Classic Cars I photographed

I love to photograph cars and apparently other people like my photographs because car shots are among the most consistent sales I make.  Here are the cars, trucks and one motorcycle on display at the 2019 Local Yokels Car & Truck Show here in Plains, Montana.   Other car shots can be found here and here.  What appears below is a collection of the classic cars I’ve photographed over the past several years.

RedBubble is a sales site as well as an on-line gallery, and you can buy any photo that grabs your interest in a variety of formats.  Someone in New York purchased the 1930 Ford Model A pictured above as a t-shirt.  Someone in France purchased the image of my 1996 Saab 900 convertible, captured with Mount Shasta in the background (below) as a throw pillow!  Clicking on any photo’s caption will take you, in a new tab, to that image’s sales site.

Obligatory Sales Note

All Images on this page are available for purchase through my RedBubble online sales gallery. Clicking on the caption (in blue) below the image should take you, on a new tab, to the sales site for that image. If you have any questions, please send me a note using the form at the bottom of my home page. In addition to the images below, I have many classic car photos available as ceramic mugs at my Etsy shop www.sharrottcreekgallery.com and as photographic prints at www.lightintoart.com.

Saturday, December 26th, 2020

This is a classic car I have photographed many times as it almost always appears at the Old Schoolhouse Rocks car show in Superior, Montana.

Wednesday, December 16th, 2020

A beautiful car I found parked in Moro, Sherman County, Oregon, as I was out driving the back roads south of the Columbia River. How lucky was I to find this classic car I photographed.

Tuesday, December 15th, 2020

Saturday, December 12th, 2020

I’m especially fond of this classic car I photographed because the first car I truly considered my own was a 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente, which looked a lot like this one except for the color. Mine was a bluish green.

Saturday, May 16th, 2020

I found this beauty parked on a side street in Republic, Washington back in July, 2016.

Friday, May 15th, 2020

1951? Mercury Eight

Returning to my car after lunch in Willard, Washington, I found this 1951? Mercury Eight resting on a trailer. Of course I had to capture it in pixels.

Friday, April 24th, 2020

One of the cars I featured in Wednesday’s blog post, In My Merry Oldsmobile, I choose this 1959 Oldsmobile Holiday Scenicoupe for today’s Classic Car of the Day.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020

This gorgeous 1954 Oldsmobile Super 88 Convertible belongs to a friend of mine from the Bitterroot Valley. He put a lot of work into getting this car into showroom shape.

Sunday, April 20th, 2020

Another of the cars cruising through Polson and Ronan last Friday. This was the oldest car in the group.

Sunday, April 19th, 2020

One of the cars I photographed Friday when the Mission Valley Cruisers got together in Polson, Montana, for a social distancing cruise.

Saturday, April 18th, 2020

This past Wednesday, I wrote about Plymouth cars. I didn’t mention the compact car carrying the Plymouth name. The car shown above is what Chrysler Corporation brought out to compete with Ford’s Falcon and Chevrolet’s Corvair. The full-size 1961 Plymouth had those same strange bulges on the side panels. I found this car at a local burger joint in Polson, Montana, and transported it to the shore of Flathead Lake.

Friday, April 17th, 2020

I captured today’s featured classic at the 2013 Cruisin’ By the Bay car show in Polson, Montana. I did take the liberty of putting the car right on the shoreline of Flathead Lake. This evening, I will be in Polson where I hope to photograph many more classic cars at the first of 2020’s Social Distancing Friday Night Cruises, sponsored by the Mission Valley Cruisers. No one will leave the safety of his/her own car, and I will photograph them from a safe distance. The cars will then proceed through Polson, drivers waving to the patients and staff at the Nursing Home and Hospital. They will then head on to Ronan where the drivers will, again, wave from the safety of their cars. Should be a fun evening.

Thursday, April 16th, 2020

There is no classic car today. We were traveling on a ship, the President Lincoln, which APL dismantled in 2011. Shawn J. Dake wrote of the President Lincoln and her identical twin the President Tyler:

The PRESIDENT LINCOLN was built with an overall length of 563.75 feet with a 76 foot beam and a 32.5 foot draft. The main engines were Bethlehem Steel steam turbines, rated at 17,500 shaft horsepower driving a single screw. Steam was provided by Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Times change and the era of the Sea Racers and their fleet mates has long passed. Ships are no longer built on the San Francisco Bay.

