Some names...

...lasted a really long time,
some still do, that's not a crime;
Ransom E. Olds built Olds, and then,
sold that off, and built cars again.

He made the Reo, as they were called,
and folks that owned them, they were enthralled;
the early cars had a chain drive...
...bicycle like, but they didn't thrive.


1912 Reo



1924 Reo Funeral Hearse



1929 Reo Speedwagon - the precursor of the pickup truck



1936 Reo - last of the cars; truck were made until 1988 then became Diamond T

Cars with,,,,

... a Q are quite hard to find,
makes me wonder if you don't mind;
they're so rare, now, my words don't mince,
I did find one, and it wasn't Quince.

The Queen was made for a lady to drive,
but in 1906 there weren't many alive,
so it should come as no great surprise,
that's what led to the Queen's demise.



1905 Queen touring



another 1905

1906 Queen, the last year made.

There have...

...been some makes of cars,
that were used by the famous and movie stars,
big and powerful of beautiful design,
oh, how I wish that one of them, were mine.

It was a symbol that showed solid success and pride,
with an engine that powered a good solid ride,
in the fifties they made them less pretty I'd say,
but they were large and comfortable, a good place to stay.

Top: 1936 Packard Convertible Sedan
Middle(1): 1941 Packard wagon - click on the photo.
Middle(2): 1948 Packard Clipper - my personal favorite.
Bottom: An example shown in 2009 of how a Packard might look today.

There has...

only been one car with an "O" that lasted very long,
and Oldsmobile is not the tune, not in this song,
but other have lasted for just a few years,
and while they diminished, few shed tears.

But the Oakland was the first General Motors "O" car,
it followed the Chevy, but wasn't a star;
so after a few years Oakland was gone by,
Chevy was followed by Pontiac - that's a reason why.

Top: 1923 Oakland, Maine roads still ride like this one!
Middle: 1924 Oakland, the perfection of Japan Blue Lacquer.
Bottom: 1928, by then Oakland was nearing the end.

A car...

...company was doing okay,
when things went haywire in some way;
they teamed up with an appliance guy,
and in a few 'short' years, they went bye bye.

It's a sad story, about marketing and such,
and of how American tastes change too much;
good solid cars, done in in the fifties,
too, too bad, those cars were such nifties.

Top: Beautiful 1925 Nash.
Middle(1): 1935 Nash - very stylish for the day.
Middle(2): 1946 Nash Suburban- that's real wood folks.
Bottom: 1955 Nash Rambler wagon, in the 50's pink, who wants to bet the interior is charcoal?

Take a....

...note from yesterday, it's the same old theme,
make one car, call it another, things aren't what they seem.
All of the Big Three have made that mistake,
so no one of them can take the cake.

It's led to the demise of some very nice brands,
Mercury for example used to call out the bands;
the Ford Motors got cheap and just made more of the same,
so design and planning are the ones to blame.

Top: 1949 Mercury family wagon-great photo of the Grumman Goose too. Click on the photo
Middle: 1951 customized.  The 1949-1951 Mercury was a favorite to customize and street rod.
Bottom: 1958 2-door hardtop, my first ride of over 100mph.

The manufacture...

...of cars took a turn for the worst,
when they all did the same thing, chapter and verse,
here's an example, say they took a Ford,
changed the grill and seats, whoa! Mercury on board.

All the companies did this. Took customers for fools,
when it would have been easier, to change a few tools.
Why in the world would you pay more for a car,
that's the same as the "cheap" one, but costs more by far?

So, let's take a look: it costs them the Plymouth, Oldsmobile too,
but we're checking out La Salle in a moment or two,
and there's more tomorrow, with Mercury in line,
and they keep killing some of the best looking ones. Fine!

Top: 1927 convertible coupe
Middle: 1940 business coupe
Bottom: 1940, eight door station wagon, from the train station to Pebble Beach!
NOTE: LaSalle became the Cadillac Series 61.