classic cars

Classic Cars in the Courtyard

While we were at Cheekwood Estate and Gardens in Nashville, TN, to tour the Dressing Downton exhibit, we decided to see as much as we could at the estate. One of the things I had heard about that I knew Turkey would enjoy was the “Classic Cars in the Courtyard” display.

There were two cars being presented, in what used to be the Cheek family’s garage. I can only dream of having a garage so fancy!

Now, I’ll be honest. I’m not a car person. I love looking at old cars, because they were so elegant and had so much character, but I don’t really know what’s what. So I hope I have the right years/names with the right car, but if you know I don’t, please let me know!

There was a black 1925 Chrysler Standard Touring car. This is the car most easily associated with Downton Abbey, as the show’s times period ended only a year after this car came on the market. I loved both the gorgeous details on the car, and how well cared for it obviously is!

The 1931 Chrysler Deluxe Roadster is a bit of an anachronism compared with Downton Abbey, but it still has that feeling from the time period, and you can easily imagine that some member of the Grantham family may have eventually ridden in such a vehicle. This was also my favorite of the two cars…there are so many amazing details to take in!

I love helping my children make connections to history in any way I can. Seeing how people used to get around is definitely a great way to do that, even if these cars are almost as foreign to us as a horse and carriage are!

Belleville 200 Classic Car Show

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Today, as part of the year-long Belleville200 celebrations, the Oliver C. Joseph car dealership sponsored a classic car show. This was especially exciting as Oliver C. Joseph is celebrating their 100th anniversary selling cars in Belleville, which is pretty amazing when you think about it…it’s east to forget that cars are 100 years old!

Chrysler has given them an award for every 25 years they’ve been in business, and for their centennial year, Chrysler had to create a new award, because this is the first time they’ve given one out for 100 years!

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There was every kind of car you’d want to see.

And we admired a lot of the engines:

Some of the paint jobs were really fantastic:

We peeked inside a lot of the cars:

I really liked all of the old hood ornaments:

And the other decorative elements and details:

Even the wheels were interesting!

The oldest car we saw was from 1915. A car just one year short of being 100 years old! Think about how different the world was back then!

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I’m not going to lie…I didn’t know what a lot of what I was looking at actually was. But I love history, and that extends to cars, so even though I didn’t understand it all, I still enjoyed the car show immensely!