They're lined up like soldiers, like new cars on the dealer's lot- except that when these photo were taken they were already thirty years old, and the Buick dealer was only about a mile away on the same street. So they weren't new cars that were forgotten, but rather more like barn finds which lacked the protection of a barn. A field of dreams, so to speak. Tarnished dreams are dreams nonetheless.
They were all Buicks- primarily of the late forties and early fifties, but a few sixties interspersed as well - parked on a closed gas station on Calumet Drive, on the way out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The 1950 Super Estate Wagon with its weathered wood body reposed alongside the 1952 Roadmaster convertible whose bare top frame offered little protection from the weather. On the far side sat an intact 1949 Roadmaster sedan that looked like it could be driven away, and many more Buicks were parked all around them in varying degrees of recognizability.
These photos were taken in the summer of 1990. I can't imagine what happened to them. I'm certain that the city wasn't too happy about the car collection that slowly became a junkyard. I hope they got rescued and restored, although I find a rugged beauty in their weathered state.
(Cross Posted at the Reynolds Buick Blog)
I love those 1950 Buicks with their "bucktooth" grille bars. They were supposedly marketed as 9 separate bumper guards, able to be replaced individually without replacing the entire grille. But each one was unique and dealers had to stock all nine in multiples... One year only design, but so unique and so Harley Earl over-the-top! I've photographed Buicks "in repose" like this too, and created some art with the photos.
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