December 27, 2022 - As a pre-teen growing up in East Texas, my hobby was keeping up with the changes in automobiles. I could identify for anyone the make, model, and year of any vehicle I saw on the road. I actually cut out pictures of new automobiles I found in magazines and put them in a binder by year.
After WWII ended in 1945, automobile companies began manufacturing cars again instead of jeeps and tanks. The early models were essentially the same as the pre-war ones. However, soon all the major car companies began to introduce their new models, all with major improvements.
It seems that the car companies chose the month of October to introduce their new models each year. It was an exciting time for me. I would wait in anticipation for Butts Chevrolet to put a demonstrator inside the show room, all polished and shiny. I enjoyed examining all the new features of the car as well as that unmistakable new car smell. The 1950 model Chevrolet was a very drastic body change over the 1949 one.
The new Pontiacs at Sparks Company were always a welcome sight as they were a step ahead of the Chevrolet, and I always pestered my dad to purchase one. He did buy a 1951 Dodge from the Bickley Motor Company, a white one with automatic transmission. My only complaint of that car was that it would only reach 80 mph top speed. I was regularly outrun by Gayle Teel and his 1949 Ford.
I could hardly wait for Metteauer Motor Company to introduce the new model Buick each October. I felt that the Buick was just one step below a Cadillac and would therefore be a great automobile to own. I never got the chance to drive one.
The Ford Motor Company followed suit and always parked a new car inside the show room for all to drool over in October. I was always partial to the Ford because I felt it could outrun most of the other models. It was not until General Motors introduced their V8 engine in 1955 that I changed my mind. I talked dad into buying the first 1955 Chevrolet V8 sold in San Augustine in October of 1954. I had finally found a car that could go faster than Gayle Teel’s Ford. In addition, Butts Chevrolet gave the buyer a plastic replica of the car, which was actually a bank. That 1955 Chevrolet replica began my desire to collect model cars which I have retained until this day. My sister, Evelyn, bought a black 1955 Ford Fairlane with a standard shift on the steering column. It could hold its own in any drag race provided the operator could shift gears fast enough.
During the 1950’s the jet plane became dominant in the skies. Car companies began to give their new models a “jet plane” look which lasted for many years, all introduced in October each year. Now days the cars are being downsized to more resemble a cracker box than a jet plane.
During those early years the license plate numbers were good identifiers since each county in the state was issued a block of prefixes. As an example, San Augustine county would have plates that began with “HAxxxx”. If one took the time to memorize their friend’s license plates you could always identify them. Any vehicle seen with a plate that began with “HA”, then you knew that it was registered in our county. That no longer holds true.
I still miss the October unveiling of the new models in all the car dealers’ show room. In fact, if you check around you will probably not find a new car inside a dealer’s show room. To me that is a step backward. In addition there are not as many car dealers as the six that I recall in my town during those years. In fact there does not seem to exist the interest in the new models either, unless they are the two-legged type.
