With a lot of time on my hands and only one or two tasks on my to-do list, I thought I’d look through some of my old photographs. My Lightroom photo catalog currently holds 119,124 images, so there might be a few overlooked ones that would be interesting enough to post on this blog. I soon found some from the Botham Vineyards Vintage Celebration that we attended last August. They will be celebrating their 25th annual event this year at the Botham Vineyards & Winery in Barneveld, Wisconsin. That’s assuming, of course, that groups of more than ten people are allowed to gather at that time.
Not only was this a celebration of vintage wines, but it was also a celebration of vintage cars. I know very little about old cars, though I’m pretty sure I could tell a Studebaker from a Chevrolet. But, I don’t have to know about them to enjoy looking at and photographing them.
As I walked around I couldn’t help thinking that many of the cars reminded me of baby birds with their beaks open waiting for the next worm. In this case, the three hungry cars below are a 1953 Jaguar XK120 Fixed Head Coupe, a 1966 Shelby G.T. 350, and a 1956 Citroën Fourgonette. The last one is essentially a French minivan.
It’s hard for me to think of a Buick without thinking of the phrase “big old Buick.” I can blame that on Bruce Springsteen. The lyrics in his song My Hometown talk about his father letting him steer the car as they drove around “in that big old Buick”. That’s certainly an apt phrase for this car.
The Buick wasn’t the only big old car. Here’s a 1960 Plymouth Fury Convertible. The left front seat swiveled to ease the egress of the driver and this was when fins were the big thing! In 1964 I took my driver’s test in my brother-in-law’s Plymouth Fury. Fortunately, it was a much smaller car by then. It still had the push button gear selector that you can see on the dash just left of the steering wheel.
This is definitely not a Chevrolet! It’s a 1947 Studebaker M-5 Truck. I have no idea if that beautiful blue is the original color.
You probably guessed that this car is a Jaguar. But, did you know that it’s a 1955 Jaguar XK140 MC Drop Head Coupe? That’s what the sign said.
Not all of the cars were big. Here’s a 1958 BMW Isetta 300 and a 1981 Citroën 2CV Charleston.
There were many more, but I’ll finish this with a Chrysler and a GM, a 1937 Plymouth PT-50 Pickup and a 1949 Dodge Ram 3500.
And, of course, no celebration is a celebration without drinks and music!
