Hey, car spotters: Here’s another trip down memory lane—this time around, Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles circa 1957. Check out all the great old rides in this period film clip.
Courtesy of Vintage Los Angeles and Getty Images, here’s some wonderful old film footage of Hollywood Boulevard in 1957. We love these old film clips of street scenes, reportedly produced to provide stock footage for the Hollywood film industry. (Check out our previous stories featuring Wilshire Boulevard in 1935, Sunset Boulevard in 1963, and Hollywood in 1965.) These films are an awesome trip back in time, providing a priceless glimpse of the scene and the cars. A few of vehicles we spotted in this clip:
+ Lots of Cadillacs cruising the boulevards, including an Eldorado convertible and a black ’57 Sedan DeVille.
+ At around the 2:20 mark, a ’49-’50 Ford convertible slammed to the ground with fender skirts.
+ A 1956 Packard Caribbean hardtop with its distinctive tri-color Neopolitan paint scheme.
+ Rare today, a 1957 Lincoln two-door hardtop with stunning Lilac paint.
As usual, there are also numerous Los Angeles landmarks to discover, and in this short we really enjoyed the musical score, too. How many of your favorite ’50s cars can you identify? Video below.
I saw a lilac 1956 Lincoln around the 2:10 mark. A friend had one just like it a couple of years later. Great, great film, taken the year I graduated high school!
The ’56 Packard is a Four Hundred hardtop rather than a Caribbean.
Thanks for the memories! My dad’s company was not far away and the Pontiac dealership ( AE England Pontiac ) is where my dad ordered his 50 Pontiac Chieftain deluxe and picked up our special order ( SO car out of the L.A.zone office ) 59 Pontiac Catalina hardtop coupe A stock automatic drag racing / street car.
I watched it twice, watching the cars and the buildings. Lots of 57 Chevs! Lots of 2 door sedans and wagons. A 56 Viccy, a T Bird that nearly got nailed. A Pontiac dealer, 56 or 7 Buick.
Interesting, keep them coming.