With 2024 in our collective rearview mirror, I figured it’s a good time to look back through my photographs at some cars that I only got a glimpse of – as well as some other car- and travel-related items. With only one or two photos apiece, I didn’t have enough to pen a full article on these cars, but some of these are just too good to consign to a digital memory hole. Most of these are through-the-windshield shots, so they won’t win any photography prizes, but the automotive content should be enjoyable.
We’ll start with this Dodge Rampage. The last time I saw one was probably in a year that began with “1” – yet here was an example for sale at a small town used car dealer. I would love to know who bought it. After all, the target market for oddball, front-drive car/truck vehicles is rather small.
A Morris Minor isn’t exactly a car one sees every day, either. Extensive research tells me this is a 1959 model.
Here’s a front view – would have been a great shot had I been able to get more than 50% of the car.
A friend of mine sent me this one. I actually see Milanos occasionally, since there’s an Italian car repair shop not far from my house. But the ones I see are on the lot (often for extended periods). Seeing a mobile Milano is a cause for celebration.
I spotted this Plymouth Duster on the I-495 Beltway in Northern Virginia, yet its Florida tags suggest quite a road trip.
BMW’s 2002 is one of my favorite German cars, and its design looks downright magnificent when surrounded by chunky modern vehicles. When I was shopping for my first car in the late 1980s, I seriously considered a 2002 of this same light blue color, but my father talked me out of it. He said it would be a maintenance nightmare, and I heartily thank him for steering me clear. But I still love these cars.
For license plate enthusiasts, this photo contains an additional treat – a rare example of Washington, DC Historic Motor Vehicle plates. Not something that’s seen too often.
I’m one of those people who take pictures of welcome signs, and this sign was notable enough that it warranted a stop. We drove to Newfoundland and Labrador for our summer vacation this year – about 5,500 mi. of round-trip driving from Virginia. A few years ago, I wrote about our 2018 Kia Sedona, and thought of updating that post, but I have little to say other than it’s been a remarkably reliable and comfortable car. We’ve driven our Sedona through 42 US states and 5 Canadian provinces in its 95,000 miles, with just two unscheduled repairs (a power sliding door issue addressed under warranty and a malfunctioning power driver’s seat).
Left: View from a hike at Blow Me Down Provincial Park Right: Iceberg off the coast of the Great Northern Peninsula
Incidentally, Newfoundland is an outstanding travel destination – I recommend it for anyone looking for trip ideas that are off the beaten track (and honestly, it’s off the beaten track from just about everywhere, which is part of the appeal).
Plus, visitors to Newfoundland can experience unusual events, like being delayed by a caribou herd.
While there, I stumbled across the 1980 Chrysler New Yorker that I wrote about in August, though I didn’t photograph many other cars. However, I couldn’t resist this Mercedes 300D that I found at a Gros Morne National Park trailhead. With Ontario plates, this 40-year-old car probably traveled as far as we did to get there.
I believe that’s a rooftop tent atop the Benz. As we were hiking, I realized I should have gotten more photos of this car, but it was gone when we returned.
This would have been a great shot if I’d have been able to get it focused. The two-tone jade color combination looks great on this car – I can just imagine the matching jade interior.
It has to be a pretty special van for me to photograph it, but this 1960s Econoline made the cut.
As a kid, I wanted to be like Hans Lehmann, the spy photographer whose images often appeared in car magazines a few months before a model’s introduction. Now, finally, I’ve found a development prototype on my own… in this case at an Ohio rest stop in July. My guess is that it’s an Acura ADX. The ADX was officially introduced in November, but it’s so ordinary looking that if this example was undisguised, I never would have noticed it.
Fox body Mustangs aren’t getting any more common, so I like to document them when I can… particularly four-cylinder models, which seem starved for affection from most folks. I probably wouldn’t have photographed this late-’80s 2-door sedan (that’s really what they were called in Mustang brochures) if it had been GT.