American President Lines is still around but is not owned by Americans. Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) is the parent company of the Singapore-based corporation, which has relocated the U.S. headquarters of the company from Oakland, California to Phoenix, Arizona; not known to be a big seafaring city. Under their management American President Lines remains as the fifth-largest container shipping line in the world.

Wednesday, April 15th, 2020

I took this shot at the 2014 Lost in the 50s car show, May 17th 2014, in Sandpoint, Bonner County, Idaho, USA.

Easter Sunday, April 12th, 2020

a classic car I photographed
1964 Cadillac Six Window Sedan de Ville

While we lived in El Cerrito, Poppa had the chance to buy a car very much like this one, although I doubt it wore a vermillion coat. The local mortuary replaced their fleet of family cars every year. After all, who wants to ride to the cemetery in a year-old car? Rather than trade last year’s model for a new Caddy, they were willing to sell it to Poppa for a ridiculously low price. Poppa figured what could be better. The car was barely broken in, just a year old, and priced to steal. The Powers-That-Be told Poppa that Methodist ministers did not drive Cadillacs! Poppa bought a Mercury Monterey instead.

Saturday, April 11th, 2020

A Volvo P-1800 in gold
Volvo P-1800

I’ve owned two Volvos, both station wagons, but this P-1800 is just too beautiful to ignore. I found it at a small car show in Vancouver, Washington. Not sure what year this one is, but Volvo built the P-1800 from 1961 to 1973. Roger Moore drove one in the his tv show The Saint.

Thursday, April 9th, 2020

Ford of Canada built pickups and other trucks under the Mercury badge from 1946 through 1968. Lincoln-Mercury dealers sold them across Canada. M-68 indicates that the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is 6800 pounds.

Wednesday, April 8th, 2020

Lafayette got its start as a luxury car, and there was speculation that the company would merge with Pierce Arrow or even Rolls-Royce. Unfortunately, Nash Motors bought the marque and discontinued the name in the early 20s. Nash resurrected the name in the 1930s, but as a low-priced model. I found this beauty on display at the 50th annual Ignite the Nights Car Show in Libby, Montana, August 20th, 2011.

Tuesday, April 7th, 2020

I found this car in a rock quarry near Clark Fork, Bonner County, Idaho. From 1951 through 1953, Plymouth used the Savoy name for station wagons. In 1954, the company applied the name to sedans and coupes. In 1955, they changed the body style completely, so this has to be a 1954, or what’s left of one.

Monday, April 6th, 2020

a pink and white 1957 Dodge Sierra Station Wagon--a classic car I photographed
1957 Dodge Sierra

1957 brought a brand-new look to Chrysler Corporation vehicles, including this Dodge Sierra. Sierra was the entry level station wagon for Dodge. I found this one in a parking lot in Eureka, California.

Saturday, April 4th, 2020

On display at the 2018 Depot Days Car Show in Wallace, Idaho.

Thursday, April 2nd, 2020

I saw this beautiful 1931 Ford Model A on display at the 2014 Lost in the Fifties Car Show in Sandpoint, Idaho, where I captured it with my camera.

Wednesday, April 1st, 2020

In 1949, Ford introduced its first post-war design which continued, largely unchanged through 1951. With its slab sides, the car became known as the Shoebox Ford, and has over the years been a favorite of those folks who like to customize cars. This 1950 model, definitely not in showroom condition, sat in front of a used car lot in Pablo, Montana, kitty-corner from the Salish and Kootenai Tribal Office Complex. The phone number for the dealership has been disconnected, and no one was around when I stopped to photograph this classic. I assume it’s for sale, but I have no details, and in today’s health crisis, I’m unlikely to get any details. I took the photo March 31st, 2020 in Pablo, Lake County, Montana, USA.

Tuesday, March 31st, 2020

The 1948 Nash still carried many pre-war traits last seen in 1942. The all new upside-down bathtub Nashes did not appear until 1949. I found this beauty on display at the Hellgate Car Show in Missoula in 2012. If you need a 1948 Nash to hang on your wall, or to cover your bed, just click on the blue lettered caption under the photo to open a new tab with my RedBubble online sales gallery.

