Fifty Years Back, Then and Now

The other day I was driving my kids home from their respective daycare and preschool (thank goodness for their emotional growth, that they're still able to get out with tiny groups of other kids) when, in the mirror, I noticed an old Datsun Z car.

Maybe it was a 240Z or a 280Z, but I was pretty sure it wasn't a 260Z, as my experience with the older Z-cars has left me with a keen eye that can spot the funky back windows of those middle Z-ditions (I just made that up).

It got me thinking of my own old Japanese sports/muscle car, a wonderful tri-powered 1971 Datsun 240Z, the most beautiful regular-person car I could imagine as a kid. Here's a phone pic of a film pic of my erstwhile Patmobile:

I say "most beautiful regular-person car" because to my eye, the most beautiful cars are all from the same era (late 60s to early 70s), and only one is something a regular (see: not obscenely wealthy) person like me could afford to get as a 20 year old:

The Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari Dino, and the Ford GT (starring in a recent "Dad movie"), and the Datsun 240Z. While not as exotic, I don't think the Datsun is totally out of place there.

Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking of the fact the Z-car I saw was old, and about my own Patmobile specifically: it would be fifty(!!!) years old this year.

I saw a car that could be 50 years old. On the road, running and everything.

That got me thinking about when I started driving. Did I ever see a fifty year old car on the road, taking care of household chores and the like?

Well, a fifty year old car when I started driving looked like this:

And, no. I didn't really ever see regular-use coupes and the like from the mid 1940s rolling around. Car events, like the Hot August Nights shows in Sacramento, sure, you could see lovingly updated oldies.

But out getting groceries? Not in Citrus Heights.