A glimpse back in time
Flashback to 1960s. Rear-engined cars were everywhere. Fancy, they were surely not. But hey, they’ll make the modern compacts and sedans run for their money with the old sedans’ sturdy body construction and plenty of headroom.
It’s only a pity we won’t be seeing them on the road nowadays. But thanks to the annual Orphan Car Show, now on its 11th edition, once more, enthusiasts were treated to a ride back in time, and witness first hand, a bunch of Checkers, Studebakers and Hupmobiles, Packards, Ann Arbor, DeSotos, Monarch Lucerne, and the fabled Corvair.
The Orphan Car Show, held in Michigan this year, is dedicated to brands and nameplates that are either no longer being produced or not available in the United States anymore. Several of the defunct brands were produced in the Ypsilanti area in the years before and after World War II, including some that were built in the former B-24 bomber factory in Willow Run.
The old cars were typically made with air-cooled flat-6 hanging off the rear axle and a nasty swing axle suspension. They weren’t fancy aesthetically, save for some aerodynamically constructed ones, but they were extremely durable and had plenty of room in the back for passengers and their luggage.
