You know the world has changed when you see this...

[John Hubertz]

...in 1963, (when I was 4 years old) this was quite typical.  I remember fighting with my cousins over who got to sleep ON THE PACKAGE TRAY under the back window of our 1963 Mercury Parklane (the back window rolled down... thus guaranteeing ejection if rearended BTW).

If you drove like this today they'd hang you from the tree in the courthouse square, and put your kid into permanent counseling due to the "abuse" of allowing this little ride.  Watch the last moments of the ad.

http://jalopnik.com/341962/studebaker-wagonaire-its-all-about-the-safety

[OzBenzHead]

JH: Thanks for that - wild!  Just wish it was a downloadable format so that I could keep a copy. (For that reason I don't like Flash videos - they're impossible to capture.)

I've owned a couple of Studes, and the wagonaire with opening roof was a highly prized and rare option.

The disk brakes would certainly have been an improvement over the standard sardine-can sized drums; even standing on the brake pedal with both feet wasn't enough to bring either of my Studes to a rapid halt. (One of them was an ex-police highway pursuit car with high-performance 5-litre Chevvy engine: all go, no stop!)

When I was a kid (I'm 10 years older than you're admitting to being) we used to ride about in the back of utes (pickups). No longer, of course, as the nanny state is in full swing around the Western world.   

[CraigS]

Here are a few Mercedes promotional videos for 300's, 190SL, Ponton, Fintails, and the 230SL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aydx7sEUn_s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ximWOiQI1I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUMBz3lTfEY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbLsivWUxz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlWLieQbHX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtvfijNQ4Sw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO10OzJPC3U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMIStW3Qb9M

and my personal favorites - Tatra !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpuweiODHw4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP_7WyAqRps

[huck280]

OzBenzHead - I see a fantastic modification idea for Rolf's Crayford...

[OzBenzHead]

OzBenzHead - I see a fantastic modification idea for Rolf's Crayford...

You're not wrong!   :lol:

One of my first fantasies on how to sex it up was trying to figure how one could instal a back-to-front sunroof at the Crayford's rear end to make it more utilitarian.  Haven't developed the idea any further yet, as there is so much else to be done on that car - as well as a recently arrived 1956 Ponton.

Meanwhile, if anyone has some bright ideas on the back-to-front sunroof idea, I'm all ears (or eyes, as the case may be).   

[scraf]

JH: Thanks for that - wild!  Just wish it was a downloadable format so that I could keep a copy. (For that reason I don't like Flash videos - they're impossible to capture.)

Imposssible is a strong word. Try typing "save youtube videos" into google.

[OzBenzHead]

Imposssible is a strong word. Try typing "save youtube videos" into google.

Scraf: Thanks for that!   

I had tried similar services before but with unsatisfactory results.  This time I tried Link and it worked!  Yee haa!

Mind you, it was the fifth one in the search results; the first four were dysfunctional or "currently unavailable".

I was already able to save Google vids; it was just YouTube that was the difficult source.  Beaten that now, though.  Thanks again.