You know what they say about Southern cars, indestructible by the elements, well kept, etc. This series of images are 45 years old, but they demonstrate that the old saw about good iron from the South has a strong factual grounding.

SIA contributor Nelson Coryell caught these cars in 1965 at Keesler Air Force Base, outside Biloxi, Mississippi, where he was undergoing advanced training, and published them in SIA #94, August 1986. Then, as now, Keesler is a major schooling site for new Air Force personnel who have completed basic training, specializing in communications and avionics gear. There’s some whimsy to be seen here: A 1955 Mercury Monterey chopped into a homemade Ranchero of sorts, a lot of GM convertibles, a 1954 Chevrolet 210 that (we hope) had a warmed-over Stovebolt, and an apparently legit 1959 Coupe de Ville assigned to the base commander, complete with blackwalls.

Out-of-gallery links: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4

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