(photo courtesy boice tomlin) boice was prowling the mid-american streets in indiana’s biggest city and spied this majestic el camino sporting “trick van” 1970′s style graphics. nice shot boice!

(photo courtesy of matthew mcneil) matt mcneil spotted, aprehended and submitted this shot heading Eastbound on US60 in Mesa, Arizona, in his own words, of a “55 survivor with a few rat rod touches…. lowered, mirrors moved etc.” thank you matt !

The Impala was introduced in 1958 as a new, upmarket, sporty trim package created for Bel Air coupes and convertibles. From the windshield pillar rearward, the 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air Impala differed structurally from garden-variety Chevrolets. Hardtops had a slightly shorter greenhouse and longer rear deck, giving the impression of an extended body, plus bright rocker moldings and dummy rear-fender scoops. Three taillights each side would become an Impala trademark whereas lesser models had two, and wagons just one. Special crossed-flag insignias sat above the side moldings. With a six-cylinder engine, a Chevrolet Bel Air Impala started at $2,586, while $2,693 bought a V-8.

i initially had “57 chevy” as the title of this post and then realized within a couple of seconds how hackneyed that phrase is….. almost as played out as a rolling stones or beatle song…. do we really need to hear it again ?? anyhoo, i spotted this example cruising down highway 26 with a creepy robert blake looking guy behind the wheel and a six year old boy riding shotgun….. they did not look happy despite the gregarious color of the car, i reckon the burden of living up to america’s expectations of the 57 chevy mystique takes it toll.

with its iridescent orange paint, large 20" wheels and incongruous cultural trust license plates, this 1968 chevrolet impala cut a flamboyant figure whilst cruising through the highway 26 tunnel. fortunately i was there to bear witness with my trusty iphone camera and apprehended it for your viewing pleasure. gawk all you want.

judging by the golden rays of light fondly beaming down onto this 1955 chevrolet bel air, i can only surmise that god is sending his love down from heaven blessing the car and its occupants. the only thing missing from this scene are birds fluttering about and cute juvenile fauna prancing alongside the vehicle. i have to wonder why the occupants of the car have the top up… are they trying to prevent god’s love from penetrating ? are they some sort of ungrateful atheists? or perhaps fearful albino’s who burn easily ?

a 1967 chevrolet chevelle malibu in full honyak regalia sporting patriotic flags, loud mufflers and a myriad of motor-head stickers on the rear wind-screen. kind of reminds me of a tom waits song………. “and it’s a skid mark tattoo on the asphalt blue….. was that a malibu?”

photo and testimonial provided by mark ford: i was on the freeway when this fairly new geo metro driven by two honyaks with their hats turned backwards entered the roadway and cut across two lanes of traffic. it looks like they bypassed the catalytic converter and ran basic steel exhaust pipe out behind both doors and up the sides of the car and over the roof line… the car had a ‘hole in the muffler’ sound upon acceleration and when I pulled up next to the driver for a closer look, he gave me the ‘rocker’ hand sign…. priceless!

this shot is ostensibly of the new camaro in the lane ahead, though it is also a nice shot of the nether-regions of my 1970 mercedes 280se. the new camaro is a very well executed design and the quality seems good, though i notice that american and japanese cars seem nice when they are new, but after a few years the designs look crude and the cars themselves are falling apart. contrast this with my 1970 mercedes which is about 40 years old and still looks and drives new…. the fact that the design has stood the test of time is really just the ‘icing-on-the-gravy’.

spotted heading west on highway 26, this car has a lot of appeal, though “deluxe” is a corny american term commonly used to specify hamburgers and what-not. the design of this car is quite good….. the sleek proportions demonstrate a ‘form-follows-function’ sensibility. perhaps this vehicle was a last hurrah of ‘good design’ for american cars before the 1950′s begat superfluous fins and other gimmicks & gewgaws.