Family albums ‘n four-speeds – the old car photo treasure hunt continues

My request for old car photos from family albums continues to harvest great scenes of American life from throughout the past several decades. The latest batch comes from a variety of sources, starting with David Gofstein of Bridgeport, Connecticut, whose mother’s tootsies help frame the above shot

of my moderately eccentric father’s Morris Minor ragtop (he replaced the Morris eventually with a Fiat 1100D, but that’s a whole new story). I can still smell wood, and musty leather from riding in that Morris! My uncles Valiant is parked behind it.

Next, David’s sister, Susan, helps brush the snow off mother Phyllis’s 1955 Chevrolet while father Ralph’s Minor inhabits the garage.

And finally from David, the 1966 Rambler Classic 770 wagon Phyllis bought from Papa’s in New Britain, Connecticut.

Anthony O’Neill dug out this shot of

my Uncle Tony and my Grandfather’s 1962 Pontiac Laurentian, the Canadian Model. I loved that car and it’s vinyl red interior. Pretty snazzy. I’m not sure when the shot was taken, but it was before I was born in 1967. The photo was taken at my grandparents house in Toronto, Ontario. My family lived in the basement of my grandparent’s house. The car is long gone sadly. If I remember right, I think the Pontiac had a six cylinder in it. I remember sitting on my Grandpa’s lap while he let me steer the car.

Over on the My Hemmings pages, Baker Hill of Montreal uploaded a great collection of photos, including the above shot of him with his first car, a 1966 Pontiac LeMans Sprint with the four-barrel overhead-cam six-cylinder and a three-speed.

And finally, dave_7, who frequently contributes photos to the Hemmings Nation Flickr pool, offered his apologies for parents who didn’t take photos with cars in them, but made up for it by sending along a shot of his son, Joseph, enjoying the Triumph Spitfire that Dave used to own.

Probably my favorite picture of all time. My son (roughly one and half at the time I think) pretending to driving my old Triumph Spitfire. Great car with great memories. I used to take him for rides all over the place in it – bulky child seat and all. A gust of wind came up just at the right moment to give the impression of speed. Sadly I sold the car but never should have – still my favorite to this day.

As you visit your families these holidays, keep an eye out for vintage car photos in the family albums – we’d love to see what individual automotive histories belong to each and every one of you. Special bonus points to anybody who uploads old Super 8 film featuring the family’s cars.

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