7 glamour rides of the 1950s we'll be watching in Paris | Hagerty Media

[Hagerty]

Paris is the most glamorous city in the world, and for many people, that's reason enough to enjoy the city. When it comes to the collector car world though, the annual Rétromobile show is the main attraction for vintage car obsessives.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/auctions/7-glamour-rides-of-the-1950s-well-be-watching-in-paris/

[kcshelby]

Actually, if that Lancia is actually a B24 and not a B24S, then it is one of only fifty-nine RHD Spiders ever made. The B24S (for sinestra) had the steering wheel on the conventionally American side.

[geozinger]

That Chrysler looks pretty worn. It looks like it's missing parts and is not presented nearly as well as all of the other cars in this bunch. I guess it's a 'barn find'? I appreciate these Italian-styled Chrysler specials but this one just seems a little sad.

[wilcom]

That's one restyle that would have been better off left alone. Even if those wires had center caps!

[Bunka]

The overall design of the Chrysler is boring. Nothing at all innovative. Typical design of most cars from the fifties, except for the taillights. They are not an integral part of the car. They appear to have been designed elsewhere and then just stuck on. The German cars, Porsche and Mercedes are beautifully simple and fully functional in design, although I find the Lancia to be a bit of eye candy.

[okfoz]

You can see it appears that the rockers have been reworked with what appears to be some crappy bondo. Neat car, but like you a little rough for dropping that kind of coin.

[JohninNC]

The Porsche and the Mercedes look great. Timeless.

[gfviperman]

The Chrysler is the winner in this group with its Italian flair. However, it is not as beautiful as the '55 Chrysler Imperial ... which is one of the most beautiful American cars ... ever!!!!

[L-88]

Agree GF. My mom drove a blue/white top 55 Imperial, it was a fantastic vehicle. Got my drivers licence in it.
I'd like to have this one and restore back to pristine.

[F360Spider]

All those cars except the Chrysler are fantastic looking. I liked them all.

[MrBill-1943]

Nice selection but when compared to the American 50's cars the European cars cannot match or hold a candle to. I look at 55, 56, 57, 58 and 59 as the best of the best be it style or even color and chrome combinations...now that was style.

[elldorado2000]

Looking at that Chrysler makes me sad for the loss of large 2 doors in our automotive landscape. I think the current Challenger does a yeoman's job of representing the style, but it seems like a lost opportunity for car makers. We have all read the stories how the market is not there for 2 doors. Yet they build them so small! I don't want to wear a car, I want to drive it. I want to be able to put people in the back seat. The back seat in almost every 2 door built today, isn't usable. It's an insurance ploy.

[wdb]

My E93 has huge doors. I suspect the coupe has the same doors.

[Sk1959]

Hey Hagerty, you guys are doing it again. Give us articles on good old American cars that most of us grew up with, can relate to and cars that we can actually afford. I couldn’t care less about any of the cars in this article because I know I’ll never own one. I’m sure I’m typical of the majority of your readers; an average “Joe” making an average wage who grew up with the Chevy or Ford family car and who might be able to afford a few thousand now to buy back that old Ford or Chevy that I remember.

[L-88]

Sadly Sk, a few thousand won't get any fords or chevies from the 50's or 60's
EVERYTHING is sky high!

[97Cobra]

you nailed it

[daydreamerdav]

You forgot about the poor folk American family's Sk. I grew up with Ramblers. They were a good price and very reliable. Have a 65 990 4drsd daily driver gets good looks and thumbs up all the time.

[DC]

Luxury,
Cadillac Eldorado

Sport
Corvette

‘Nuff said !

[mwmyers91]

when I read cars of the 50's this is not what I expected, oh well.

[win59]

Would love to park my '56 Austin Healey 100 next to that Lancia B24 as a fascinating counter-point. Wish I could drive the Lancia, an iconic driver's car to compare....not much chance of that...sigh.
The Chrysler is a beautiful design with a bit too much fussy detail, quietly striking.
Now the Bentley, there is a Proper Motorcar lads. Oh Dear!

[kcshelby]

My "one that got away" was a 1955 Aurelia B20 coupe, and I only owned it for a couple of years. Its combination of sliding pillar front and DeDion rear suspension along with 50/50 weight balance gave the car wonderfully controllable and toss-able handling. But honestly, riding as it did on skinny 400 x 165 radials, the Aurelia's ultimate limit was not all that high compared to a modern car. My 2003 Mini Cooper S generated far, far higher cornering forces. But the Aurelia was far, far prettier.

[VancMike]

Love the shade of red on the Lancia. And the Bentley shows how the Brit upper class did "sports cars". To those xenophobics who clamor for 'Murican cars only, know that most auto loonies appreciate classic autos no matter the birthplace.

[1933ford]

As noted by the many comments below the tittle is very misleading. Come on Hagerty you need to do a much better job of proof reading your articles. If you had done that the title (hook) may have reflected the true nature of the article. I see a recent pattern developing where Hagerty is either ignorant (unlikely) or lack the funds (manpower) to represent this publication properly. Soon I and many others will tune you out including your insurance business. Fair Warning!