I’m not too interested in pro street racers, but I’ll make an exception when it’s something like a Mercury Zephyr. The Ford Club Wagon towing it isn’t too bad, either.
My favorite RV classic of the year goes to this Champion Trans-Van. Made by Champion Home Builders – a mobile home manufacturer that expanded to motor homes – Trans-Vans were popular for a while as “economical” recreational vehicles.
It’s always great to see an old car being enjoyed. I hope the kid in this 1986 Volkswagen Cabriolet’s back seat was enjoying it as much as the front-seat occupants. Once they got onto more open roads, he got pretty windblown.
This 1991 Dodge Dynasty is a more tranquil car for highway cruising. Given the Dynasty’s license plate, I assume the owner is a fan of “Married… with Children.” Maybe other fans of that show can tell us whether a Dodge Dynasty ever made a guest appearance on that sitcom.
I was barely quick enough to get one shot of this 1973 Cadillac as it passed by while I was at a traffic light, but only later did I wonder if it was a Coupe deVille or a rarer Calais. Cadillac offered the Calais between 1965 and ’76 as an entry level model with a few less luxuries than the deVille. They were never robust sellers; only about 4,200 were produced for 1973. This car’s lack of a vinyl roof suggests it may be a Calais, though the lower body moldings suggest deVille. Most likely, it’s a deVille that’s had its vinyl roof removed at some point over the past five decades (or was one of the few deVilles without a vinyl roof). Regardless, I’m glad I got the photo, and I hope to catch up with it again.
Since we’re alternating between big and little cars, here’s the Cadillac’s polar opposite. I do see kei trucks like this Suzuki Carry occasionally, though rarely on a highway. This Carry was driving at 65-70 mph on Northern Virginia’s chaotic I-66 – that’s a brave kei driver to navigate this road in rush hour.
I’m hoping this Chrysler Conquest TSi is being towed somewhere to be restored.
My wife encountered this early 1960s Mercedes-Benz 220S and was kind enough to photograph it for me. Luckily, this is the car’s most interesting angle, with the Fintail Mercedes showing off its chrome-topped fins. In my opinion, it’s not just the fins that make this a great angle – the rear design is clean, with many interesting features.
For a different kind of rear angle, here’s a 1992 Oldsmobile Toronado. I saw this car parked in a driveway one day in November, saw it driving later that week, and then never since. Not my favorite car, but I’ve softened a bit and don’t mind the design nearly as much as I once did. In fact, it looked downright futuristic gliding along in motion the second time I saw it. My daughter says it looks like an alien. Maybe anything that’s not an egg-shaped CUV gets sympathy points from me now.
Here’s a car that interested me much more when new – a 1986 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. Ford produced only 21,000 Turbo Coupes for 1986, which was a mere 13 percent of total Thunderbird production. Needless to say, this is a rare sight these days.
And finally, this may seem like just one of a zillion Teslas on the road, but for me it’s significant because I was driving it when this photo was taken. My sister purchased this Model Y Performance recently, and was kind enough to let me drive it for about 20 miles one weekend. Since I rarely get to drive cars other than my own, this was quite a treat. I had little idea what to expect, and was extremely impressed by the Model Y’s driving characteristics. Everything from the ride, the driving feel and (of course) the acceleration was flawless. The Full Self-Driving mode was simply mind-blowing, though not a feature that I long for. I didn’t like the car’s austere interior, however, and although I enjoyed driving it, I’m no more inclined to purchase an electric vehicle than I was before. But I’m glad I experienced driving the world’s best-selling car. I concluded that if Tesla made a more affordable version with a gas engine and a more welcoming interior, I’d love to buy it (sarcasm).
Overall, 2024 was a fun year for car spotting – let’s hope for an even better 2025!
I believe the Cadillac is a Calais. De Ville would have chrome name plates on the side and likely a vinyl roof. The Thunderbird most likely had a dark green interior to match the vinyl roof inserts. I once had a 78 Grand Marquis in emerald green with two tone light and dark green leather interior. The Thunderbird seems to be of the same vintage.
