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Typically I focus on the arts when posting stories about the Melrose District in Phoenix. This time, though I’m zeroing in on the classic autos display which typically figures prominently during the weekend street fair. This year it was held on Saturday, February 28th, which was unseasonably toasty for wintertime in Arizona peaking at 94 degrees! Although the festival was only on Saturday this year (it typically includes Sunday too) the sights did not disappoint and I’ll share some snapshots of some classic vehicles that were on display. One of these I wasn’t even aware existed until today!
That was the case with the photo shown above of the mini 1970 Subaru 360 Sambar van. From my research it seems that this was meant to be entirely utilitarian…no frills! It is now considered to be a “micro” vehicle, but at least it was good at getting you from point A to point B if nothing else! Another vehicle I thought was pretty cool is the Rambler Custom pictured below at Denver’s Auto on 7th Avenue in the Melrose District.
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It’s so rare for me to come upon 1950s Dodge models in the “flesh” — so I’m delighted whenever I see one like this tail-finned beauty pictured below. Cars of this era also had massive V-8 type engines with lots of get up and go! You had to be careful behind these wheels. A light tap on the gas pedal could send them leaping forward. 😃 😃
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Get a load of this sleek, flamboyant 1961 Thunderbird convertible! With that plush, white leather interior it would be dream to cruise down the I-8 freeway to the California beaches.
Candy 🍭 apple 🍎 and fire engine red cars happened to be a major theme color at this year’s Melrose Street Festival. This Thunderbird was probably the most eye 👁️ catching of all the cars displayed today. These models were loved for their futuristic styling and very powerful 390 cubic-inch V-8 engines which were standard equipment back then, In the foreground you can get a glimpse of a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air also in ever popular red.
Here’s a closer view of the plush interior. The backseat is perfect 🤩 for lounging… and trysting! The steering wheels on these Thunderbirds were also innovative because they could “slide away” making it easier for the driver to enter and exit.
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This 1963 Cadillac Coupe de Ville is another dreamboat from the era I really should have lived in. 😉😉
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Well, I hope my readers have enjoyed this little tour through the Melrose Street Festival auto display. Soon, I’ll be covering more classic autos from the Tempe Arts 🎭 Festival in my next post. I’m also still working on Part 2 of my Sedona post about “Arizona Filming Locations” now that irritating technical problems of the past 12 days with my site seem to be resolved. I should have that post ready before March ends. Anyways, I’ll end this post as I ended my day at the Melrose Festival with a glorious pic of an Arizona sunset 🌅.
