Diane Putnam's photos with the keyword: classic

The dealer's emblem on the back says Marathon/Brooklyn. This car traveled 3,000 miles to get to Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Poor thing was a terrible mess. It looked like it had been in an accident many years ago. But, once again, the chrome looked fabulous!

1956 Buick. Slick as a mirror. AA 262 Reflections.

Just to show that people around here do restore the cars, sometimes! This was at a county fair just over the border in California. The one to the right of it is a '57 Chevy, but it had a homemade restoration look.

A nice old beast, also in front of the auto wrecker. Sold a long time ago. This is a blue-collar logging region, so there are LOTS of old pickup trucks around, both running and not.

This one finally sold after years in front of an auto wrecker. I think it was an excellent candidate for restoration, because there was very little visible rust and body was free of dents. Heavy metal like this was actually hard to dent, unlike our cars now. You can smell the metal and almost feel the weight of it just by standing next to it. Well, I just love them.

It's amazing this was still on the car! An indication that it was in storage somewhere, not just left out. Another sign is that there was very little rust and the paint was original and, though scratched, was not worn off anywhere (See the entire car also in this gallery.)

At the pawn shop parking lot. The poor thing has a big wasp nest under the hood and has been parted-out quite a bit. Four years after getting this shot, it's still there. AA307 Old Jan.

The Klamath Pacific construction company is still in operation and this is one of their early work trucks. This appeared to be original, but had been neglected. It was in the parking lot of a tire and body shop, then disappeared, so I am hoping it was in for restoration work.

On the parking lot of a pawn shop, disappeared (presumably bought) shortly after I took photos of it. I believe this is what was known as a businessman's coupe in the 30s and 40s (note the huge door for loading the back with "samples"). The trunk is probably the size of my bathroom!

A beast! I actually drove one like this around for a week in 1971, when I borrowed it from my brother after my car broke down. It was like trying to steer a submarine on land. No amount of double-shifting seemed helpful. Horrible, but very entertaining. I always thought that if I could drive this, I could drive just about anything.

Favorite of my car photos. The car itself is wacky and kind of artistic, with its rust and "dotted line," so it made a very funny shot. Also rumored to be a restoration in progress. My rural area is a great location for collectors to find old junkers like this, because they are in barns, garages and commercial storage.

This is on my short list of all-time local favorites. It's my dream car! I just love the toothy grille. This was on a storage lot for a long time and it was taken home by the owner to restore - finally! (It is not a 1949, as confirmed by Ronald and 1971 Dodge below.)