 |
| 1933 Packard Super 8 front end signaled "get out of the way." |
The Fort Lauderdale Region of the Antique Automobile Association of America favored the community Saturday with a car show at the historic
Sample-McDougald house in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Some of my favorite cars were there: the straight-eights. Here are some photos of the ones I spotted.
 |
| 1933 Packard Super 8, long enough to be admired by a crowd. |
As a child, I would read aloud from the used car ads in the morning newspaper as we neighborhood kids walked to elementary school.
"Pontiac. Nineteen-fifty-two. Straight eight. Runs."
"Buick. Nineteen-fifty-one." Straight eight. Good condition."
 |
| 1948 Pontiac convertible with a straight eight motor. |
The other kids would have been far more interested in the baseball scores, but I never read those.
I only read from the automobile classifieds and the only ads I read aloud were for cars with straight-eight-cylinder motors.
 |
| Pontiac "Silver 8 Streak" left no doubt what was under the hood. |
I was fascinated that in my lifetime it was still possible to purchase an auto powered by that classic layout — and, at that time, for very little money.
Of course these would have been rusty relics with long obsolete motors that never had been the equal of a Duesenberg eight or even a Packard eight.
 |
| 1940 Buick 8 Dynaflash touted its overhead valves. |
The Pontiac motor was even a flathead, considered a lazy lump of cast iron compared to the overhead valve V8s that ruled the roads of my youth.
Didn't matter. I loved the notion of a straight eight. My Dad
briefly considered letting my brother and I — still too young to drive — buy a very cherry '48 Buick. Didn't happen.
 |
| 1940 Buick convertible was impressive. |
But I am still thrilled to see a straight eight. And it's my early love of the newspaper classifieds that led to my listing Royal Enfield motorcycles for sale in the United States on this blog.
 |
| Other fine cars: 1954 Studebaker Champion was a wow. |
 |
| Representing Britain: 1937 Alvis Speed 25. |
 |
Toy tommygun on seat of 1932 Chevrolet Confederate coupe
recalls Prohibition era and Chevy's strangest "C" model name. |
I remember as a kid, the teenage neighbor boy had a '38 Buick with a straight 8 and dual carbs. Don't know if the dual carbs were stock or what, but the word at grade school was that the old Buick could really fly
ReplyDelete