Wagons in vintage Street scenes

Photo taken outside McCormick Place looks at the heavy traffic heading north on Lake Shore Drive. Downtown Chicago is in the background. The tallest skyscraper in the photo is the Sears Tower (at left). The large outdoor parking lots are nearly filled with automobiles.

 

Chicago Auto show 1976.

High view inside the Chevrolet exhibit captured a crowd watching the Monza 2-door sedan raise and lower to exposed its engine and chassis. Front wheels, suspension components, and the engine, are beneath the tilted car body. Both doors were also removed to reveal the 2+2 seat interior.

 

Inside the Chevrolet display, the photographer shot over a Malibu Classic Estate Wagon, to capture the Monza Towne Coupe in a unique display. The entire front engine, transmission and wheel assembly were separated from the car, and the car's body angled upward.

 

On the raised platform in the foreground at Oldsmobile's exhibit space is a side view of the GMO Cutlass 2-door coupe, which was a regional special. The letters GMO stood for "Gallant Men of Olds." On the left, behind the GMO, is a Royal Delta 88 4-door hardtop. A Cutlass Supreme 2-door coupe is on the right side.

 

Inside the Lincoln-Mercury exhibit, seen in close-up in the foreground, is a 3/4 front view of a Cougar XR-7 coupe with tiny "opera" windows in its vinyl half-roof. Directly behind is a side view of a Bobcat Runabout with simulated wood trim. On the raised platform to its rear is another Bobcat Runabout, without the woodgrain decoration.

 

In the foreground of an exhibit for the compact Mercury automobiles is a 3/4 rear view of a Bobcat Runabout. On the right, in a free-standing case, is an exhibit of the 2.3-liter 4-cylinder engine. Behind the case is a rear view of a Comet 2-door coupe. At left, along the aisle, is a Bobcat Villager station wagon with woodgrain bodyside trim.

 

Overhead photograph looks down onto the Datsun (Nissan) exhibit. At mid-photo, right side, is a special exhibit with a mid-1930s Datsun 2-door roadster on a raised platform. Several contemporary Datsun models can be glimpsed in this over-exposed photo, including a 280-Z sports car at lower left.

 

Dark image features a Renault R-5GTL 2-door hatchback sedan parked in front of whimsical, hand-painted scene of people and storefronts. A freestanding cartoon policeman is on the right. Note the colorful stripping on the Renault 5, which was a new model for 1976.

 

Looking north from McCormick Place, this shot reveals large lines of motorists blending lanes, heading toward the large outdoor parking lots. The Soldier Field parking lot, on the left, appears to be filled. The Chicago city skyline can be glimpsed through the hazy winter atmosphere. The tallest skyscraper on the left is the Sears Tower.

 

Pontiac exhibit on the main floor. In the foreground is a front view of the Firebird Special Edition. Slightly to the right is a 3/4 front view of a two-tone Bonneville coupe. On the left is a rear view of a two-tone Bonneville 4-door sedan. Pontiac signs state, "The Mark of Great Cars."

 

An amazing view illustrates the magnitude of the enormous crowds of people at the auto show, filling every inch of space for as far as the eye can see. On the raised platform in the foreground is a rear corner of an Aspen station wagon. Many of the people at the front of the assembled crowd are reaching toward the ceiling, as if trying to catch something that's out of camera range.

 

At a decorative portion of the Chrysler-Plymouth exhibit on the main floor, a Plymouth Volare 4-door station wagon is in the foreground, on a raised platform, under an archway. At the other end of this Spanish-motif two-story hacienda display is the back half of a red Volare 2-door coupe. On the far right is a portion of a light blue Volare 4-door sedan, sitting on the show floor. "The accent is on comfort," says a sign above the station wagon, on the simulated hacienda's wall.

with it's "rich Corinthian Leather interior"

 

New for 1977 was the Cruising Wagon option for the Ford Pinto. It featured bold graphics and a small circular rear, side window. It was part of Ford's “Free Wheeling” program to attract young buyers, as was the Cruising Van optioned Econoline in the background.

*to this day my buddy Rolls in a 1979 "Free Wheelin' Bronco. The 70's where kinda awesome!

 

Several racing vehicles are in view within the roped-off display for the Sports Car Club of America (Chicago Region), in the lower-level lobby. In the foreground is a Honda SCCA Pro Rally racing car, and on the right is a 3/4 front view of a Capri 2-door with racing stripes and numbers. Several other racing cars fill the background.

*My Father-in-law has a 1951 Kaiser Manhattan that his father bought and restored much like the one in the picture in his garage. it's awesome.