No, not the Fiat 850; by 2050, it will be almost forgotten, along with those of us that remember it from our youth. In Ed’s post last week (“Curbside (Future) Classics”), I posited that future Curbside Classics will be the cars that today’s kids have been growing up with, but I didn’t really have a good example to give. Then coming home last night, we found ourselves behind a Hummer. Aha! That’s it! Decades from now, folks will be regaling each other with memories of having ridden in one, or about the guy down the street who had one, or – god forbid – having actually owned one. And finding one on the street will be about as likely as finding a Fiat 850 Spider today.
Siri, remind me in 2050 to talk to no one who is now a child about cars.
Good God…I hope I’ll be reminiscing about this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1974-GRAND-AM-4DR-W-FACTORY-400-4-SPEED-BUCKET-SEATS-75-TRANS-CAN-AM-OPTIONS-73-/350585884142?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item51a08c0dee#ht_22630wt_665
Awesome.. What a rare beast. I’d be bidding on it if it was a Golden Olive or Verdant Green ’73 model.
You’d spend the rest of your life searching for a replacement for the shattered plastic nose cap. And then, years later, you’d find one. And since it would also be cheap, deterioriated, low quality 50 year-old plastic, it would break while you’re trying to install it, and you’d have to kill yourself. Don’t do it.
I’ve already found many nose caps for sale online already. Some might even be brand new replacement parts or I could probably find one through the GM replacement parts network.
I would buy it but I don’t have the money right now.
Here is a link for a BRAND NEW 74′ Grand Am front clip:
http://www.motorealm.com/facias.html
Back when the 850 was new, a good friend of mine owned one. We lived in Chicago and we wanted to go to New York. So I got in the 850, with my friend, and his German Shepard, and our luggage and we drove to NY. 800 mi. about 16 hrs. including stops.
And we lived to tell the tale.
…and what about a telephone booth sighting in 2050?
Good one. There won’t be any telephone booths left.
The telephone booth is the real classic. It never occurred to me that they went the way of the buffalo until a few months ago. I locked myself out of my house and garage one Sunday after golf. I have a cheap cell phone, but it was in the car.
I walked to a convenience store where there was one I used in the past. Must have been in the very distant past. Not there any more. Walked the other way to a strip mall. None to be found. I went into a drug store where a nice lady clerk let me make a local call, to save the day.
I should have just gone to a neighbor, but I didn’t want to look like an idiot. The booth in the picture looks like the ones used in England.
That’s a genuine London phone booth. The guy that owns the Sports Car Shop ended up with two of them, and set them out as decoration. These never had phones, since being uprooted.
I DO Remember The one Time I Drove an ALFA a “Graduate” Maybe… 1982 THE US FESTIVAL in San Berdo area CA, Jackson Browne & Fleetwood Mac in the Rainy Wet MUD with 80000 others… I was asked To drive Us in Mr. Hollywoods Alfa… I just remember the shifting, noise, Wind, Lookout was a major Pain on CA freeways 99 miles from LA… But I Have yet To ride in a Hummer.
Just when I thought that I have thought about a Hummer in about every conceivable way, I saw a hot pink H3 in traffic today. No time to launch the trusty Blackberry camera. It gave me one more reason to never want an H3. I think that the H3 will be something like the Aspen R/T is today – nobody wanted them when new, and everybody knows that they are a pale and poorly done imitation of the real thing.
FWIW, the Hummer in front of me was an H3 too, and that’s when it hit me: good luck finding one of those decades from now. The H2: relatively more likely so.
“The Hummer in front of me was an H3 too, and that’s when it hit me” Yikes! Hit by a Hummer? Not good.
“… nobody wanted them when new, and everybody knows that they are a pale and poorly done imitation of the real thing”
I think of both the H2 and H3 as cheap, cynical knockoffs of the real H1. The H3 was the vehicle that told me the SUV fad had jumped the shark.
The H3T, however, is a relatively useful vehicle, with a reasonably sized pickup bed. Plus, both the H3 and H3T could be had with stick!
Glancing at used values, seems the quite rare H3T is holding value well.
We had an 850 Spider like this when I was still in high school. Ours was that aqua color so popular then, and it was a ’68 so it had headlight covers. Dad and I used to go for top-down country drives in the summer. Guess that infected me with the sports car bug.
So underpowered it was scary as a daily commuter on big city expressways. They got rid of it before I got my license, I was so bummed.
That’s exactly what defines a classic, the vivid happy memories. Who will be pining for their good old Hummer?
My brother owned a Fiat 850 just like pictured. It was built so lightly that if you leaned on the doors while open – they would not close properly. The engine reminded me of a lawn mower. And while stopped at traffic lights, you could look straight over to a bumper on a Cadillac. Scary.
The Fiat 850, I can readily appreciate. As to the Hummer, what were they thinking!
P.S. What’s a Limey phone box doing in Eugene?? Functional or decorative?
Decorative.
I’d bet there will probably be more Hummer H1’s around in 50 years’ time than H2’s and H3’s
Hmmm…in 2050 I’ll be 63 years old. Does that mean I’ll be reiminscing about the original Ford Taurus, 4th generation Accords, my Integra, two wheel drive Subarus, Ford Probes, and rear-facing third row seats (oh, wait, I already do that one)…
Does that mean if I still have the Integra, it will classify for a curbside classic?!
It’d be interesting to do some write-ups on cars that are too new to be thought of as necessarily curbside classics, but certainly would be a rare bird in 2050…
We need more younger cars here, so bring it on. You can reach me or send text and pictures to me at the Contact form on the Menu bar on top.
I’ll get to work on it!
Wow 2050 my Hillman will be 91 Ill be 92 even my semi modern Citroen will be 52 Wonder which one of us will still be here. If I never see another hummer it will be too soon, incompetent junk