Monday, May 19, 2008

Does this Rambler remind anyone else of a Plymouth Barracuda?

rambler_enhanced

I photographed this beauty on the corner of SE Clay and 6th Avenue at Bright Auto Upholstery. Something about the car reminds me of a Barracuda that a guy I dated a few times drove, way back in 1969. His nickname was Pinky. And he worked in the meat department of a grocery store and told me on one of our dates that he could get me any cut of meat that I liked, for free. You can picture my double take, right? OK, so we went on one more date to a professional baseball game and he said, "Anything you want, just let me know, and I'll get it for you." I said, "I'll take the first baseman." He just sat there, no double take, no nothing. And he bought me some M&Ms. That was it. The end. Over and out.

So, car people, does this car remind you of a Plymouth Barracuda?

4 comments:

pril said...

Doesn't remind me so much of a Barracuda as it does a Valiant. What really distinguishes this Rambler vs. the Mopar E-bodies (like the 'Cuda and the Valiant) is that the Rambler has a very squared off and trimmed rear quarter panel, while the Mopars had a nice little swoopy line above the gas filler door.

Anonymous said...

Pinky the meat guy! That's hilarious. Yep, I was dating and a lovely maiden in 1969 (19 years old). I don't think there were many of any kind of Rambler in the late 60s. They had become nerdy cars by then. Only, I don't ever remember this kind. It looks 'Cuda-ish and a tiny bit Valiant-is.

Wonder where Pinky is now? Maybe in jail for stealing meat! Or, working at the Piggly Wiggly. You ought to Google him and find out. Then go take his photo and show us. Ha. Thanks for all your fabulous photos and commentary. I love it. I love how you see things.

momom said...

Aha! It looks like a 1965 Marlin to me, from what I Googled. They must have been after the look of the Plymouth Barracuda, hence: Marlin. Fish cars.

I forgot to post my username in the previous post, so I'll do it here.

momom said...

Speaking of "fish" cars (Baracuda, Marlin), that Marlin car looks like the old Flipper on the 60s TV show. Remember what I say about how the cars reflect the times. Of course, this was when the "muscle cars" were getting hot too. The Ford Mustang had recently come out. Camaros, GTOs. Cruising about town and around the Toot N Tell for all your friends to notice! That was more of a 1950s thing, when they had "curb service".

We were about to send men to the moon back then. Our cars looked like rockets in the late 50s, early 60s. So did the ladies fashions: pointed toe stiletto pumps, cat eye glasses, space helmet hairdos. After that, we started mimicking the rock and TV stars.

Remember Dr. Kildaire? We had Dr. Kildaire white shirts! Tammy movies? We wore black T-Strap flats! Ruffled white blouses with the double ruffle around the neck, down the front and around the bottom. Those things were heck to iron.