Something I always like to see in a CC find is a pair of cars, and given the varied nature of Curbside Classics, more often than not there is quite the contrast from one car to the next!
I can’t quite call a 3rd-gen Prius a CC yet, but it does make a striking pairing to a 1966 Mustang. While the Mustang looks tiny by comparison, the perspective of the photo that distorts the Mustang’s greater length means the difference is somewhat exaggerated. A daily driver and a classic for the weekend?
Here are two cars that if not for the 40-year age difference could occupy the same market position. The quad headlights on the Holden station wagon indicate it is a top-trim level Premier, which would have been bought by the same type of buyer who may well now be looking at a BMW X5.
I suppose a Subaru Brumby (aka Brat) probably can’t help but provide a contrast whatever it is parked next to, but an Alfa Romeo 156 wagon is not very common either.
Likewise a Citroen 2CV would be different from any other car it comes across, so another Brumby might be happy to seem normal by comparison.
To continue a theme, now we have the successor Alfa 159 wagon paired with a late 1950s Holden (hard to tell whether it is a 1956-58 FE or 1958-60 FC model from this angle and as a base model without any trim!).
Other than coming from the same era, this Holden ute and Citroen DS could hardly be more different!
While on the subject of utes, here is a double-cab VW Transporter ute, with a modern equivalent in front of it (Holden Rodeo or Colorado).
I don’t think the Alfa Romeo Spider and 1960s VW Beetle would attract to many cross-shoppers.
On the other hand I could see the same person owning this VW Kombi camper and Daimler 2-1/2 litre V8 (not Jaguar Mk2) pairing, as they would complement the other’s abilities.
I suppose a person might own a Renault Fuego and a BMW 7-series, but it doesn’t seem likely?
Finally, driving your Ferrari 456 every day would be possible but perhaps not advisable, so could you think of a more fitting companion car than a BMW 530i wagon?
The Renault Fuego and E38 7-Series were both in James Bond movies. A View to a Kill and Tomorrow Never Dies.
I think it’s great to see two very different cars together. In my neighborhood we have a few older couples that continue to drive the classics. One couple includes a man who drives his 1975 Plymouth Fury Coupe while his wife enjoys a 2012 Chrysler 200. The other couple which are avid bingo players have a 1983 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.
Always fun to see what, if any, the “companion” car to a CC is. Dependable and efficient? Luxurious and sleek? Sporty and powerful? Capable and capacious? I guess it depends how practical the CC is itself. Or is the perfect companion to one CC, another CC?
Here’s one from my neighborhood. The Prius is really quite large in some dimensions.
When you see it next to classic vehicles, you see what a great job Toyota did with managing aerodynamics and rolling resistance on what really is not a small vehicle. For a second on that first picture, I thought that Mustang was one of those crazy Brazilian Oncas from yesterday.
Probably a lot of overlap in the types of people who bought them.
That Valiant looks soooo nice next to that truly unfortunate-looking toad.
I don’t blame Toyota for the bad looks, they borrowed the shape from VW.
Want to make an old A-body car look smooth and purposeful? Park it by a lump of a Prius! I’ll remember that if I ever have another Dart or Valiant to sell….
A few years ago, I had a neighbor that had a 456 GTA and a Pontiac Aztec that was missing its driver’s side wheel covers. The Ferrari was always parked on the street, and the Aztec was always in the driveway. I wonder if they were afraid the neighbors would have the Pontiac towed were they to park it on the street.
The Holden ute is a FB launched 5 years after the Citroen but still completely different, My 2 cars are roughly the same size though built 40 years apart but the interior space in the modern one is light years roomier than the old un, the newer one is aerodynamic the old one is styled. I like em both.
Hey, great post. I’ve seen some pretty interesting combinations, too. I think my all-time favorite would when I spotted a Lotus Esprit next to an old Chevy truck.
I can see that combination. The 1967-72 generation of Chevy/GMC pickups imo was the first one in which they’d learned to build decent door latches, hood hinges etc, and the size, weight, and height hadn’t gotten out of hand yet. The only thing I didn’t like about my 68 was that the gas tank was still in the cab behind the seat.
All in all the pickup would be very usable for the daily driving chores while saving the Lotus for fun drives.
The Brumby and the 156 wagon are scantly 800 mts away from where I sit.
The owner of the 156 has an eclectic collection: very clean AlfaSud, Lotus Elise and that car.
The contrast is even better when the Subaru is parked a couple of meters up or down the road, as the house with the red SS also hosts a VE SS ute.
There’s also a guy with a Wrangler, with a million inch lift, super swampers, the whole works.
And if you leave the main road, there’s a true CC treasure trove.
You know, that photo was taken nearly a year ago and I can’t remember where it was!
Definitely lots of CC’s in Melbourne, driving around some residential streets the other day I saw 4 or 5 VW Kombi campers within an area of roughly 1 square mile.
No worries mate!
What I have also noticed is that there plenty of unregistered cars. In my previous commuting route I saw daily a W201 16V, complete with its spoiler.
Further down the road, there was a Wagoneer and a Range Rover. The Rangie was replaced with a newer Land Cruiser, the Wagoneer is not covered in dust anymore.
Funny how many compact cars are 3000+ lbs while that Mustang scales at about 2600 lbs.
Funny how a car crash is now a survivable incident while before the mid-80s it very well could have been fatal.
The Prius looks like a bubble package for the Mustang.
In one photo: everything right about America in 1965 and everything wrong about America in 2015.
One bought the Mustang to have fun. Another bought the Prius to be eco-special. Both bought their cars to impress their neighbors.
I like fun cars. Only the Mustang impresses this neighbor.
– ranchero –
Some truth here, but the Prius does offer a low cost of ownership and good reliability. There are many valid reasons to buy one besides impressing others.
Love the colour of that Citroen. I think the black one is an FE. It’s got the smaller round turning signals, instead of the wraparound bands of chrome used on the FC.