(first posted 9/26/2018) This past Saturday while running errands, I rounded a familiar corner in my suburban Chicago town and saw a decidedly unfamiliar sight. Peeking out between the trees, parked in front of a stately older home, was this 1972 Cutlass Supreme 4-Door Hardtop, in what looked to be impeccable condition. Between the brand-new looking Olds, and the timeless house, the glimpse view could just as easily have been in the fall of 1972.
(first posted 9/25/2018) If there is one car that has built its popularity and reputation on being boring, it’s the Toyota Camry. Make no mistake that through the years, the Camry has been a safe bet for those seeking dependable, reliable, and predictable transportation, with few surprises. Yet through those years and through the hundreds of thousands of Camrys sold each year, Toyota has thrown us a few curveballs by way of the Camry. One such was the 1994-1996 Camry coupe — the Camry that dared to be sporty and personal.
The Fern, Kenoza Lake, NY.
We spend a good deal of time here at CC devoted to cars, their history, and the world around them. Hotels and motels are clearly part of that world, and most of us have spent quite a few hours in one or the other. With that in mind, let’s reminisce about some of the available lodging during the 1970s.
The idea of “low-cost luxury” is certainly a funny sounding one. Nonetheless, a popular notion that has found its way into the marketplace time and time again. In the case of Detroit’s full-size offerings, terms like ‘glamor’ and ‘luxury’ had already been applied to their late ’50s and early ’60s upper trims. But the concept had never materialized as it did when the Brougham Epoch arrived in ’65, all thanks to Ford’s LTD trim. Its arrival was a market-defining phenomenon, creating a template that was quickly adopted and became widespread.
So, with the formula quickly taking over the market, why not take a look at these forefathers of the genre?
Lancia’s final decade as an independent carmaker was glorious in so many ways. They launched two completely new FWD models while carrying on with the elegant Flaminia, and got their sophisticated cars dressed by the very best Italian coachbuilders, such as Touring, Vignale, Zagato and (of course) Pininfarina. From a financial perspective, however, it was suicidal – hence the Fiat takeover in 1969. But what a ride.
This was the CL listing photo. The color was described as brown. It is actually named Sandstone Beige metallic.
I don’t think that there will ever be a more beautiful American car built than the ’66 Riviera. I’ve even owned TWO of them! But that was back in the Day. And that Day ended when they stopped being 2,000 dollar automobiles.
No, not that kind of Redford duo…
(first posted 9/25/2018) Beware: one CC can hide another. It has happened to me a few times now, so when I find a good subject, I know to check the surroundings if I can. That is how, a few weeks ago, I caught two very different RWD Fords in one go – both red in colour.
(first posted 9/24/2018) What’s the best kind of friend to have on a bright summer day? Maybe someone who can fit seven people into her Eldorado convertible. Meandering through Newport, Rhode Island’s tourist district, this Diplomat Blue Cadillac made quite a statement. In some ways, the car seemed very much in its element, since Newport resembles a background scene from a Cadillac brochure – an upscale, decorous tourist haven where life moves at a leisurely stride.
Mavericks have appeared rather often at CC, but these ones from down south less so. This particular one was caught by riveranotario in Paraguay, and I would suspect it belongs to the Brazilian-built run. Production that took place between ’73-’79, and a chapter already covered at CC.
One of the most infamously irredeemable cars sold in the United States in the 21st century came from the electric startup Wheego. In a back corner of a dealership that once was the main Wheego distributor for Georgia, a few forlorn cars still sit unsold, complete with window stickers.
This pack of moldering Wheegos are all Whips, the 40-mile range version of their debut vehicle. A (supposedly) 100-mile range version was sold as the LiFe, named for its more potent lithium-ion phosphate battery chemistry. The miniscule range wasn’t the Whip’s biggest problem as it had a top speed of a mere 35 mph (25 mph in some states); the LiFe could supposedly muster a blistering 65 mph.
I recently met Ken Rubin at the regular Friday nite car show in Boonton, New Jersey. He had driven his very rare 1957 Studebaker all the way down from Warwick, New York. I haven’t seen a ’57 Stude in over 20 years, so I was naturally drawn to his copper-and-black beauty! Of course, “Every car has a story”, and his story is a rather interesting one.
2015 & 2017 Nissan LEAFs
Just over three weeks ago, I was walking to the lawn of local Senn High School on a Sunday afternoon to attend one of the weekly, free concerts put on by jazz guitarist Steve Knight and his combo when I saw something I was completely unprepared for. Just one block away from the school, there was a tree that appeared to be fully immersed in the act of shedding its leaves. This was on just the first day of September, and also before Labor Day. This seemed akin to some friends and connections on social media who have been posting for weeks now about how they’re minutes away from wearing flannel and sipping pumpkin spice-flavored things.
(first posted 4/10/2014) The Volvo 144 was a paragon of modern Scandinavian design: all business, understated, clean, functional. And suddenly out of nowhere appears the 164, wearing the frumpy old affected face lifted from an anachronistic English Wolseley 6/99 saloon. It was like stepping out of an Ikea showroom into a thatched-roof English cottage, but fortunately, there were other compensations, like a lusty twin carb straight six and superb leather seats, just like the best English cars. The top of the line Volvo had a bit of an identity crisis, one that would be a recurring theme with the brand. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 9/23/2018) This French Deadly Sins installment’s final case study will take us back to the late ‘40s and into the rarefied air of bespoke coachwork and high displacement 6-cyl. engines. In other words, bona fide classic car porn. But in between ogling some of the most luxuriously appointed post-war French cars ever made, we will also look into whatever happened to Delahaye (and Delage) and how the company dug itself into a hole in less than ten years, amid the post-war economic boom.
(first posted 9/23/2018) I’m back, with a long overdue installment in my Cold Comfort series on the early history of automotive air conditioning. Today, I’m tackling this 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser I spotted at a show last summer. The Turnpike Cruiser is already well-known as being one of the most over-the-top cars of the 1950’s. So of course it has an equally interesting HVAC system.
