Chrome overload

Chrome overload!

—In late 1957, age-13, shortly before my family moved from south Jersey to northern DE……
I and a few of my eighth-grade railfan friends peddled our bicycles to where the Pennsylvania Railroad ducks under Haddon Ave. west of Haddonfield.
The line, from north Philly over the Delaware River on Delair Bridge, came south to junction with the old Camden & Atlantic Railroad, long ago taken over by Pennsy.
Camden & Atlantic went from ferry slips in Camden to Atlantic City, and is why Atlantic City did as well as it did. Philadelphians would ferry to Camden, then railroad to Atlantic City.
Pennsy’s line to Delair Bridge was to circumvent those ferries, and railroad freight to south Jersey also had to be ferried.
Supposedly the line was to continue south of Camden & Atlantic to another Pennsy line into southern NJ.
But it was never built, which was just as well, because freight migrated to trucking.
With the current surfeit of highways, built and maintained by gumint, railroading only makes sense over 400-500 miles, or with long heavy loads.
Freight may travel 50-100 miles in south Jersey, and the only shipper requiring heavy coal-trains is a power-plant near Atlantic City.
Pennsy’s old Camden & Atlantic still exists, but it’s no longer Pennsy. Railroading in south Jersey is done mostly by small independent short-lines.
Right next to the Haddon Ave. overpass back then was a Buick dealer.
Late 1957 was when Detroit introduced its 1958 models, so parked outside under tarps were new 1958 Buicks.
They were hidden, but here was my chance to see the new 1958 Buick.
Buick styling was failing. It reached its zenith in the 1955 model-year. The ’54 looked pretty good too, as did the ’56. The first top-down convertible I rode in was a white 1956 Buick.
Prior to 1954, Buicks looked like bloated douche-bags. GM styling was goofy in the early ‘50s. Olds looked pretty bad too.
After 1956 Buick styling tanked. Stylists ladled acres of glittering chrome on their cars, so their cars were more glitz-wagons than actual cars.
“Well, maybe for 1958 automotive styling would improve!”
But then I lifted the car-cover on a 1958 Buick in that Haddon Ave. Buick dealer.
GACK!
There was that dreadful waffle-iron grille.
Fully uncovered the 1958 Buick is the most gauche car of all time.
Glittering chrome everywhere.
Not long after our visit to that overpass my family moved. Who knows if my railfan friends are still alive?
And automotive styling took off in a worse direction. It didn’t start getting things right until the early ‘60s.
I always say the worst-looking automobile of all time was the 1959 Oldsmobile.
But saying that compares to “the greatest rock-’n’-roll song of all time is….”
“Are you crazy?” “What you been smokin’ boy?”
Someone once told me the ugliest automobile of all time was Pontiac’s Aztek.
To my mind Toyota’s most recent Prius is dreadful; a Mohawk haircut disguised as a car.
I suppose which automobile is ugly depends on what was extant while you were growing up.
For me, the 1958 Buick was a styling disaster.
A ’58 Buick was featured in my most recent issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine.
Again GACK!
And I just looked at a Google StreetView of that railroad overpass, which is still there (rebuilt of course).
But the Buick dealer is gone.