In the olden times, when a neighbor got a new car, it would attract considerable attention. I recall our neighbor in Walnut, California bought a 1965 Pontiac GTO. I think it was yellow. We kids ooohed and awed, and the other Dads muttered approving comments. I got to sit in it!

And I suspect it started out the same Stardust Blue as the one in tterrace's slide, but years of southern sun had bleached it. The other car under the carport was--I believe--a '59 Olds.

In this slide, my dad, who was a commercial pilot, had his flight bag sitting on the fender with, as always, a thermos of coffee. Taken in Houma, Louisiana.

My dad loved that old car.

In 1963, as soon as I turned 18 (earliest driving age in NYC at the time), I bought my uncle's 1955 Pontiac sedan. Big old 4-door, two-tone blue if my memory serves. Automatic transmission, but no power steering or power brakes. Car lasted about a year.

As I recall the 1953 Pontiac Catalina two-door hardtop (my first car) was only available in various combinations of that horrible "Laurel Green" and "Milano Ivory".

What a great picture!! The spanking new Pontiac, resplendent in its elegant blue gray and deep, shiny, hexavalent chrome plating. Its 12-year-old big brother was a loved and pampered possession, as well, looking as new as the '53. I like to think that at least one of them survived.

My family had a 1952 2-door straight 8 sedan. It wasn't nearly as neat a color as this '53, being kind of a pea soup green. Until I was about 9, my parents always bought 2-door cars, the assumption being that the kids in the back seat would not fall out in an accident. I notice that the little girl's shoes have been removed to protect the new car finish.

Sorry you had to leave so soon. Good shot, Tterrace, nice you have it.

We showed up for the new car shot, too. Dad would show it around saying "new car and the kids, growing like weeds". As my aunt grew in age and size she would pose movie star-type glamour sitting on the fender. Today's vehicles are too flimsy to sit even a small dog without worry of a dent. I haven't seen curb feelers since the 50s when city neighborhood streets were too small to park, and others to drive simultaneously. To this day if I hit the curb I remember dad admonishing me "you're going to have to clean those whitewalls!!" , which I haven't had in decades.

Can you even sit on a front car fender these days? Chrome and colors and all the room one could desire in an automobile. There's nothing like these old cars and never will be, great picture thanks for sharing.

The rich-looking color on that '53 was called "Stardust Blue." In those days, auto buyers had not only their choice of an array of vibrant colors (instead of the limited, ubiquitous, and ho-hum metallics we're stuck with today), but there was also a little romance in the color names. How times do change!

Looks like the (then) mandatory "curb feelers" must have been broken that day!

[Narrow streets; that was the standard way to park in that neighborhood. -tterrace]