And here is the pic of my first 72 back in the day circa 1973, its a rear end shot with snow tires on(yep, you guessed it I am old)
Richopps photo of the Johnson Motor Company strikes a nostalgic chord with me. Durham's my hometown and I'm still here. In 1967 ,a special treat was going to the new car dealerships when the new models were introduced. Was a really big deal. All the dealerships would "hide" the new models,then they would have an evening unveiling/grand opening on the same evening . I went to Johnson Motor company on 1967 unveiling night for Buicks with a family friend. To a 17 year old kid,it was shock and awe! He wound up buying a 1967 Wildcat 2 door two tone (a blue green exterior with darker top)and a matching interior. A couple of years later he lent me this car to transport car a bevy of UNC-G freshman girls from Greensboro,NC to Chapel Hill to attend a football game. I was in ,well,"Blue Heaven". Gorgeous,sleek Wildcat full of dressed to the 9's pretty girls and me! Hoo boy! Anyhow,Everyone was driving the "other"GM a-bodies (or Fords.Plymouths/Dodges)and I wanted something different. So later on I scooted down to Johnson Motor Company and a salesman with time on his hands sat down and quoted me a 67 GS400. No way could I afford that car. BUT he did give me a sales brochure . Took it home,cut out the pictures of Bob Cummings in the driver's seat and Jean Shrimpton on the hood,framed'em up with homemade cardboard strip frames and put them up beside my bed. Pined for that car until Jim Lore put me in touch with Brucer...45 years later "Birdie" came home. Finally. I fulfilled that 17 year old boy's dream. To put paid to this vignette,on occasion I attend meetings with County officials ....in the black and white tiled repurposed Johnson Motor Company showroom. Makes me smile. Life is good.
Great Picture! A lot of interesting things in that photo, ...... kinda reminds me of when I was a kid looking for the hidden items in the old children's "Highlights" publication, ...... I guess I'm old too! I burned through 2 sets of Goodyear Polyglas GT Raised White Letter snow tires, .... G60-14 & F60-14 until I retired the Skylark in 1979 from winter activity. Larry
Thanks Sean. It was a very special week for sure. The Reynolds are good people, and speaking with there employees, said they are treated as family.
THANK YOU, to the Gentlemen whose Johnson Motor Company experiences bring back some good memories of my youth. It was so cool the way the dealerships paper-covered their windows and the new cars were revealed like the opening of a big show. Thanks guys, for the trip down "Good Memory Lane".
Yep, those Polyglas snows did do nice burnouts!!!! I had the the G60-15's and I remember saving up to buy a pair of them because they were hard to come by-at least around here at the time. I remember when the snow melted I would take them off(had them on a set of chrome reverse rims and would put my summer treads back on and then when it snowed again I would change back to snows, EXCEPT one day on the way home from work it snowed and I had a heck of a time getting home. Put them back and left them on till spring!!! Know what you mean by the Highlights mag, I guess all the decals on the bumper made you think of that, had a bunch of decals on the rear 1/4 windows also because that was the thing to do!!
Thanks. It's code 78 Rosewood. I'd really like to know how many '71 Stage 1 cars were painted this color but there are no definitive records. I haven't seen another anywhere so I may have the only remaining one.
Crazy, but my wife's '71 Z/28RS was originally that color (stripe delete). She decided to change to Hugger Orange/White stripe. I liked the Rosewood. Her car.
