I live out in God’s Country
How did you end up in Western New York? 
It that hitch is attached to the car’s frame, have you since had it inspected for frame damage?
Back when GM was still selling the Chevy Cavalier, the cheap two door version came with unpainted black bumpers, while the more expensive four door version came with painted bumpers. Personally, I think the idea of making the bumpers unpainted is a pretty good idea. If I ever find myself in a position where I need to replace a plastic bumper, I will probably leave it unpainted, especially if it is black.
Great picture. Take off the side pieces and you have the bumpers on these cars shipped in just after WW II. I don’t know how many made the streets. The correct bumpers were intalled in short order. The wooden bumpers were temporary.
Cars were really in demand right after WW II and many dealers wouldn’t even sell a car without and under-the-table cash payment. My dad’s 1939 Chevrolet was worth more in 1946 with 70,000 miles on the speedometer than he paid for it new in 1939. I do remember seeing a new 1946 Oldsmobile in the showroom and people were amazed that the car didn’t have a clutch pedal. I also remember seeing the newly introduced 1947 Studebaker. It didn’t look like any car I had ever seen.
There is a religious group here in my midwestern state that doesn’t believe in anything flashy. I remember seeing these people in Studebaker Larks. They painted the bumpers black.
I don’t belong to this organization, but I always rather liked the Studebaker Scotsman cars than were produced in 1957 and 1958. The only chrome on these cars was the bumpers. I thought that these Studebakers were in much better taste than the chromed tail fin cars of Ford, GM and Chrysler.
I love it. It’s perfect. Market it and I’ll buy one!
It’d also help if people would learn to parallel park. I’ve seen people circle the block waiting for the first ‘two spacer’ to open up before giving it a shot.
Do not underestimate the importance of good aero in all this!
Car makers are under increasing pressure to meet rising CAFE standards. As a result, cars are getting ever-more “dialed in” for low CdA. Plastic “bumper covers” allow complex curves in two of the most important ares for low drag: the very front (obv.) and the very rear (flow separation is surprisingly important in drag calculations).
Need proof? Look where 90% of the “Bluetooth” antennas are installed on sedans: immediately pior to the rear window–that way, the small drag from the antenna is mostly offset by trailing vortices affording delayed seperation of airflow (much like golf-ball dimples).