I have two favorite details in this color photo looking north across a parking lot at the corner of Wilshire Blvd and Grand Ave in downtown Los Angeles. Firstly, that gorgeous teal Ford station wagon. (Officially the color was called Sea Foam green.) What a bright splash of color in an otherwise white-filled parking lot! And then in the background, we can see the tower of the Richfield building which was a spectacular office tower that stood due north of the parking lot at 555 S. Flower St until it was unfortunately razed in 1969. That two-toned station wagon is a 1955 Ford, so I’m putting this photo at circa mid-1950s. (You can see my collection of photos of the Richfield building on my website: https://tinyurl.com/2x4ejckx )
What used to be a parking lot is now a skyscraper. How’s that for a reversal from the way it usually goes? This image is from May 2022.
That Ford wagon looks rough. Bumper and rocker panels appear to be rusting, left rear wheel rim appears damaged.
There are some interesting modifications on it too, the license plate was relocated to the bumper (off center), the rear door handles filled in, there are non-stock side moldings and I can’t make out what’s going on with the wheels. The overall effect is *almost* AI-generated, except I can’t see an AI doing those things without also doing something that would mess with the hard points of a 1955 Ford wagon which are all present and correct.
Beyond the wagon we can see the red letter signage at the front of the Manning’s Cafeteria. This is one of 19 locations reportedly existing in the SoCal region (Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and ???) out of some 40 in nine western states. Cafeterias were once a huge source of the foods served to the public as part of the restaurant industry, especially in the urban cores. Mannings also ran smaller locations termed Coffee Cafes, the company having long been a supplier of their own branded coffee. In 1984, the last of Manning’s disappeared under the Denny’s banner (up in Washington state). I believe there was one location (a coffee shop?) that was on Hollywood Boulevard…not confirmed yet. Richfield gas might have been used to power that Ford, but the driver may have been running on java from across the road.
I love the placement of the Richfield Tower in this photograph! Behind a veil of smog, though. I would hope no one misses that nowadays! I’ve noticed that a lot of parking lots are now being replaced…with underground parking and buildings on top of them! All those coffee shop restaurants L.A. used to have with parking lots around them seem to be the victims!
Too bad you can’t see the Richfield buildng that clearly. When I was a kid, I always looked for it when we were driving through downtown. A spectacular sight!
That is a fascinating photo. Not being a wordsmith, the only adjective I can come up with is evocative. The faint image of the stunning Richfield Building squeezed between the two smaller buildings, the bright splash of the two tone paint job so popular in the fifties, and the man seemingly in mid-stride as he looks back. Is he thinking “Will this all be gone soon?”
He might be thinking “How do I get my car out of there!”
🤣🤣🤣