[Tim]

I'm not sure I follow you. What part of the title is misleading? "7 glamour rides of the 1950s we’ll be watching in Paris".

There are seven cars. They are from the '50s. They'll be in Paris. I assume Hagerty people will be watching them. So I guess you are taking issue with the word, "glamorous." Perhaps you don't think all seven qualify as glamorous. Not sure that's reason enough to put Hagerty on notice. 😄

[NWDude]

Help me understand where, and how, you are coming from in the case of “this title is misleading”?

Seems pretty straight forward to me.

 While you are at it, please educate us on how “to represent this publication properly”?

Just wondering.......

[chrlsful]

love "the us of a goes Italian" every time it happened back in my 'single digit years'. The 16 yrs or so between the late '30s and very early '50s ("classic cars"?) when separate fenders/running boards reached their peak (cord 812, delehae, stutz, etc) and transitioned into 'shoe box ford' and others B4 the 'bulge-mobiles' of the later 50s (Try-5). The above is a perfect example among many others. So is the '55 Conti, Facile Vega and even '56/60 vette.

[Dave404]

I'll take the Bentley. The rest can go to the scrapyard.

[stevecobb45]

I've never cared for the looks of the Porsche 911 types & this 356 in green is nothing but butt-ugly to me. I'm sure these examples are dream cars to a lot of folks & with the estimate pricing, just goes to show how peoples taste vary among car collectors. If they're buying for a museum I guess that's justified but for something you can drive & enjoy it makes no sense to me.

[97Cobra]

1955 Chrysler Nothing else is as nice.

[TB]

The Chrysler Ghias has beautiful lines, and it is a wonder why the American mfrs. didn't take more notice instead making all those huge winged boats in the late 50s. I had a chance to drive a Continental R just like this one down to the Monterey Car week, for a large car it was fluid and the six had great torque. I have always thought that the rear end esp. was modeled after the 50s Caddies. The car that I would pick would be the Alfa, I had a 67 Duetto hotrod which I still miss.

[noah300g]

Hands down, it's the gorgeous Chrysler.

[daydreamerdav]

Who copied who ? The 57 Alpha Romero could be in an American Studebaker showroom and you would think it was a new model. My grandfather had 2 1950s Studebakers what beautiful sleek FAST cars they were. Ahead of there time.

[OkJustOneMore]

I would take any of these cars compared to a new eco box that has no personality/styling. New cars are now disposable. Fifty years from now see if people are restoring a KIA.

[GSPenthusiast]

Love that MG, great lines and I’m a Triumph owner

[PRScott]

The 190SL was an utterly gutless boulevard cruiser for posers and wannabe's. It looked vaguely like the 300 and that's all it took to sell them then and especially now. The really sad part is that if you chose to restore one it would be worth half of the restoration cost when finished

[67CougGuy]

I was routinely mesmerized by the '57 MG (White-Black top) that my high school gym teacher owned. Every once in a while, he would grace the Teacher's Parking Lot, with it. I believe that was the first instance that I witnessed.... "a 'special' rig being parked diagonally across 2-parking spaces".

This ol' beaut should probably be one rig that qualifies for everybody's forgiveness, when it comes to such otherwise-cheesy approaches to the act of "parking".

[Larry3]

They are all very nice rides, of the ones shown I like the
Chrysler ST special, it has very nice lines and the styling sets it apart from the rest. On the American front it is still hard to beat a 57 T-bird or any of the Corvettes they may not be as classy as some of the others but they are American Icons.

[markmathes]

Buick Deuce and a Quarter

[Maestro1]

The Chrysler and the Bentley, hands down. And the MG; I bought one new in the Midwest, Chicago I think, and had several wonderful summers in it. By the first week in October it was put away for the Winter and then I drove a Dodge Polara 4 Door Hardtop I bought for practically nothing at the time,
a 383 with Power Steering and so on, that I drove in the snow and ice with little problem except for
the rear end which would decide to waltz down the highway at times. Then Spring, and the MG raised
from its rest, ready to go again for another season. Thanks for this and the memories...........

[Charlie]

I have never been a Mopar fan, but of that list I would take the Chrysler 300 coupe.

[OldBryan]

Guess I'm just a good ol' boy (or a peasant) at heart:
My favorite from the list of 7 is the Chrysler, but I actually prefer the standard Chrysler 300 roofline to the goofy-looking (to me) Italian custom. I also like the '56 Chrysler tail light treatment better than the '55's.
The other cars that I find slightly appealing are the stock looking MG and, to a lesser extent, the Lancia and Alpha Romeo. Like the Mercedes Benz, they don't jump out at me and say, "I am special!"
The Bentley is a bad imitation of the Cadillac it was supposedly inspired by, and all over my neighbors' pastures, I can find cow pies that bear an uncomfortably close resemblance to the Porsche.
Yep, gimme a Buick or a Caddy or maybe a Lincoln over any of them.

[eighthtry]

The Chrysler! Perfect marriage between US and Italy. Center caps can be made. Horn buttons rotated. Engines painted. Interior redone. None of that is rocket science.