Rejoice, classic car spotters. We’ve got some great vintage footage from the streets of Manhattan circa 1945. How many obscure vehicles can you identify?
Thanks to the Internet Archive, the enormous free digital library, we have this wondeful film showing everyday traffic in the city of New York. The year is 1945, and a big year it was for America with Germany’s surrender on May 8 and the surrender of Japan on September 2, bringing World War II to an end. We don’t know the date of the filming, but from the fair-weather clothing we’re guessing spring or fall. And we’re not experts on New York, but according to the accompanying info, the scenes include 50th Street, Fifth Avenue, and Eighth Avenue.
We sure do recognize the awesome vintage vehicles, though. Then as now, Manhattan streets were dominated by taxis, and right off the bat we spotted numerous examples of the bizarrely styled 1939-1941 Checker Model A. It’s said the company deliberately styled its strange cutaway sheet metal to create an easily identifiable appearance for potential fares and to minimize fender benders. Driven straight into the ground, these cabs are extremely rare today. We also see a number of Packard cabs and a whole fleet of Chrysler models, including the 1942 DeSoto, instantly recognizable with its hidden headlamps. DeSotos were a perennial favorite among New York cab operators, in part due to the efforts of East Coast mega-dealer James F. Waters.
Naturally, due to the war effort, the vehicles on the streets are all at least a few years old, and we spotted a few choice Classic-era Buicks and Cadillacs. We even saw a horse-drawn wagon or two and a double-decker bus. How many strange and wonderful vehicles can you identify? Video below.
Thanks for the great video. Being a truck nut, I saw, IH, Federal, Diamond T cabover, Mack and several others, even “ol’ Dobbin’ still dropping turds on the street. So that’s what that monstrosity cab was, a Checker? Looks like Mr. Burns death car.
This is an amazing film clip. What is astounding to me is the use of a single center line marked on the broad streets and the manner in which drivers used their half of the road as if it was multi-lanes. Pedestrians seem to “jay walk” at random , thus putting themselves at risk. This post merits repeated viewing to identify the old automotive gems , many of which appear to be real oil burners. Thanks Mac’s MCG for your always great posts,
Great flick! In many places today those cars would be ticketed for being heavy smokers and not stopping for pedestrians. Looks like the street crossers were careful but not very alarmed. Different days, different ways!
I would love to see a clip of London in a similar period. Tiny little cars and narrow streets would be a real comparison.
I feel the first part of this clip may have been early morning on a cold day, water vapour from the exhausts instead of oil smoke.
Dirty engines more likely – I saw that, but also people in shirt sleeves. It’s amazing how much better the air quality is in our cities today.
Lots of old Checker, DeSoto, and Packard cabs, the bulk of the fleet when NYC mandated 5 passenger seating in the rear (until 1954). In the first half of the 5th Avenue section, that cab that looks like a beefed-up Chevy is actually a Yellow Coach/GM General, using various GM components including a 7-passenger sedan body.