What to do when you have a phone full of random car shots? You stretch the bounds of relevance and find their common thread. In this post I will use RWD to link a group of old Volvos with a trio of trucks. I know it’s a flimsy premise but, for today, the sign on the clubhouse door reads “No Transaxles Allowed!”
Even with its rattle-can paint job, this Datsun 620 looks great from ten paces. My neighbor George, the owner, is a retired geology professor who uses this truck to haul rock samples. He is a “Renaissance Man” who plays the clarinet and ice hockey (not at the same time).
The canopy seems a bit too wide for the bed rails, like it was made for an American truck (but what model?).
The “Biscayne” badge may have been added to the cap for fun, but it only deepens the mystery of which small truck this was originally designed for. Any guesses out there?
This 2-gen Chevy C-10 is on my dog-walking route and gets used as a dump runner. It looks good with the upgraded wheels and a restrained amount of lift. Rust is starting to show through the door bottoms, but it’s not too far gone.
There’s nothing good about this Ford F-250 Ranger. It has been parked in this spot for years, right along a busy thoroughfare. Since it appears to have the original engine (and an extra block in back), it should be worth something in scrap. The crusher awaits!
Let’s do the Volvos in chronological order. This nice-looking Amazon gets pride of place in the driveway and sees a fair amount of road time. The owners also have a newish XC90, so they are Volvo people through and through.
Next up is this ’80s-’90s Volvo 240 DL wagon, which looks good but hasn’t moved much lately. The pale greenish-blue finish is fairly uncommon. Nice looking alloys on this one.
Here’s another Volvo 240 DL wagon that definitely sees some car-camping action. With the seats folded down you can sleep in the back, but only if you’re under six feet tall.
I think this is Volvo 760 wagon, but not sure of the year. It seems to be on a perpetual battery charge and never moves.
Here is a ’90s Volvo 760 Turbo Intercooler wagon. This is a fairly rare car, even here in Scand-Land. I’m sure this one can really move.
Finally, the last of the Volvo RWDs is represented here by this beautiful 1997-98 S90. This is an executive car on par with anything from its era. Not to be confused with later iterations of the S90, this model was previously known as the 960. These cars are perfect for drifting, but this one is too nice to go that route. This model even has wipers for the headlights. Maybe Volvo should have dropped that option and kept the rear wheel drive.
I love that last one. In the very early 00’s I was realizing that my Saab 9000 was approaching the end of its useful life, so I started scanning those freebee cars-for-sale magazines. I stumbled upon an absolutely immaculate mid 90’s 960 sedan just like the S90 featured here. It was clearly a “last car” owned by a fastidious retiree who’d moved on from the physical world. At just a hair over 100,000 miles the surviving heirs had it advertised for about $4000. I don’t know how long it was advertised, but I called the minute I saw the ad. Missed it by “That Much”. It turned out that the seller lived just around the corner from me, so he suggested that I look it over in case the deposit he’d taken didn’t result in a complete sale. Talk about rubbing salt into a wound. Of course the buyer same through with the rest of the cash. I’d probably still be driving it today if I’d have made that call a day earlier.
Maxwell Smart is the man. The phone in the shoe would have been a great option for any of these cars.
Wow, that poor old Ford pickup. I have not seen a vehicle in such a state of undress and just parked by the road in – well I don’t know. I must live too far east for that sort of thing to be allowed.
A nice grouping. And I have no trouble at all with the concept of a gaggle or RWD vehicles.
I’m usually pretty charitable about old cars by the road, but this one is beyond the pale. I hope someone does get something useful off of it (and sends the rest to the crusher).
Count me in as one that sees the theme here … even beyond RWD, they are (except the F250) well-used and still working CC’s. Though I think the Chevy, as a4WD, is a K-10 not C-10. Or is that K-15? Chevy truck nomenclature can be confusing.
Yes, that would be a K10, a 68, judging from the side marker lights. This would make a fine dump runner, even if it is one of the “Glamour Trucks.” And the bottom of the doors is exactly where they rust out, as well as the bottom-back of the front fender and the rockers. You can get about any part you want to repair one of these, for a price.
Thanks guys for setting me straight on the true model of this truck. It does seem a bit too cool for the dump (but I did see it again with a bed full of junk).
I’m enjoying your posts. Being as I’m from the same area, I look to see if I recognize the cars in the pics or a landmark or house I know. Too bad about that F250… looks like a late ’70’s with that cowl badge. Two V-8’s full of good ol’ Washington liquid sunshine. Probably the original 351 M or 400M. I do see a usefull manual hub front axle, though.
That canopy would fit My Ranger well.
Hey Ozzy, all of these are in the Sunnyland neighborhood (in the grid between James St. and Cornwall, and Alabama and E. Illinois). Great hunting grounds for old cars.
“No Transaxles Allowed!”
Words to live by.
Enjoying your posts.
Thanks Dan! My next one might be about old Toyota Corolla wagons. I’ve noticed a bunch of them lately…
To paraphrase the Tappet Brothers (“And by classic, we mean old”) by “old” do you again mean RWD?
No, not that old. I’m thinking they are all from the late ’80s early ’90s (but still cool in an understated way…). Sure miss the Tappet Bros.
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For the last generation of RWD, these Celica’s were hot. My cousin had one along with an ’85 Supra. They were fun to drive but in wet weather, you couldn’t open up on the wet roads without skidding. His were both automatics, Now those 5 speeds were really FTD. However, the ’86 Celicas went FWD and were as fun to drive as the RWD cousins and handled the rain and even light snow with aplomb. Of course mine was a 5 speed. The only way to travel in a Celica.
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When I was in college in the early ’80s, THE car at our school was the Toyota Celica. All the rich kids from Seattle who couldn’t get into the University of Washington came up to Bellingham with their nice new cars. The Celicas that looked like the old Mustangs were everywhere… Meanwhile, all of us Townies were bombing around in old VWs, Saabs, and Volvos…