Every time a W123 Mercedes pops up on CC, I’m reminded what an incredible car it is. By many metrics, I consider it the best car made. Ever.
I’ve seen a surprising variety of cars (and of course SUV’s, trucks and vans, and even trailers) with roof top tents but the the Mercedes takes the crown. And it looks like an appropriately vintage European-style hard shell RTT. Some great finds here, and my favorite is the Rampage. The color, stance, wheels, condition: they all make an appealing truck-let look really nice. Thanks for the post.
I really wish I had taken more pictures of the Mercedes. As I was hiking, I thought of a good article I could write about it. Oh well… glad I got these two shots, though.
GLAD THE WRITER LIKED NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR. I TOO WENT NORTH, TO SEE THE VIKING RUINS AT L’ANSE AUX MEADOWS. JULY 1992, FREEZING COLD AND ICEBERG BITS FLOATING BY IN THE OCEAN. THE PARKS CANADA GUY WAS WEARING A PARKA, AND DEFINITELY DRESSED FOR THE WEATHER THERE.
NOTE: THIS IS NOT TYPICAL CANADIAN JULY WEATHER.
We did make it up to L’Anse aux Meadows – very neat. Weather was a bit warmer than your trip, though. Still pleasantly cool for the summer, and the icebergs were amazing to see.
Neat selection. I am partial to the Duster mainly because I had one as a company car for all of 1974-76. Had the 225 slant six and I thought it was a great car for transportation. If I wanted to go fast I simply took the Cougar out of the garage.
It is not in my province that I would see a Kei truck on the highway and not more an Antique car, these two categories are limited in their territory of travel. Antique & Kei-T plated vehicule here are limited to 70km/h areas .
I actually didn’t think that kei vehicles could go that fast. Couldn’t have been a pleasant ride, though.
A Morry Thou would be a rare sight in the US or almost anywhere except New Zealand where plenty of them are still on the roads, I got my licence at 15 in one so kinda like them for that, A BIL has one of those Teslas bought because their Leaf is running out of battery, Nice car to drive I had a play in it, I dont like the touch screen idea possibly the most retarded idea for road safety ever, the ride is average compared to my C5 but thats a given overall quite a nice car, no I dont want one.
Love that Rampage and the Milano, both COALs for my dad.
He had an ’83 Rampage for several years, sharp looker in black with red pinstripes, machined-face turbine-style alloy wheels, and a black vinyl tonneau cover over the bed. When its clutch finally wore out over the course a tense 4-hour freeway trip (a story I think I’ve told here before), along with the already leaking power steering and encroaching rust, he decided it wasn’t worth fixing and sold it off as a mechanic’s special.
Right around then, the daughter of an old bridge-playing buddy of his was selling her ’87 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde, also black, with low mileage as she did a lot of business travel and only drove it during the limited periods when she was home. Dad was on the fence about it until I encouraged him, saying he deserved to treat himself and would kick himself later for passing it up. He had to fly back to our hometown to seal the deal and pick it up to drive back. Grandpa wasn’t impressed at first glace but Understood once he got a ride in it, within a block or two remarking, “OH. This is a special car.” I can still do a fair impression from memory of the idle sounds of that glorious 3.0L Busso V6.
Wow – there’s not too many people who have personal connections to both a Rampage and a Milano!
Eric, I love the randomness of these outtakes. I think we all have a pile (do digital images actually accumulate in “piles”?) of photos like these accumulated over the year. They do make great CC posts!
So here are some random comments…
The Rampage. Perhaps whoever now owns that also has a VW Rabbit Pickup. Also in dark brown. Ahhhhh….the 1980s.
The 2002. Your dad was certainly Mr. Bummer. 😉 That’s a lovely Roundie, and you should have had one when you had the chance. I don’t care for the aftermarket center brake light, but yeah, I guess I might consider adding one if I intended to drive my quite valuable small car in modern traffic. Also, I have to say that I’ve NEVER seen DC Historic Vehicle plates. I actually had no idea that such a thing existed.