Monday, March 30th, 2020

I did not find this 1952 Cadillac in Pacific County, but rather in neighboring Wahkiakum County. When I got out of bed on the morning of September 5th, I had time to kill before breakfast. I jumped in the car and crossed over to Puget Island where I took many photographs, including the original of this image. I then returned to my hotel, ate breakfast, checked out, and headed to Pacific County.

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

I love this Ranchero. Our grow center landlord in Missoula owns it, and if he’d give it to me, or even will it to me, I’d be supremely happy. But why this particular Ranchero? In 1957, Poppa bought a new car. He picked me up from school on his way home from the dealer. This was unusual because we lived just one block from the school and I always walked. The car he bought was a 1957 Ford Custom 300. It was an almost exact match for this Ranchero, at least as far as color scheme and body trim are concerned. To this day, I think it was the prettiest car Poppa ever owned.

Friday, March 27th, 2020

a classic car I photographed
One of My Dream Cars–A 1952 Packard 300

It may not look like much in this photo, where we see the car stored under an overhanging roof, but otherwise outside. BUT, as the Old Thespian says in The Fantasticks, “Try to see it under light! I assure you — it’s dazzling!.” A friend owns this 1952 Packard 300, and he’s willing to sell it to me. He has already rechromed all the major pieces, and believe me, a 1952 Packard has a LOT of chrome. My friend also has the upholstery fabric to redo the interior. But the paint. Alas, these days painting a car costs a lot–and I mean A LOT. Still, it tempts me. And just think how elegant we would look, arriving at the Black and White Ball. Stepping out of our Black and White Packard in our Black and White tuxes. Talk about gay male romance.

Thursday, March 26th, 2020

British Leyland produced the Princess 1800 HL to replace three separate marques: the Austin 1800; the Morris 1800; and the Wolseley 18/85. As British Leyland consolidated its holdings, the company badged this car “Princess,” and it carried the Austin name only in New Zealand. Relatively short-lived, B-L produced the car only from September 1975 to July 1978. The Princess 2 replaced it until 1981, then the Austin Ambassador until 1984. Curiously, there is a photo of a car almost identical to this on the Wikipedia page for the Austin Princess 2 in New Zealand. I placed this car on the Finnish flag because I saw it in the Finnish city of Oulu on the Gulf of Bothnia. I had never seen one of these before, and considered it rather exotic. It is another classic car I photographed in September, 1985, in Oulu, Finland.

Wednesday, March 25th, 2020

Someone–the owner perhaps–parked this 1951 Pontiac Sedan Delivery at the local hardware store in Thompson Falls, Montana. You can have your version of this image by visiting my RedBubble online sales gallery.

Tuesday, March 24th, 2020

This beautiful two-toned blue Ford F100 pickup showed up at the 2019 Local Yokels Car show in Plains, Montana where I captured it. Someone in Michigan bought the image in the form of a clock last week, and just today I got word that someone in the Netherlands bought it as a medium sized poster. You can get your own copy from my Red Bubble online sales gallery.

Saturday, March 21st, 2020

One of two photographic images I sold this week, this 1953 Oldsmobile Super 88 can be yours if you click on the link in blue below the photograph. Someone in Oregon bought it as a greeting card. The actual car showed up at both the 2019 Plains Day Car Show and the 2019 Local Yokels Car Show. I photographed it in both places, but this image comes from the Local Yokels show.

Monday, March 16th, 2020

1989 Saab 900S Convertible
My First Saab

I had never had Saab on my automotive radar. I remember the slogan “Saab–the car for people who hate cars.” But one March afternoon, I saw this baby, top down, on a downtown sales lot. “What could it hurt,” I asked, “to take it for a test drive.” I left with this car, the first of four Saabs I’ve owned. A drunk teen-ager totalled this car. He rang my doorbell at half past midnight one December morning. “Do you know whose Explorer I just totalled?” he asked me. “That would be mine,” I responded, and went out into the street where I found that not only had he totalled his daddy’s pickup by running it into my Explorer, but he pushed the Explorer into my Saab, totalling it as well. When I pointed this out, the kid lamented “I’m gonna be making license plates for a long time.” Poor kid.

But it says something about Saabs that the great guys at Evergreen Motors were able to completely rebuild my Saab and it is still on the road–with someone else driving it. I’m featuring it today because all Saab convertibles, and indeed three of the four Saabs I’ve owned, were built in Finland.

