Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Buick City Mystery



A post that originally ran way back on December 25, 2007. But it's worth revisiting...

Some mysterious photos, an elusive blonde who appears to be blissfully stoned driving a car that isn't all there, a hazy reflection in a chrome hubcap...It all adds up to a Buick City mystery:
"This is a story that began with a dozen or so interesting-looking 8-by-10 glossy prints bought from a New York auto literature dealer. Taken in 1951 and 1953, they show 1952 and 1954 Buicks on the roof of a large building in an industrial area. Some of the cars are perched on a turntable, surrounded by white reflectors. Many of the shots feature models of the flesh-and-blood variety, mostly Size 2 girls with a few guys thrown in. But with an almost complete absence of backdrops, the pictures obviously weren't intended for publication."
Don't worry. All is revealed courtesy of the intriguingly bizarre website Plan59.


1 comment:

  1. My Dad had a new Roadmaster parked in the driveway just about every couple years when I was growing up. I took an unauthorized drive in his brand new 1952 two tone Green baby when we were vacationing on the St. Marys river in the U.P. and wrapped it around a tree while all were out fishing. Needless to say, I wasn't around the area when they returned from fishing. I was already on my way hitch hiking back to Flint. No money in my pocket, 15 yrs. old and I had to barrow 25 cents from a kindly dock worker at the bridge to ride the ferry across the straights. It took three days to get back to my Fenton Rd. neighborhood. I was apprehended by one of my older brothers who were on the lookout for me and had issued an APB to all their buddies. I had to face the music and for a kid who didn't cause trouble for his parents, it was an harrowing experience. My Grandmother looked at me and said, "This is precisely why Mothers get gray young man. You had better turn over a new leaf in your life." Except for my poor grades in school, I suddenly became an exemplary child from then on, (from my point of view). There was another indentical Buick setting in the driveway by week's end. Oh, the shame of it all.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.