I’m not 100% sure what’s going on in this photo. My friend from the Petersen Automotive Museum tells me this is a 1949 Ford, which supports the photo’s caption that said it was taken 1954 at an “automatic car wash.” It looks to me like the car is still in a tunnel of heating lamps to dry off. If you disagree, I’d love to hear from you, but whatever is going on, it makes for a strikingly unique photo the likes of which I’ve never seen before.
A 1949 Ford dries off under heat lamps in an automatic car wash, Los Angeles, 1954
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I didn’t realize drive through car washes were this old. I looked it up based on this post and apparently they were pretty new at this time. It would appear in the background you can just make out the overhead spinning brushes. It also appears the advancing mechanism is a mechanically linked chain to the bumper or frame – probably not great for any rust prevention that might have been in place (paint, plating, galvanization). It also makes me wonder how much was able to be automated at the time versus dependency on human interaction (pulling of leavers, moving of switches, etc). Lastly, I can’t imagine those heat lamps were great for old lacquer based paints. I suppose the exposure was brief. I can’t make out if there is a driver riding through but given those lamps hopefully not 🙂
could the picture of the 49 ford be at a paint shop ie earl Schieb
When I first saw the picture, I had a memory flashback of Earl Scheib’s old car repainting business. I think he had those kinds of lights in his ads showing the paint being dried.
But then I saw the water on the floor and thought, nope, carwash.
A wet floor is sometimes used in a paint shop to prevent dust getting kicked up but I don’t think that’s the case here. The chain and track wouldn’t make sense in a paint shop scenario and I believe there are overhead spinning brushes in the background. I too initially thought of a paint curing booth but I am of the belief indeed it is a car wash.