Bike Ride 37

5/20/24

David: Bike Ride 37 marks my return back to East Providence to investigate some more street parked gems. With Bike Ride 34 proving to be a success, with a great showing of American classics, I decided to test my luck again and return back to EP to see if the town had any other beautiful cars to offer... And did it ever! Like in Bike Ride 34, this Bike Ride is wonderful showcasing of primarily American cars from the Malaise era, one of my favorite eras of American automotive history. As for our import car readers, there is one surprise in here we hope you'll like! All in all, Bike Ride 37 is another successful ride, capturing some amazing and rarely seen vehicles from an overlooked time in Automotive history.

Above: 1971 Pontiac Firebird Formula Revisited

There's not a better start to a bike ride entry than with a classic American muscle car. This 1971 Pontiac Firebird was originally photographed by Sam last Spring, and I found it back in the same place it was nearly a year later. The car still looks as clean as when he photographed last June.

1971 marked the second year for the second generation of the Firebird. Updated a year prior in 1970 along with the Chevrolet Camaro, the new generation featured a much more sportier and aerodynamic appearance than the first generation's classic "coke body" styling. This gave the second generation Firebird and Camaro a distinguished appearance compared to most other muscle cars during the 1970s. The Firebird and Camaros seemed to be inspired by earlier 1967 through 1970 Ford Mustang Fastbacks, in which these cars rivaled each other in the Pony car segment of the car market. Coincidentally, in 1971, the Mustang would gain a boxier, elongated appearance, drifting away from the swoopy and aerodynamic style it was known for in the late '60s, and what had inspired the initial Pony car.

This second generation styling would be used throughout the 1970s. Being based on the General Motors F-Platform, it would become the longest lasting design the platform would use, retiring in 1981. It became one of the most noteworthy muscle cars of the 1970s, as it was one of the few muscle cars that did not evolve into a personal luxury car, a fate that many legends of the muscle car era met around 1973.

Above: Formula Photos

The Firebird Formula was a

Above: 1932 Ford Model B Hi-Boy Hot Rod

This Ford "Hi-Boy" style Model B hot rod was parked behind the Firebird. Given that it was classic car, I decided to photograph it, but in truth, I was more excited by the Firebird than I was the hot rod. Hot rods never really seemed to excite me as other high performance cars do. Even as a kid, this was true. I was more drawn to sports cars and muscle cars, including stock, rally, and pro-stock drag racing cars. To me, these types of high performance and race cars were more appealing because I could see the car that they originated from. They were decked out with flashy stripes, graphics, engine denotations, or the occasional number and sponsor, but the original form of the car was still present.

The hot rods that I were exposed to were often customized takes on a given classic car, giving the car's original design a completely new meaning. A 1932 Ford that was designed to be a regular car from the 1930s could now become an immaculately shaped, colorful, and powerful version of itself, which could have never been imagined during its time.