on a 72 hour pass. The stock suspension and shallow seats made for a “squat”. He remembers having to swap drivers every 2 hours. Another fellow sailor bought a Pontiac GTO, they made the same trip, but with better results. It had a better ride and they made better time.
Being in the service, both cars were sold as we were off to the Gulf of Tonkin Vietnam and their home port became San Francisco. After a 9 month tour in the gulf, there was a lot of money to be spent on cars in San Francisco. Peter’s daily driver was a 1960 Ford Starliner, 3 peddle and floor shift and for fun a 1958 Corvette. San Francisco’s North Beach in the 60s was Heaven and then back to the Hell of the Gulf of Tonkin for another 9 month tour.
Once upon a time.
On Peter’s first return trip to the USA after many years he was on his way to Palm Springs. When he saw this truckload of new Pontiac Firebirds at a truck stop. He has never seen the likes of these on the shores of Australia. He liked the looks of them then and still does now. Peter feels that they are ignored today.
Then literally around the corner he found this neglected and dumped Firebird. Peter apologizes for the poor photographs as the sun was setting. Peter felt that In a transitional way, the new Firebirds arriving by the truckload and literally around the corner a Firebird was already being dumped.
Redondo Beach 2011 and 2013
Peter said when I saw the date on the photo of Ruby’s he could hardly believe it is now over eleven years old. He is still sorting through his photos for more Ruby’s photos that will come in a later article. In the mean time take a look who was hanging out at Ruby’s in his 1951 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe, Scott Seidlin!!! Maybe in the next group of photos form Ruby’s we will see you or your car or both?
The Joy of driving a Cobra on the Esplanade and Redondo Beach’s finest at work!
Return to North Hollywood, CA 1989
This is Mr Foley who lived in North Hollywood and who Peter knew in 1969 up till he left for Australia. Peter never took photos of Foley’s backyard collection but, knew it to have Auburns and Chryslers from the 1930s.
On Peter’s trip back in 1989 he visited Mr Foley. What documents that for Peter is when he was invited into his house as a friend from the 60s. It was stuffed full of things, mostly western gear, art. and like a “picker” Peter didn’t know where to look first. In the photo you can see Mr Foley was quite elderly and he was anxious that his collection would be lost in passing. He offered Peter a lot. mostly brochures, but the garage was full of dealer promotional items. In the loft was a sculpture of a prospector panning for gold, but in the pan was a 1949 or 1950 1/10 scale Ford sedan, finished in gold, wow.!
In this photo of Mr Foley’s in his back yard, with the Clipper you can see how the Ford dealership has expanded onto his property so the back outside wall of the service department was full of damaged grills.
The Beverly Hillbilly’s 1921 Oldsmobile was obtained from Mr Foley’s collection for use in the TV series in the early 60s. Returning to the house he showed me a photo of himself with Buddy Epsen in a suit with studio management handing over the keys to the Oldsmobile. After a little research I found out that George Barris took Mr Foley 1921 Oldsmobile Roadster and combined it with the a flatbed truck and created that well know vehicle.
Thank you for riding along. Frank