Sunday, March 15th, 2020

A Zap! Xebra pickup in red
The Zap! Xebra in Red

The first “car” imported into the U.S. from China, the Zap! came available as a pickup (seen here) or as a sedan. While it has a cab and seat belts, many jurisdictions considered it a motorcycle and required a motorcycle endorsement to drive the thing. One feature it did not have was regenerative braking, and the importer was eventually required to destroy his inventory. Captured at the International Folk Festival in Butte, Montana, July 11th, 2009.

Saturday, March 14th, 2020

The owner of this 1933 Chevy 5-Window Coupe wrote on his entry tag, that the car was chopped, had suicide doors, and was “Rad” with painted flames. Or maybe he wrote “Red” with painted flames. It certainly is RED, but it’s also pretty Rad. He was showing his pride and joy at the 2013 Cruisin’ By the Bay car show in Polson, Montana, which is where I took this shot on August 8th, 2013.

Friday, March 13th, 2020

Dodge COE on Highway 200

Driving east on Montana Highway 200, we passed this beautiful Dodge COE (Cab Over Engine). I don’t know any specifics, but Dodge built this model from the late 1930s till 1947. A new model appeared in 1948. This truck is obviously well loved. I hope to get a better picture of it someday soon. Taken March 6th, 2017 near Dixon, Sanders County, Montana.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

I’m always amazed by what I can find when I’m out with my camera. Hudson’s answer to the Nash Rambler, the company built the Jet only for the 1953 and 1954 model years. The cost of developing the small car was too much for Hudson, and the company was forced to merge with Nash-Kelvinator to become American Motors. This poor little car has become known as the car that killed Hudson. Taken March 9th, 2017 in Missoula, Montana.

Wednesday, March 11th, 2020

A Citroen 2cv designed for the fire chief to be able to drive in either direction without backing up. On display at the Lane Auto Museum, Nashville, Tennessee.

Tuesday, March 10th, 2020

A local collector saved this beauty, which I photographed back in 2017, from disaster. He then put it on the market. I haven’t seen it lately, so I assume it sold to some lucky buyer.

Monday, March 9th, 2020

OK, I’m playing a bit fast and loose here, but as one blogger I follow put it, “It’s my blog!” Besides which, the rail cars behind the locomotives are carrying Asian automobiles destined for the Mid West. So there! Taken along the Flathead River, Sunday, March 8th, 2020, at Mile Marker 93 on Montana Highway 200 near Perma, Montana.

Sunday, March 8th, 2020

My 1948 Frazer, parked in front of the lilac hedge at my former home in Missoula, Montana. The Frazer was a true American luxury vehicle, manufactured for model years 1947 through 1951 by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in Willow Run, Michigan. Today at car shows, people look right at the name plate and ask “What is it?”

Saturday, March 7th, 2020

Featured in the Nikon DSLR Gallery group, Dec. 7th, 2019.

The most beautiful car I’ve ever owned, this is my daily Summer driver, a 1996 Saab 900 S convertible.

Taken June 1st, 2007, at the I-5 rest area at Weed, California, with Mount Shasta in the background. I really believe that Saab (or GM) should pay me for this picture—if Saab continues to exist.

Nikon D80 DSLR fitted with a Sigma 18-50 mm tele/zoom lens set at 48 mm. ISO 100, f /8.0, 1/320 second.

Friday, March 6th, 2020

1950 Dodge Coronet

The Dodge Coronet dates from 1949 at which time it was introduced as the highest trim line the marque offered. It received a facelift in 1950, and another in 1951, then was completely redesigned in 1954. The Chrysler products in the early 1950s had a very high roof line, supposedly because Chrysler exec Kaufman T. Keller felt a man should be able to wear his hat while driving. By 1954, Virgil Exner was in charge and the rooflines were lowered.

This gorgeous 1950 was parked outside a restaurant in Drummond, Montana. It sported Oregon license plates when I photographed it, but it remained parked there for many years afterward. It’s gone now, whether back to Oregon, or retired at someone’s home in Montana, I don’t know.

Taken June 9th, 2012 in Drummond, Granite County, Montana, USA.

