The Fleet Fleetline

World War II did a lot to hinder the development of the auto industry in the USA. But at the same time, it did a lot to help it as well. Yes, a number of great automakers could never make it through the combination of the Great Depression and the war, but those who did, especially the Big Three from Detroit, managed to thrive.

Part of the reason for the success of the Big Three was that they each managed to ramp up production and start turning out not only cars, but cars people could afford and wanted to drive. For Chevrolet, that car was the Fleetline.

Introduced late in 1941as a four door sedan sporting the "Blue Flame" 216 cubic inch inline six cylinder engine pushing 90 horse power, the Fleetline saw production suspended in 1942 along with most of the rest of the industry so that plants could be used for the war effort.

After the war the Fleetline made an almost immediate return in 1946 but rather than being its own marque, it was a trim for the Fleetmaster series. That lasted through the 1949 model year. Over 65,000 Fleetlines were sold in 1946. That number jumped to over 159,000 for the following year and over 275,000 in 1948. With close to 400,000 sold in 1949, Chevrolet made the decision to upgrade the Fleetline and make it a line of its own.

1950 saw higher compression available on the Blue Flame engine. It also saw the option of a 235.5 cubic inch one barrel carburetor six cylinder engine that generated 105 horse power. There was also the option of an automatic transmission. Two door and four door sedans were available in both Deluxe and Special trims.

Though sales continued to be robust, they were also starting to sag. Chevrolet and the rest of the automotive world realized that the looks of these post war cars were out of touch with what the buying public was looking for. Imagine the leap in styling from these cars to the crisper, more modern looking Bel Airs of the mid 1950s and it's easy to see why the company decided to phase out the Fleetline following the 1952 model year.

Still, it was cars like the 1947 model shown here that helped ensure that Chevrolet would remain a major player in the automotive industry following World War II.

Some of the Usual, Some Not so Usual

One of my favorite things about the annual Cruise-A-Palooza car show at Coney Island is that there are a lot of different cars on display each year. Sure there are the usual Tri-5 Chevys and the like but as you wander through the cars there are always a quite a few that you don't get to see every day. And I like that.

Some of the cars you don't always see that were on display at Cruise-A-Palooza this year (and remember, I came across these randomly as I wandered through the field) are a nice looking Pontiac Bonneville, a 1955 Ford Thunderbird, an Opal GT, and a cool Mercedes Benz kit car which I've posted before.

More Random Rides From Cruise-A-Palooza

 As I often like to do, I am posting the cars I saw and shot at this year's Cruise-A-Palooza car show at Coney Island in the order in which I came across them. That is a little trickier than it sounds, though. The layout of Coney is based on the days when it was a thriving amusement park with paths winding and crossing in various directions. There really is no one single way to to, say, walk the grid. So there is some backtracking and cutting around. But still, this is the order in which I shot them.

 Some of the cars in this post include a very different pair of 1966 Chevys, a Chevy Nomad station wagon, a Cadillac that sported some nice patina, a VW camper, and a 1972 Ford Maverick like the one I had when I was in high school.

More From Coney

I'm going to be posting two weeks worth of shots from the Cuise-A-Palooza car show held right on the river at historic Coney Island. This year's event was held on a beautiful, if a bit hot and humid day under clear blue skies. And it attracted over 200 fantastic cars.

Some of the cars on display included one of a large number of Pontiacs that showed up this year, a great looking Ford F-1 pickup truck, a beautiful Ford Fairlane, a Nash American, a couple of early generation Corvettes, and a fantastic Studebaker Hawk I've photographed several times in the past.

Cruise-A-Palooza

You can see how far behind I am with the calendar as I am only now posting shots from Cruise-A-Palooza. This annual event takes place over Labor Day weekend and is held at the (other) historic Coney Island. As with some of the places I've been to numerous times, I've written about the history of this iconic grove and amusement park many times. Rather than re-hash things I recommend that you run a search through this blog to find out more about this park that once drew in big name musicians, suffered from numerous record setting floods and still maintains one of the most iconic outdoor swimming pools in the country.

Or, if you're like me, you can just enjoy the cars that were on display. Those included a beautiful Chevy Victoria, a chopped Ford V8, an Edsel wagon, a Camaro, a Ford Galaxy 500, and a sweet looking Chevy Malibu.

Supercars in Newport

For Friday the 13th I thought I'd give you something a little different. At this year's Rides on Monmouth show there was a section of modern majesty sitting at the north end of Monmouth Street. There, in one group were some BMWs, Porsches, a Nissan, an Audi, an Acura, a Ferrari, a Lotus, and a new Vette. Pretty sweet collection.