Vehicles Seen in Korea, 1963-1964

This is a twist from my usual street scene photo galleries of cars.

Part of my Army enlistment involved a tour of duty in Korea, 1963-64.  Thanks to my specialty of public relations and my organization (7th Logistical Command) that had facilities from Pusan to Inchon, I was able to travel in more parts of South Korea than many GIs stationed near the Demilitarized Zone up north could.

Nowadays Korea is a major producer of automobiles.  Back then, so far as I know, most domestically sourced vehicles were modified versions of American trucks and jeeps.

Below are some photos I took during my stay.  I haven't visited the county since then, though I suspect the place might have changed a little.

Gallery

Looking down towards Seoul's South Gate.  Almost no vehicles in view.

Looking towards Seoul's main railroad station.  More traffic, mostly Japanese-made taxis.

View from the train station the day I arrived on my way south to 7th Log headquarters in Taegu.  Vehicles include those Japanese cars, some hopsung vans and a few busses plus a Jeep.

Seoul street with a Japanese car, a Jeep with a locally made body, a 1958 Buick and a 1959 Ford.

Another Seoul scene.  That Buick is a 1959 model.  Behind it is a streetcar, to the right a hopsung.

Men exiting a hopsung.

Hopsun queue.  Since hopsungs looked pretty much alike, I think they were made by one firm.  What I don't know is how much besides the body and perhaps the chassis was locally produced.

Busses seen in Taegu.  My understanding at the time was that these were built on army 2 1/2 ton truck chassis.  They look similar, but are not identical.  Much of the variation was in the grilles.

Also seen on the roads were U.S. Army vehicles such as this Jeep from my public relations office having a flat tire replaced by our Korean army sergeant driver.

That's another locally converted Jeep.  Paved roads were used by farmers to thrash rice or, in this case, barley using traffic to do the job.

New York City in 1965 -- Photos That Include a Few Cars

From time to time I do a post categorized as "Streetscapes," showing old views of cities or towns with cars.

This post differs a little because the photos (scanned slides) are mine, and not sourced from here and there on the Internet.  I took them in June of 1965 when I was in the city for a few days.  Another difference is that the cars are incidental to the scenes I was shooting.  However, you might find interesting the (mostly) American-make vehicles seen in those days.  Click on images to enlarge.

Gallery

Looking west along 42nd Street from Tudor City.  The Daily News building is the one with the vertical stripes to the left, and near the center is the Chrysler Building.

Farther along 42nd Street, across from Grand Central Terminal.  The taxi seems to be a 1964 Dodge.

Central Park South from 5th Avenue.  That's a Mercury in the foreground.

Also Central Park South.  The Plaza Hotel is at the left.  In the foreground are a Rambler and a Pontiac.

More Central Park South.  The car with the fins seems to be a 1957 Dodge.

Unloading a Cadillac on Central Park South.

Same area, but here is a Chrysler-based stretched limousine.

East 70th Street, an upscale townhouse neighborhood.  The cars are a Buick convertible, a Ford Mustang and a Ford Thunderbird.

Roosevelt Avenue elevated railroad station, Queens Borough.  An Oldsmobile is in the foreground and the gray car behind it appears to be a Rover.

Rolls-Royce in Rockefeller Center.

West 42nd Street, just west of Times Square.  Not a fancy area, though that's a Cadillac at the curb.

The TWA terminal at JFK airport.  Plenty of cars shown here.  The queue at the right is led by a Mercedes, followed by an Oldsmobile, a Ford, a Cadillac and a Pontiac.

Some 1939 United States Street and Parking Lot Photos

From time to time I need a break from discussing styling features.  For examples, last year I did this post about a photo of a major downtown Seattle intersection taken in the summer of 1942.

Now I'll present some 1939 views of streets and parking lots that I've gathered from here and there on the Internet.  Car-spotters should enjoy identifying various models.  History-minded viewers might simply enjoy these peeks into the past.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Gallery

Parking lot, Newport News, Virginia.

Parking lot for New York World's Fair.

Ford Pavilion roadway, New York World's Fair.

Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angles, looking west at Commonwealth.

New York: 34th Street near Fifth Avenue. This image will not enlarge much.

Sears rooftop parking lot, Los Angeles.

Sears rooftop parking lot, Los Angeles.

Seattle Cars, Summer of 1942

This is another post in my occasional series showing historical views of cars in their native habitats.  An automobile's design is done in isolation (apart from analysis of competing designs), but in the real world cars are seen with others of different sources and model years.