Thursday, March 5th, 2020

I titled this photograph Then and Now when I posted it on my RedBubble sales gallery. That title comes from the juxtaposition of this beautiful 1920s era Chrysler in the foreground and the modern Dodge in the background. The Chrysler was part of a classic car road run and was parked in Lincoln, Montana when I took the photograph.

Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

The Hudson Motor Car Company introduced the Super Six in 1916 and built it through 1928. They brought the model name back in 1940 and produced it until 1951. This customized version has the body style used from 1940 through 1947, but the grill doesn’t match any “stock” version. I caught this baby in a motel parking lot on its way to a regional show. Unfortunately, there was no one around for me to question. But whatever year the car was made originally, it’s been beautifully restored.

Featured in the group PixElations, January 14th, 2020.
Featured in the Nikon DSLR Gallery group, Jan. 17th, 2020.

Taken July 11th, 2016 in Plains, Sanders County, Montana, USA.

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

I own one of these, the first sports car I ever bought. It’s been mine since 1980 and I wish it looked this good.

Designed by Giovanni Michelotti in 1957 to compete with the Austin-Healey Sprite, Standard-Triumph’s new model was not put into production until 1962, after Leyland had taken over the company. Over it’s eighteen year run, the car went through five models, the Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, Mark IV, and starting in December 1974, the model shown here, the 1500. The 1500 was built from 1974 into 1980 when Triumph ceased production of the Spitfire. Four years later, the last Triumph sedan rolled off the assembly line and the name died, at least as far as motor cars are concerned. This may explain why when I go into an auto parts store and talk to any clerk without gray hair, s/he immediately thinks I need parts for my motorcycle.

I captured this Spit at the 2014 Lost in the 50s car show in Sandpoint, Idaho, one of the largest car shows in our area.

Taken May 17th, 2014 in Sandpoint, Bonner County, Idaho, USA. For what it’s worth, I’ve had three sales of this image over the last few years, including one just a few days ago on Sept. 14th, 2023.

Monday, March 2nd, 2020

Sunday, March 1st, 2020

February 29th, 2020

Jeff Stevens drops the top on his 1959 Ford Fairlane Skyliner at the Old Schoolhouse Rocks Car Show, Superior Montana, June 4, 2011.

Taken 6/4/11 in Superior, Montana, USA. 

February 28th, 2020

If Andy Warhol could do it with Campbell’s Soup, why can’t I do it with this 1940 Ford Tudor on display at the Ripples Ice Cream Parlor Local Yokels Car Show in 2016?

February 27th, 2020

Melting Peugeot

I once read that French automobiles all look as if they were sculpted out of melting ice cream. This poor Peugeot, like the famous cake, has been left out in the northern California rain way too long. It’s being completely taken over by the vegetation.

Taken May 9, 2007, near Smith River, California, using a Nikon D80 fitted with a Sigma 70-300 tele/zoom/macro lens set at 86 mm. ISO 1000, f /4.0, 1/160 second.

Other cars I’ve photographed

 

1930 Ford Model A

I love capturing cars with my cameras, so if you have a car you’d like saved for posterity, or know of a car show I can travel to easily, drop me a note. My rates are reasonable.

Saab 9-4x on the shore of Lake Michigan

Saab and Shoreline

This image of my 2011 Saab 9-4x parked on the shore of Lake Michigan near the town of Brevort on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, was purchased in the form of a greeting card by someone in Germany. And the 1940 Ford Deluxe, which I photographed in Moro, Oregon on September 19th, 2011, was purchased as a photographic print by someone in Indiana. I wish RedBubble would give me more information about the people who purchase my work so I could build a more personal relationship with them.

1940 Ford Deluxe

Amazing what you find just driving down the back roads, through small towns.

Taken 9/19/2011 in Moro, Oregon.

Wednesday, February 26th, 2020

1958 Rambler Custom

1958 was the first year that AMC styling moved away from the older Nash style, dispensing with the rolling ovals and moving pointedly (pun intended) into the new era of fins–everywhere you look. In a recession year, AMC did very well. The 1958 Rambler was the seventh selling car in the nation. This particular model is powered by the 195.6 cubic inch (3.2L) engine, and sports a “3-on-the-tree” standard gear shift. Another classic car I photographed on October 3rd, 2016 in Spanaway, Pierce County, Washington, USA.

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