The First Curbside Classic

by Paul Niedermeyer

Published: October 24th, 2010

You might think I’ve been taking pictures of old cars on the streets forever. Not so, actually. I’ve been ogling them, but I always saved my film for family. Probably not completely coincidentally, I started CC about the same time our nest was emptying. But there was one single exception, and today I stumbled on it: a photo of a 1951 Mercury that lived on the street a few blocks from our house in Santa Monica. Its dark blue paint was oxidizing into a divine shade of purple, and one day in 1979 on our regular walk to the beach, I had the impulse: to immortalize this aging neighbor before it disappeared. Technically, this wasn’t really an exception, because Stephanie is in it. That part has changed, mostly.

She still appears from time to time, but much more discretely, as she usually manages very adroitly to keep out of the shots most of the time, regardless of the angle. It’s about the cars now, but she’s still my first Curbside Classic. Happy 33rd!

#StephanieNiedermeyer

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2 of 17 comments

Fastback on Oct 25, 2010

Congrats on the 33rd, PN! & Keep up the great work on these CCs!

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Kkt on Oct 25, 2010

Sweet Mercury! Congratulations on the anni.

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