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Snapshot, 1960: On a mission to find a milkshake

It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon in the autumn of 1960. What better way to run in a brand-new Cadillac than to drive it to a diner at a leisurely pace and tuck into a quarter-pounder with fries and a milkshake?

With the impact of the ‘jet age’ becoming evident in 1950s automotive design, Cadillac in particular began to embrace the new dawn by introducing increasingly absurd tailfins and turbine references. But the aerodynamic influence was not restricted to cars: the façade of Uncle Bob’s diner in Flint, Michigan, looks to have taken cues from a space station – and is appropriately lit, too. Designed as a single, moveable unit by O’Mahoney in 1947, the construction served the staple American meal until 1987, when it was transported to Rockford, Michigan, and used as an art gallery. 

Photo: Getty Images

You can find numerous classic Cadillacs for sale in the Classic Driver Market.