All Dressed Up

We went to out first old car show around 1959 at a very old-fashioned drive-in restaurant on Staten Island, N.Y. called Al Deppe’s. Actually, the show was across the street at the Kiwanis Club. This was so long ago, that during the show, my brother and I went over to an empty lot next to the show where there was a derelict Graham Hollywood that we played in. Today, that rare pile of rust would be in a restoration shop getting a six-figure overhaul.

Needless to say, in those days all the show cars were pre World War II models. It’s a good guess there were Maxwells, Marquettes and Model Ts in the show. And there were quite a few car owners dressed up in period attire such as bowler hats, striped shirts and spats. For the ladies it was flapper dresses and heels. It was great fun to see the antique car buffs dressed to match the era of their cars, whether it was Gaslight, Roaring ‘20s, Great Gatsby, Betty Boop or Dick Tracy style.

Recently we attended the breakfast tour of the All American Oakland chapter of the Pontiac Oakland Club International (www.poci.org). An amazing 125 people showed up to honor the Pontiac’s parent make of car. We enjoyed the tour, but even more, we enjoyed the costumes that several participants wore. They reminded us of the good old days when “old cars” really looked old.