A nice tow vehicle -- and a second car for sunday drives...

[caseydog]

I was hired to shoot a couple of absolutely outstanding woodies today. The 1942 Town and Country Barrel Back wold make one very nice -- and very rare -- tow vehicle. The convertible would be good for a drive in the country when you're not camping.



Try not to drool on your keyboards -- too much.

CD

[Ivar the Red]

Very cool...nice picture too.
I bet you could carry a Prius in the back for a spare.

[High Desert]

too kewl CD!

you can almost picture a woodie TD finished to match behind the wagon. Man, would that trun some heads or what?

[Oasis Maker]

Ahh... those were the salad days for Detroit. Kinda tugs at your heart a bit.

(I grew up in Detroit. From the glory-days muscle car era - to the ultra dumb K-car era)

Scott G.

[Alan Wood]

I was hired to shoot a couple of absolutely outstanding woodies today. The 1942 Town and Country Barrel Back wold make one very nice -- and very rare -- tow vehicle. The convertible would be good for a drive in the country when you're not camping.



Try not to drool on your keyboards -- too much.

CD

Paid work and a chance to see those beuties! I can see why you are a profesional car photographer!

[doug hodder]

I'd kill for that sedan....check the stainless details on the fenders...and all the nice heavy plated chrome + a back seat you could get lost in. A door that goes thud when you close it! I was born in the wrong generation. What's not to like on either one of these beauties?...and don't anyone give me any fuel mileage crap! CD, you are very fortunate to have the opportunity to see and photograph vehicles like this, without all the maddening crowds of a car show! Doug

[caseydog]

I'd kill for that sedan....check the stainless details on the fenders...and all the nice heavy plated chrome + a back seat you could get lost in. A door that goes thud when you close it! I was born in the wrong generation. What's not to like on either one of these beauties?...and don't anyone give me any fuel mileage crap! CD, you are very fortunate to have the opportunity to see and photograph vehicles like this, without all the maddening crowds of a car show! Doug

The sedan is called a Barrel Back, and this was one of 16 of them built in 1942. This is one of the few remaining. It is stunning.

However, I shoot mostly classics, and the ones I shoot are restored to a condition that is WAY above what the originally were when they came out of the factory. Fit and finish and paint quality on a good restoration is 50 times better than the original.

When I hear the words, "They just don't build them like this anymore," my response is that they NEVER built them like this.

These old cars are beautifully designed, and I love them. But, there is something to be said about today's cars, and their ability to start everyday in cold weather, go more that 50,000 without an engine overhaul, and not rust away in five years.

I loved my old GTO, but my current car is just as fast, and when I hit the brakes, it stops.

I would love to own a classic like that Barrel Back, as long as I don't have to drive it to work everyday.

CD

[caseydog]

too kewl CD!

you can almost picture a woodie TD finished to match behind the wagon. Man, would that trun some heads or what?

Can you imagine showing up at a gathering with a top-notch woody TD behind that Barrel-Back sedan?

That car just screams out for a matching TD.

CD

[Alan Wood]

Wow a shape matching teardrop would be a heck of a lot of work but what a fine shape it would be! Or even just a cabin car woody

[caseydog]

Wow a shape matching teardrop would be a heck of a lot of work but what a fine shape it would be! Or even just a cabin car woody

A woody with the hatch of del's Jelly Belly?

CD

[caseydog]

BTW, snoop doug, of all the classics I have driven, NOTHING compares to a pre-WW2 Packard. The engines in those cars ran like silk. The 12 cylinder cars run so smooth, you sometimes think they have stopped running.

If I could have just one classic car for the rest of my life, it would be an early 1930's Packard Twelve.

CD

[angib]

Gorgeous - though from a distance the grain on the infill wood panels looks like laminate (Formica)!

So how does the Town and Country work - it looks like just two side opening lower doors and no way of opening the rear screen?

Andrew

[caseydog]

Gorgeous - though from a distance the grain on the infill wood panels looks like laminate (Formica)!

So how does the Town and Country work - it looks like just two side opening lower doors and no way of opening the rear screen?

Andrew

That is correct. There are three rows of seating inside. The center row is like a jump seat, but in full-width bench form. It folds up, so the rear seat can move forward. You end up with a huge trunk, basically. It is like a lot of sedans today with fold down rear seats that make the trunk bigger.

[caseydog]

BTW, Andrew, both of these cars are Town & Country models, which basically applied to the woody configuration of half steel and half wood.

In recent years, the Town & Country name applied to Chrysler mini-vans with wood-grain siding. Now, it just applies to the Chrysler mini-van in general -- no wood (or wood grain required).

The Barrel Back was considered a sedan, not a wagon.

Oh, and the wood on these old T & Cs is very real.

CD

[Oasis Maker]

Jeez CD - just what in the heck kind of camera do you have? Because I clearly see a speck of dust half way down on the left side of the window ... it's right there in plain view, anyone can see it.

Seriously though, what's your set up man? Incredible quality shots - I see why you are sought after for this kind of work.

Scott G.