The Welcome Sign. Newfoundland is indeed great. Did you also get on/over to Nova Scotia? A beautiful, peaceful, vacation spot, and definitely a part of Canada that I could see relocating to. Perhaps now more than ever.
The VW Cabriolet. It’s nice that the driver’s girlfriend let him take it out for a spin. She does seem to be along for the ride. Although I can’t quite figure out who/what that is sitting in the position that appears to be between the 2 front seats. Perhaps their dog.
The 1973 Cadillac. That’s got to be a car where the vinyl roof was removed. In that regard, it looks both kind of cool and also decidedly weird. I actually have to say that these things just don’t look right without the vinyl.
The Suzuki Carry. Knowing that interchange very well, and knowing the Beltway there at that time of day (assuming that’s where he’s headed), I’m scared for that driver. I’d just as well be driving a golf cart on the Beltway as that.
The Model Y. To this day, I’ve yet to drive a Tesla. I have nothing against driving one, I’ve just never had the opportunity. Although since I see a gazillion of them every day, I just can’t escape the feeling that the Model Y is just about the ugliest car on the road from the rear. Maybe that’s mean, but damn they look like something that’s been extracted from a sideways trip in the junkyard crusher. I just don’t understand why it was necessary to make the car so oddly and disconcertingly proportioned. Each time I see one, it just reinforces my belief that automotive design and aesthetics apparently mean next to nothing to the modern car buyer. And that makes me sad.
Unlike your post, which makes me smile. Happy New Year!
Thanks!
My snippet of the 2002 story does make it sound like dad was kind of a bummer for car-shopping, but he did steer me clear of some sketchy cars. But he understood that I wanted an enjoyable and unusual car. I ended up with a 1981 Audi, which was lots of fun, not powerful enough to get me in trouble, and was in better shape than the 2002 I had looked at.
I would have loved to spend more time in Nove Scotia, but we actually just drove through the province en route to Newfoundland. I felt guilty about being in such a beautiful place and not stopping. Some maybe I’ll get back and explore Cape Breton.
It’s hard to tell from that shot, but it’s a kid in the Cabriolet’s back seat. My second picture of the car is below, and it’s easier to see the people. He was getting pretty windblown back there, but when I was his age, I would have loved it. I hope he did too.
I saw that Suzuki Carry approaching from behind as I was driving, so I slowed down a bit to let it pass. Being passed by a kei truck on I-66 wasn’t on by bingo card for 2024.
I don’t love the Model Y’s appearance, but don’t hate it either. Except for white ones, which look like ghosts from the front.
Happy New Year!
Forgot to include the attachment of the second Cabriolet photo:
FWIW, the Tesla’s shape is totally driven by aerodynamics. That’s a key aspect to its exceptional efficiency.
Loving that Duster. It has the full vinyl roof, not often applied as an option. This one has an unusual colour combination, black roof with yellow-goldish paint.
This angle really portrays and highlights how tucked in the back wheels were compared to the front.
I was pleased to see that the Morris has wheels painted in olde English white. They all had wheels that colour, no matter what colour the rest of the car was. In high school in Toronto my best friend’s mother had one and it was the first English car I rode in. I loved its idiosyncrasies.
Newfoundland is on the list of places I need to visit. Everyone I know who has visited has thoroughly enjoyed it. Great photo of the caribou, but there is a significant problem with collisions with moose in the province.
Moose are a big problem for drivers there – particularly so at night. Fortunately, we only saw one, and it was from a safe distance.
Where/when was that Rampage photo taken? Do you know if it’s still available? My first new car was an 1982 Rampage and it’s one of the 4 cars I regret no longer owning.
I saw the Rampage in March at a small shop called Porter Auto Sales in Monroe City, Missouri.
When I last drove by there a few weeks ago, I didn’t see the Rampage, and it’s not listed on their website inventory, which is here:
https://www.porterauto.net/cars-for-sale
However, I’m not positive that the website is completely updated, so if interested, you may want to contact them.