Shoe by Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly for June 17, 2012

I’d love to have that firedome. They floated so nice.d

Yes, floated nice, but don’t try to go around a corner, or stop one!

Well, so far that’s the newest car on the lot, but I guess when you’re in the third grade, everything is ancient.

And for dtroutma:Chrysler products of that era were noted for having a stiffer suspension and better handling than almost anything else that came out of Detroit. That’s why almost all police cars of that era were Chrysler products. And there was a true story of a California Highway Patrolman who slowed down a runaway truck coming down the “Grapevine” with his Chrysler product CHP car, and saved the truck driver’s life in the process. It allowed the truck driver to down-shift the truck to where he could safely get to the bottom of the hill.

“Math Homework P. 36 (squared)”???I’d sure hate to carry that math book home from school!!! :-)

The “neat” vintage red pickup truck in the title panel and panel #6 (with restored look and color) came from nearby Pluggerville.

LOVE the ‘56 Chev… we had one when I was a kid, and kept it well into the ’60s. Drove teenage pump jockeys crazy with the thing, because it had no visible gas-filler door. The filler was hidden behind the left taillight, which swung out of the way when you gave a piece of the chrome trim a 90-degree twist. Younger guys at the pump would walk around the car, checking the left and right fenders… no filler door… then they’d pull on the license plate, which wouldn’t move… then they’d walk around again… and finally, swallowing a visible ball of pride, ask where the heck you put the gas in this thing.

Birds drive cars-trucks?!

Nice Fin-ish.

The DeSoto is Cosmo’s daily ride

@BigChiefDesoto- Chief,suspect your choice for best car in the strip would be the ’59 Firedome.

@BigChiefDesotoAlso suspect that you would be a little prejudiced in this regard.

A real trip down Memory Lane this morning. All vehicles pictured are for those who have walked with dinosaurs. Think this is the implication of the last panel.Another vicious attack on seniors.My choice for the trip would be a ’56 two door Ford Crown Victoria (not pictured).Fred Flintstone bought the Chevy economy model (self-propelled).He possessed high levels of testosterone.

@rickmac1937Understand that Ford Motor Company lawyers are preparing a lawsuit as we speak for discrimination based on non-inclusion in this strip.

Of all the vehicles I’ve owned in my lifetime, from sports cars to pickup trucks, the very first “new” car that I purchased was a 1961 ( fire engine red ) Plymouth Valiant with a slant-six engine and “juke box” drive ( push button transmission ). You couldn’t kill it. It passed from me to my dad, from my dad to my brother, back to me, then back to my dad who finally traded it in with 228,000 + miles on it. The engine was still running great and it got great gas mileage!

..and if you pull down the left tail-light of that 1956 (yeah, I guess that would make it ancient) Chevy, you will find the gas cap

What I’d LOVE to do … if I had the money … is recreate a ‘57 Cadillac Coup De Ville.It would have a fully aluminum chassis (coated in “Rino Lining”) and the body would be 100% carbon fibre.I’d have a modern Corvette Z06 engine in it. :D

This strip reminds me of the Automobile Museum at Petit Jean State Park, near Morrilton, Arkansas. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’s worth the visit.

Big Chief: speaking of “Bigger Chief”: My mom had a 59 Pontiac Bonneville with tri-power. While it had the highest square footage of any car of the time (only stretch limos are bigger even today) it would FLY! AND even though “spongy” it had better brakes and balance than anything MOPAR. Which, in ‘65 I sold Chrysler products, and the one thing I showed customers who wanted the 426 or 383 in their street “hotties”, was the fact that yes, they would accelerate like crazy, but you couldn’t stop them with a wing and a prayer, totally uncontrollable in a “panic stop”.

Even my MOPAR fanatic collector chiropractor had to admit that a couple years ago.

My ‘58 Rambler wagon’s back seat let down as did the front seats…flat all the way from front to back…and that’s as far as I’m gonna go with that~~

Those were the good old days when we could instantly tell the year and model of every car. Now they all look alike….. plain vanilla. We have gone nearly full circle from the really old days when Henry Ford said “You can have any color as long as it’s black”. But even back then each had its own unique and distinctive style. Wouldn’t it be great if they started manufacturing Dusenbergs and Studebakers again?

@catman6159Thanks for your restraint.This is a family-oriented strip.

@BigChiefDesotoMy suspicions have been confirmed. You’re on Chrysler’s payroll.

@BigChiefDesotoRepent, sinner. Have you no shame?

@AshburmStadiumStill having sleepless nights thinking of scrapple. Thanks, you bum.

Isn’t that his Uncle Cosmos car?

@AshburnStadiumIt’s 1:26 in the morning. Scrapple, scrapple, scrapple.Damn you.

@Linguist@BigChiefDesoto.Cheapskates! Invest in new cars so the economy can recover, will you?

my favorite firedome is three years older than cosmo’s.., which apparently finally wound up where it will really be appreciated.

@wcgreen3@firedomeDusenbergs? And Firedomes 3 years older than Cosmo’s? Thanks, guys. Feel much younger now.

@AshburnStadiumIt’s 3:14 A.M. Scrapple, scrapple, scrapple.

@AshburnStadiumDamn you.

@AshburnStadium3:40 A.M. Scrapple, scrapple,scrapple. Damn you.

There was a car from that period(50’s) that had the gas filler under a taillight, but you had to push in on a reflector button that was on the bottom of the lens. Then the light lifted up.Does anyone remember which car that was?

Donald, right you are and thank you.

It was so on the ’54 El Dorado, as well.