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More classic cars in their natural habitat. The AC building at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo campus, June 1957. Highlights: choice 1956 Mercury convertible; nice shine on the 1955 Ford Customline V8 two-tone. Somebody please identify the nicely-preserved black sedan in front of the Merc. Bonus: 1950s college professor in characteristic native garb. Ektachrome slide shot by my brother. View full size.
The sedan in front of the black '55 Merc convertible is also a Mercury, either a '41 or a '46-'48. Judging by its low rear stance and nice paint it is probably mildly customized. Someone's "cruiser." The white car facing it is a '57 Pontiac.
You have no idea how much time I spent in this building between 1995 and 1999. My major department was there (Materials Engineering, the low roof on the right), and I worked for Academic Computing Services / ITS, who had labs all over the building. Macs, Suns, NeXTs, PCs -- all under one roof. Suns right behind that window at center, Macs on the other side of the building, PCs to the left, and NeXTs upstairs.
Other than the fact that this was a one-way street (right to left) with angled parking, it looks just like it did when I was there, 40 years after this picture was taken.
The Air Conditioning Engineering building, Building 12, was demolished in the mid-2000s (I want to say it was 2006-7), to be replaced with the Construction Innovations Center. Materials Engineering moved north to the new Engineering Center. I think the computer labs simply went away, a casualty of progress.
A Volvo, judging by the taillights and front fenders.
Love the photos - always amazing!
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