1960s: The Twilight of Two-Tone

James Kraus

1962 Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Coupé in Dark Maroon over Cream.

Two-tone automotive paint dates back to what is generally considered to be the first production car, the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen. The second one built was finished in green with a bright red fully-exposed engine mounted over the rear axle.

1969 and the Psychedelic Artwork of Paul Williams; when Plymouth Told It Like It Was

James Kraus

1969 Plymouth Cuda 340 Fastback.

1969. The turbulent coda of the nineteen-sixties. The Année Érotique.

Apollo 11 landed men on the moon, 400,000 attended the Woodstock Music & Art Fair and the world witnessed the maiden flights of the Concorde and Hugh Hefner’s DC-9 Big Bunny. 

Rise of the Boxtop

James Kraus

1962 Ford Galaxie 500 XL.

The term Boxtop is generally applied to 1960s Ford products and describes a roof with broad slab-sided, roughly parallelogram-shaped C-pillars and a rather upright decidedly non-fastback rear window. The ideal Boxtop requires clear visual delineation between the roof and body at both the top of the A-pillars and base of the C-pillars and rear window.

Timeless vs Of Its Time

James Kraus

1961 Lincoln Continental and 1961 Cadillac Series Sixty-Two.

1961 was a banner year for the American luxury car buyer. Both Cadillac and Lincoln introduced their first brand-new designs for the new decade.

Image from the Past

Hertz drops Santa into a new 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Convertible. Christmas, 1962.

A 1960s Classic: The Pontiac 8-Lug Wheel

James Kraus

1961 Pontiac Catalina with the original 8-Lug wheel; introduced mid-1960.

American cars of the 1960s were certainly not renowned for their braking prowess. Except for a handful of exceptions, disc brakes were not widely available until 1967 and the drum brakes provided were generally small in size and nowhere near up to the weight and power of the cars to which they were fitted.

Did Dr. No’s Engineers Provide the Design Inspiration for the Tesla Pickup?

Born in Crab Key: the slab-sided, low-polygon, stainless steel-colored Dragon Tank of Dr. No., 1962.

Whenever I hear the term dated, I release the safety on my Browning.

James Kraus

Essayist and art critic Clement Greenberg. Arnold Newman photo, 1972.

… Datedness is not a valid aesthetic judgment. It doesn’t say whether art is good or bad. Dated art can be as good as up-to-date art. – Clement Greenberg

Over the last several years, the term “dated” has been tossed around ad nauseam by hacks, buffoons, and others who wish to appear hip and knowledgeable, but in reality have trouble discerning their backsides from deep depressions in the earth.

The Colourful World of Mid-Century Motive Power

James Kraus

1964 Buick Riviera with optional 425 (7.0 litre) twin-carb Super Wildcat Nailhead V8 in aqua with black air cleaner accented in red. “465” was the torque output in ft/lbs.

Recently, Corvette fans have been excited by the appearance of red-painted valve covers on the new C8 Sting Ray; the first dash of colour in the Corvette engine compartment since the red plastic beauty covers of the 2013 C6 Z06. Unfortunately, GM chose a rather Ferrari-esque red rather than the traditional red-orange used on Chevrolet V8s since 1955 including such renowned versions as the fuel-injected 327, the 409, 396 and 427.

Has the Moon Lost its Luster?

James Kraus

“My goodness, Mr. Bigelow, you are inspired!” Playboy magazine; May, 1962.

Once upon a time, there were few things more romantic and alluring than the moon, that mysterious glowing orb seemingly just out of reach and occasionally rumored to contain copious amounts of fromage vert.

Art and the Automobile

Brochure illustration of Volkswagen Karmann Ghia by Bernd Reuters, 1955.

1969: Année Érotique

James Kraus

Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walks on the moon.

This year’s look back at 1969 brings to a close Auto Universum’s ten year celebration of the 50^thanniversary of the 1960s; the final year of an exciting, glamorous, stylish and ultimately tumultuous decade. An era that epitomized technological advancement, elegance and savoir-faire; tragically ending with the violence and mayhem of the Manson murders and the Altamont Free Concert.