(It needs to be added that during eras when car styles were either rapidly evolving or pushing off in odd directions -- from 1934 to 1962 or thereabouts in the USA -- stylists did have to pay attention to the degree to which drastically new themes would be acceptable to potential buyers.)

I photographed the images below from a fascinating (to me) photomural at a Seattle drugstore.  The setting is Seattle's main downtown intersection at the time (corner of 4th Avenue and Pike Street with Westlake Avenue branching off).  I like the scene for its large variety of cars and because it was photographed at a time where various brands could be identified.  That is, I find it difficult to identify brands in 1920s or earlier street scenes because the cars seem too similar: I'm basically a post-1930 car guy.

The mural caption states that it was taken in 1942, and it probably was.  But it might as well have been the summer of 1941 for several reasons.  The summer of 1942 was after the USA entered World War 2 in December of 1941.  By that time, car production had been curtailed and gasoline rationing was in place in Seattle by June of 1942, so traffic would be expected to be comparatively light, not so busy as the photo shows.  I see no military personnel, and some might have been evident were it 1942.  About half the license plates are 1941 plates (the dark ones) and half are 1942s which is a wash -- about the same would have been seen either summer.  Finally, I don't notice any 1942 model cars; the newest are '41 models.

That said, let's take a look.

Gallery

Two slightly cropped images of the photomural showing the setting.  They are fairly sharp, so you might try clicking on them to enlarge.  The remaining photos were zoom shots, and enlargements are uselessly blurry.

Queue of cars.  The fourth from the left in the near row is a 1941 Pontiac, helping to date the mural image.  Most of the other cars here are from the 1930s.  Second from the left in the near row is a 1937 Hudson.

The gray car by the crosswalk is a medium-price 1941 Packard, one of several Packards found in the mural.  The cars next to and following the Packard seem to be from the late 1920s.  At the top of this cluster is a dark 1941 Oldsmobile.

At the top is another late-20s car with its fixed sun visor and wood-spoked "artillery" wheels.  The car in the foreground might be a 1937 or '38 Dodge.

That large, two-toned car at the curb is a 1940 or possibly a 1941 Chrysler.  The taxi is a 1941 Dodge.

The Ford towing that odd looking trailer is a 1938 Ford Standard.  At the extreme left is another Packard.

Streetscenes: Pre-Styling Days

The focus of this blog is the aesthetic appearance of automobiles.  For that reason, I seldom include more than one car in an image.  And in those comparatively rare cases, three cars is the usual maximum.

In the real world, especially on busy streets in large cities, one sees clumps of cars.  They are part of the environment, their styles contributing to the overall visual effect.

So, for a change of pace, below are some streetscape scenes photographed 1926-1930.  Few of the cars shown were designed by professional stylists.  They seem awkward to our eyes, and probably also would have to an observer in, say, 1940.  They reflect the automotive technological level of the 1920s, when most were built (some in the images might have rolled off the assembly line before then, but were still in use).  Perhaps the most striking thing I notice from photos taken from above pedestrian eye level is the cars' roofs.  For enclosed sedans, they are nearly flat and fabric-covered.

Here is a charcoal sketch, probably by Hugh Ferriss from the 1920s, showing a popular urban design concept of the time -- separated traffic and pedestrian levels.  Note the sea of cars depicted.  Also all those rectangular tops.  Less-exaggerated reality follows:

Gallery

Toronto: North from Queen & Yonge - 31 August 1929
All the cars heading toward us have exterior sun visors, a feature eliminated in the early 1930s when stylists began considering aerodynamics (albeit in a superficial way).

Chicago: Michigan Avenue - 1929
Interesting that there are no lane markers -- only a direction separation stripe.  That's the Tribune Building at the far right.

Los Angeles: Parade zone for Charles Lindbergh visit - 1927
Closed sedans are in the background, so all these open-top cars were probably to appear in the parade carrying dignitaries.

Los Angeles: Southern California Auto Club - 1926
South of downtown, just north of the University of Southern California campus.  Most cars seen here are from the late teens or early 20s.

New York City: Opening of the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River to New Jersey - 1927
This comes fairly close to the charcoal sketch above.  Before the tunnel was built, cars had to be ferried across the river, so many New York and New Jersey drivers were highly excited and in a rush to give the more convenient tunnel a try.

Washington, DC: Gasoline station
A change of pace, tranquil scene.  I include it because it's in color.

London: Burney Streamliner - c. 1930
Well, not all cars in those days were boxy.