Are you old enough to remember thrill of new car introduction season in the 1950s? As summer wound down and the new school season wound up, car dealers unveiled their latest offerings, and the local car dealerships were the talk of the town. People would gather around the dealership windows, trying to sneak a peak of the latest offerings from Detroit and South Bend and Kenosha. The manufacturers and dealers added to the drama by painting over their windows and covering the new cars until their official unveiling.
Reader Dennis Gordon’s family appears to have been among those car-craved families that checked out the latest cars whenever they could and even photographed some of them. These photographs from his family albums show new cars at auto shows, at the manufacturer headquarters and even a new Packard on display in a hotel. And if you weren’t alive in the 1950s to remember the new-car hype, Gordon’s family photos offer a glimpse of that exciting period.
Old Cars reader Dennis Gordon with a very special 1953 Lincoln Capri convertible show car at what’s labeled on the back of the photo as the “the Lincoln-Mercury auto show.” The Lincoln show car was built as part of Ford Motor Co.’s golden anniversary and was named the Anniversary. The Anniversary was said to be valued at $50,000, with $4,000 of that dollar amount attributed to the car’s extensive 14-karat gold plating on its bumpers, grille and trim. The Anniversary also appears to have had a pearl-white paint job and unique interior as one of Ford Motor Co.’s “paint and trim” cars. The 1953 Lincoln Anniversary was recently pictured in the June 1, 2022, issue of Old Cars while displayed at the 1953 Chicago Auto Show. Dennis Gordon
Pictured at the General Motors headquarters building in Detroit during 1955 is Dennis Gordon in the driver’s seat of a new Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Starfire convertible. Note the new Corvette behind it. Oddly, this top-of-the-line display piece at GM’s headquarters does not have the optional deluxe wheel covers with spinner-type centers. Dennis Gordon
A new Clipper by Packard in the lobby of the Whittier Hotel in Detroit around March of 1955. “Just like ours” is written on the back, a reference to the Gordon family’s Clipper, which had the slightly different paint scheme seen in the adjacent photo. Dennis Gordon
Dennis Gordon is pictured washing the family’s 1955 Clipper in their Detroit driveway during late 1956. Gordon said he learned to drive on this car. Dennis Gordon
A new 1957 Packard at the January 1957 Detroit Auto Show at the Artillery Armory located on Eight-Mile Road. That’s Dennis Gordon with his hand on one fender and new-car brochures in the other hand. Dennis Gordon
Pictured in the Ford Rotunda once located in Dearborn, Mich., during the latter part of 1955 is a new 1956 Mercury Montclair convertible on a pedestal. The Rotunda burned in 1962 and was destroyed. Dennis Gordon
Dennis in front of a new 1958 Packard Hawk at an unnamed auto show in January 1958. Note the “Studebaker-Packard” sign in the background, which did much to explain the Packard Hawk’s roots. This would be the last show season a Packard automobile would be displayed. Dennis Gordon
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