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| Lolly
Jackson's classic car collection |
Broadcast
dates : 19th February 2006
25th February 2006 |
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Most of us have heard of Lolly
Jackson. Teazers strip club head honcho and a man famously
trapped at 240-something on the N3 in a Lamborghini… on his
way to church!
Lolly has the wherewithal to indulge in Lambos, Ferraris and
Porsches and good luck to him.
But few people realize that his REAL passion lies with
American cars, the great land yachts of the fifties, sixties
and seventies.
One of the most prized possessions in Lolly’s vast
collection of American cars is this rather innocent-looking
Ford Fairlane.
It’s a 1957 model, denoted by the single pair of headlights.
In 1958 EVERY American car went quad headlights - and the
Fairlane’s a two-door coupe which already makes it rather
special.
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It’s fitted with a big 6,5
litre Thunderbird motor, which means it goes some, but that
gold anodized Skyliner insignia on the rear roof pillar
indicates to the cogniscenti that it’s one of the
most collectible cars in the world.
It’s also fitted with a rare continental kit, which placed
the spare wheel outside the boot. According to Lolly, this was
so rich Americans could ferry their cars to pre-Castro Cuba,
back before the Bay of Pigs debacle in 1959, and return home
with the boot crammed full of goodies – probably plenty of
Cuban cigars!
The Fairlane interior is fully optioned with push button AM
radio, air con, textured two-tone seats and naturally,
Fordmatic automatic transmission. The restoration job is
remarkable.
The art-deco styling theme was in full swing in the fifties,
with glitz often taking precedence over function. Lolly grew
up with these cars, stretching out on the back seat as his
father cruised the narrow black-tops in a fifties Yank-tank.
The piece d’ resistance is the fully retractable
metal roof. We thought the Merc SLK was cool back in 1996.
This ol’ Ford had the same gig in 1957 and works like a
dream.
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It’s back to the sixties and
if you ever had to choose a baddies car for a movie, this
black Pontiac convertible would be it.
In fact sharp-eyed movie buffs may recognize the car as it was
recently used in a Nicholas Cage production shot in South
Africa called Lord of War.
The black menace is actually a 1964 Pontiac Bonneville. All
6,7 litres of it.
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Not as iconic as a GTO, but
quite beautiful in its detailed instrumentation and its fine
handling for a car of that era.
This car was loaded with options, like the fake knock-off
hubcaps, white leather bucket seats, pillarless window
openings and the chrome center console complete with vacuum
gauge, or a rev counter if the owner opted for that.
Look carefully and you’ll see the car had the stick selector
for the auto box. Count on 345 horses for this baby.
The Bonnie name came from Pontiac’s successes at the famous
Bonneville salt flats in America, where record breakers run
hard and fast each year.
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Running hard and fast was not
something you were supposed to do in a 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood
stretched-limo. Buy try telling Lolly Jackson’s chauffer on
the day, the fleet’s full time maintenance man, Reinaldo
Rosario.
With a 365 cube V8, good for well over 340 horses, this
behemoth can shift!
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Lolly reckons it’s one of four
in the country and they were brought in for state duties in
the days of no sideburns, and cafes closed on Sundays.
You’ve got to realize, this was state of the art luxury in
the bad ol’ fifties.
Air conditioning was virtually unheard of, so was electric
seats. The Yanks had them all back then, two decades before
the Germans introduced such items to the market.
The stretched configuration means there’s place for a
cocktail cabinet and fully stretched legs, and Lolly likes to
party in this vehicle on his nights off from the club.
No NASCAR spring rates here. But it did sport some of the most
intricate grille work and rear valance detailing in the
history of the automobile. Not to mention those dual Star Wars
tail lamps.
The design intricacy on the add-ons – the grills, side-mouldings,
headlight-clusters and the archetypal fifties fins – would
probably consume the entire budget for the development of a
modern car.
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Now it’s the seventies. Big
Bad Muscle Cars. And they don’t come badder than the Dodge
Charger.
The Dukes of Hazard are wrecking about ten each night on your
movie screen right now.
The nose-down attitude of the Charger is what gives it its
menace. Not to mention close to seven litres of Detroit
muscle.
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Bur for iconic cabs, the pink 59
Cadillac Eldorado convertible is IT,
These were not cars. These were mobile works of art, the
Renaissance on wheels. The detail work on the grille would
take a modern computer jockey years to suss out. Harley Earl
and his team did it in pencil sketches and clay!
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And as a final bit of trivia,
the fifty-nine Cadillac Eldorado has the distinction of having
the tallest tail fins of any car manufactured. Some 1,6 metres
off the ground!
From there, fin-wise there was no place else to go but down.
Unless your name was Batman.
Bluesman Johnny Hyatt penned a song called "Riding With
The King" which perfectly epitomises the '59 Caddy. Elvis
motifs add to the enduring rock ‘n Roll imagery for which
the Caddy will forever be associated. Power seats, power hood,
power steering… power everything.
Riding with the king indeed! And what better entourage than a
mean black Charger, a statesman-like Fleetwood, a hoodlum
Bonneville and an innocent Skyliner bringing up the rear. Roll
on Lolly!
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