Old Town Car Show, Fort Collins
“That looks like a superhero’s car,” Tim remarked as we inspected one of a trio of Shelby Cobras at this year’s Old Town Car Show.
Maybe it was the cartoonishly flared fenders, rear rubber as wide as a drum, the gaping “mouths” or 500+ horsepower on tap that gave Tim that idea. No, it was probably the snake emblem with the letters of “COBRA” in bold adorning the interiors. Definitely the snake. It is to Carroll Shelby’s brutish supercar as the Bat Symbol is to the Batmobile.
Tim and I stopped by the Old Town Car Show for about an hour en route back to our neighborhood from the Fort Collins Peach Festival. I did my best tour guide impression as we admired the vehicles with paint seemingly a kilometer deep and chrome so shiny that it could instantly blind anyone with x-ray vision. The cars were mostly the same as previous years but I always take delight in wandering downtown Fort Collins’ annual car show.
Afterward, Tim and I both picked out the Cobras as our favorite vehicles of the event. It’s just hard to argue with a car befitting a superhero.
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Image #7. Hillman Huskies were wagons, with side windows. This is a Commer Cob, a 7cwt delivery van. Essentially the same vehicle, possibly with lower gear ratios. Confusingly, some people bought Commer Cobs because, as commercial vehicles, they were in a lower tax bracket then installed side windows and a back seat to make them Husky look-alikes. Hard to believe this made economic sense at the time. I would swear that name badge on the back door says COMMER. My Dad, a self-employed house painter had one around 1959 - 63. Nice vehicle but prone to rust underneath. I suppose there's another possibility that Commer Cobs were marketed as Hillman Huskies in the USA.
Hi Geoff, thanks for stopping by my blog and for the info on the Commer Cob!
I had captioned it as a 1957 Hillman Husky because that?s what a piece of paper on the windshield identifying the vehicle for the Fort Collins Old Town Car Show read.
Otherwise, I would have had no idea what it was. There seem to be very few Hillmans in the States, although my dad owned one when he lived in Canada.
Too bad my photo from 2011 was too blurry to clearly make out the name badge on the back door. When I zoom in and adjust the brightness/contrast, it?s still too hard to make out what it says. It actually kind of looks like something other than Hillman or Commer.
The Hillmans Husky and Commer Cob were clearly pretty similar, though. Thanks for the info on the vehicle.