Canadiancatgreen has been one of our most prolific CC Cohort contributors throughout the years, and these past few months, he’s been as busy as ever in his curbside hunting activities. So, what new finds from up north have been discovered in that time?
When I was in Europe last summer, I had a mental list of ‘80s and ‘90s cars that I wanted to find for CC. Most were utterly unremarkable saloons that we hadn’t covered yet. Even the more mundane classics deserve their fifteen minutes of fame on this website, don’t they? There were quite a few Renaults on the list, and the series 1 Laguna was certainly near the top. They’re fast disappearing now, so finding a decent one took a little luck.
I have a very warm memory of my youth that still strikes me as an odd thing to be sentimental about. It was Christmas night, probably 1992 or 1993, which would have made me 15 or 16 years old. It was quiet and dark in the house, late in the evening. Everyone but me had gone to bed, and the Christmas lights were still plugged in so the tree was aglow. I was spending the evening with my Christmas gifts, some of which were VHS compilations of Ford commercials from the 1960s, and because of this reminiscence (which may be flawed by a night or a year), I get a little wispy at the sight of a ’65 LTD. It was nice of Hyperpack to post it in the Cohort so I could relive that cold, silent, lovely evening.
It’s now been over two decades since Chrysler pulled the plug on Plymouth. After a very promising start, Plymouth had become Chrysler’s volume brand, but it never reached the heights of rivals Ford and Chevrolet, and it eventually faded to irrelevance. Recently, I learned that a car alleged to be the last Plymouth ever built still survives (and had gone up for auction in 2021), so I thought I would compare it to one of the very first Plymouths, a 1928 Model Q four-door sedan.
(Updated 10/19/2025) I’m not sure how I ended up in this particular rabbit hole, but the other day I started browsing the web for vintage photos of Alfa heavies. I must have missed Jim Brophy’s post on the subject earlier this year: I only found out about it during said browsing. Anyway, there are untold treasures of Biscione-badged beauties out there, so here are a few more, including a couple of particularly cool Alfa trucks. Makes a nice break from the JDM cars, and because I know nothing about these or who made the bodies and Jim’s post contains all the relevant info anyway, this is going to be strictly a photo-based post.
(Updated 10/19/2025) Lee Iacocca was a huge fan of K car variants. By the time of his 1992 departure from Chrysler, nearly every Chrysler-, Dodge-, and Plymouth-branded product, from Caravan to Imperial, could trace its roots to the humble 1981 K car. One of the more unique, and arguably best-looking K car derivative was the appropriately codenamed “J-body” Chrysler LeBaron coupe and convertible.
Today’s collection of vintage dealer photos highlights those with modernist/googie inspired signs on their lots. Designs that mixed Jet-Age motifs, asymmetric compositions, and simple geometric shapes; hallmarks of that Jet / Space age. Eye-grabbing designs, where all the fun elements of the era show up to some degree or another.
This superbly DAF (Diamonds Are Forever) is recognizable as an owner-operator tractor from a country mile. It speaks for itself that the biggest cab, most powerful engine, and air suspension on all axles were ordered at the dealership, prior to the full exterior and interior makeover.
With my 1998 328is comfortably incumbent as the number one whip, I once again felt compelled to augment our “fleet.” Why? No idea. The BMW did everything, and did it all exceptionally. But, I was sure I was missing out on something — disappointment, perhaps? So, I decided to actively, if unknowingly, chase it.
Having learned a few things from my previous misadventures, I had a pseudo-rational list of criteria for my next adventure:
In 1981, Cadillac rolled out a new version of its 368-cid V-8 engine with a “modulated displacement” (cylinder deactivation) system that let it run on eight, six, or four cylinders under different conditions. Dubbed the “V8-6-4” engine, Cadillac called it “a prime example of American innovation in action,” but its poorly driveability and poor reliability soon left Cadillac with a host of angry owners, outraged dealers, and class-action lawsuits. However, contrary to popular belief, those ills were NOT why the V8-6-4 engine disappeared from most models after only one year.
(Updated 10/18/2025) The Renault 16 probably needs little introduction, but if you need a refresher this is a good place to start. Unarguably, it is one of the cars that Europe produced that showed the way forward was, technically, a lot more interesting than the Ford Cortina or Vauxhall Victor.
(Updated 10/18/2025) Back when I still lived in California, it seemed that every gardener/landscaper used a small and old Toyota or Nissan truck. A really big operator might spring for a T-100 but that was kind of pushing it and a sign that perhaps you were being overcharged. Here in Colorado it seems that nobody can mow a lawn or pull a few weeds without showing up in a 3/4 or 1-ton 4WD truck every time, usually with a giant trailer. That’s why I’ve enjoyed seeing this older and very down to earth Jeep pickup in the same neighborhood as a house I’m working on; I see it several times a week in front of various houses and it seems to have cornered the market here. Read the rest of this entry »
Right around the peak of Cutlass-mania in the 1970s, this is what an Oldsmobile 442 looked like. Based on the Cutlass S, it was only a shadow of its former self, but times had certainly changed. In those halcyon days of Oldsmobile history, under 10,000 1976 442s found suitable driveways. It certainly was the era of the brougham.
The world’s largest annual motor coach exposition was held last week in Brussels – Busworld 2025. How I wish I could have attended. Fortunately, there is a lot of info posted online highlighting all the manufacturers that participated and their respective models. This one stood out to me because; one, it’s a very impressive bus, and two, I’ve never heard of this specific manufacturer. Step inside the Ayats Twiliner. Read the rest of this entry »
Summer of 1975 I started looking at other cars, memorably a VW Scirocco — the name evokes a hot wind, blowing from North Africa across the Mediterranean to southern Europe. This was the first model year they were sold in the USA. My brother had many VWs through the years, so it wasn’t a terrible risk. I was several hundred dollars underwater with the Mazda and my dad couldn’t lend me a short term loan at the time (forced retirement was looming for him in 1976). The salesman at the westside VW dealer told me he thought it was a bad idea to finance above the value of the car, bless him.
