The American Dream - Page 6 - Sebastian Bogdanik - Page #2

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The American Dream

Yes, there were Americans in the Polish mountains too. From a Model T to big-block V8s, with plenty of chrome and at least one flag.

The Model T, the car that put America on wheels — The Model T, the car that put America on wheels. Fuel ran to the engine by gravity from a tank under the front seat, so with a low tank a T could not climb a steep hill forward. The fix every farmer knew: turn around and back up the hill. This one has the brass radiator.

A first-generation Mustang: fender script, the running horse in the grille and the cabin — A first-generation Mustang: fender script, the running horse in the grille and the cabin. Unveiled at the New York World’s Fair on April 17, 1964, it took 22,000 orders on day one and invented the pony car. Seeing one in Sucha Beskidzka still turns heads.

A second Mustang, a copper fastback (1/2) — A second Mustang, a copper fastback. Two of them at one show in the Polish mountains makes a small herd.

A second Mustang, a copper fastback (2/2) — A second Mustang, a copper fastback. Two of them at one show in the Polish mountains makes a small herd.

A Chevrolet Corvette from the front, from the back and the crossed flags — A Chevrolet Corvette from the front, from the back and the crossed flags. In 2014 a sinkhole opened under the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and swallowed eight of them. This one is parked on solid Polish pavement.

A Pontiac Firebird: the “screaming chicken,” a Cross-Fire Injection badge and raised-letter Radial G/T tires — A Pontiac Firebird: the “screaming chicken,” a Cross-Fire Injection badge and raised-letter Radial G/T tires. This is the generation that played KITT in Knight Rider. No word on whether it talks.

A Chrysler Newport from the “fuselage styling” years, with sides rounded like an airliner — A Chrysler Newport from the “fuselage styling” years, with sides rounded like an airliner. Newports could be had with up to 440 cubic inches of V8, more than eight Polish Syrenas’ worth of engine. Whitewalls, chrome and yellow antique plates.

A pre-war Chevrolet: the silhouette, a chrome bird on the hood and the bowtie — A pre-war Chevrolet: the silhouette, a chrome bird on the hood and the bowtie. Where did the bowtie come from? One legend says founder William Durant spotted the pattern on the wallpaper of a Paris hotel.

Inside the same Chevy, a wood-grain dash, and on the pillar a pop-out semaphore turn signal from the days before blinkers (1/2) — Inside the same Chevy, a wood-grain dash, and on the pillar a pop-out semaphore turn signal from the days before blinkers.

Inside the same Chevy, a wood-grain dash, and on the pillar a pop-out semaphore turn signal from the days before blinkers (2/2) — Inside the same Chevy, a wood-grain dash, and on the pillar a pop-out semaphore turn signal from the days before blinkers.

A Jeep Wrangler flying the Stars and Stripes like it is the Fourth of July — A Jeep Wrangler flying the Stars and Stripes like it is the Fourth of July. In southern Poland. In October.