While it seems the streets of Eugene frequently offer up multiple Curbside Classics, I’ve discovered a similar street in the Denver area. My buddy Ryan lives on this secluded street, and I recently found this line up spanning across three decades.
I’m personally familiar with the ’94-’97 GMC S-15 extended cab on the left. It belongs to Ryan’s Uncle, and due his to advancing age it is now without a pilot. Ryan is keeping it safe until it can move on to its next assignment. Powered with 4.3 V6 power and automatic transmission, it’s just a generic Denver pick up.
That International Scout II has resided next door for several years, and i9s far less generic. After a close look, several details don’t seem to add up. International offered this longer wheelbase Scout II as a Terra pickup or a Traveler hardtop SUV from 1976 to 1980. However, despite the “Traveler” fender badge, it sports a pickup roof.
The only real difference between the two models is the roof, so perhaps someone swapped them out along the way. However, based on the raised strip across the roof’s rear edge, it isn’t an exact match to the factory roof. We’ll probably never have a definitive answer, but mix and match parts and production line variations are both hallmarks of the International line so anything is possible.
In contrast, while the Cherokee shows many variations from stock, they all appear to be aftermarket changes embraced by Jeepers here and elsewhere.
Next up we have this Porsche 924. Sharp eyed readers will note it has 5 bolt wheels, making it a 924S…
…as confirmed by the rear badging.
Built from ’86 to ’88, the 924 S initially used a detuned 944 engine, but kept the narrow 924 body and earlier interior. During it’s three year run, the S stood tall as the entry level Porsche. If this is an ’88 model, Porsche added an additional ten horsepower (for a total of 158), making it the most desirable of the 924s.
Next up, we have a ’71 Plymouth Fury sedan, the junior division’s large car offering. I neglected to take a photo from the back, so this could be a Fury I, II, or III, but I’m leaning towards the lower end of the Fury spectrum. This car has been around for a number of years, so if the readership demands a more complete writeup, I could gather additional pictures the next time I’m in the neighborhood.
To close out, I offer this ’97 – ’99 GMC Suburban. So common to the streets of Denver that I almost didn’t take a picture of it. Still, it is three generations removed from the current SUV/hearse sold by GM, making it a solid CC citizen at this point.
So there you have it – Six CC’s on one neighborhood street. A little heavy in domestic models and light trucks, but that’s representative of the Denver experience as well. We’re not total homers like the folks in Detroit, but do not embrace imports with the fervor of the coasts either (except for Subarus – we love us some Subaru).
What really strikes me about these photos is, minus the license plates, this look like pretty much like any street in America with houses built in the 50s thru the 70s.
Agreed. Minus the license plates these pics could pretty much pass for my neighborhood as well. I’ve often wondered why this might be, but there may be a couple reasons beyond the obvious that people who value & choose older homes might also value & choose older vehicles.
1. Residents who age in place, not unlike the S10 presented here, may have bought their last new vehicle decades ago which is still doing them fine for their needs nowadays. Sadly where I’m at you can see as the homeowners age out of single family housing entirely & move or pass on, the CC vehicles disappear too.
2. At least where I’m at, these older neighborhoods are more centrally located and often more expensive though the homes are of course smaller. The same person willing to spend more on their housing & community investment may choose a CC to minimize vehicle costs to be able to make that trade off. This is, or was while my CC car was alive, my situation.
3. Those same middle aged families in #2 come with teen/college aged kids where a CC might just fit the first car budget or they all may be car enthusiasts. There’s at least a couple houses in the hood which have a lineup of vehicles proudly street parked.
I’ve written up my hood & some of the more interesting cars in it a couple times for a facebook group. I may need to grab some of those pics & perhaps should do an article here some time. Amazing how cars that were rare 3 decades ago can show up in a seemingly unlikely place.
The Suburban is a rare 2500.
My neighborhood still has young families, and young families burn through vehicles. We see young marrieds with no kids and personal cars, turn into minivan families with two or more kids. Then they end up with a pick up for dads, and an SUV for moms.
My next door buddy and I now have high school kids, so we drive the CCs, our wives drive the minivan and SUV, and our oldest are new drivers, and have nice relatively-inexpensive rides.
End results – on our block – new minivans, a truck for each house, and some nice new small cars for young adults without kids.
The oldest couple on the block, just moved after living there 40 years. So the neighborhood’s old guy has just become ME, and I still years from retirement. When we bought this place, we were surrounded by seniors who have since moved to Heaven. We ended up with a neighborhood filled with young couples with lots of children as each home went from neat gardened landscapes to yards filled with playhouses, dogs and bikes. It got a whole lot louder as the teens have discovered auto freedom and the ability to blast their stereos.
The chromed window frames and vinyl roof on the Plymouth make me think it’s a Fury III.
I’d like to see more of this Fury, as the car I took my driver’s test in was a ‘70 Fury III with 383 and TorqueFlite. This ‘71 certainly has a more attractive grille.
I was thinking this one was a “70”. Got to hunt some pic’s up.
Nice landscape, different to here streetscape around here is such that I expect Tatra to be seen roaming the footpaths camera at the ready, and I really stand out driving my Superminx.
Readership demands!
Liking the Scout and the 924S. That generation of Suburban is nice too, what would really be rare would be one with the 6.5L turbo-diesel.
It is a 2500, but I don’t think it’s a diesel. I think the diesels had hog nostril holes in the bumper alongside the license plate that gas ones don’t ever have.
Nice collection. Given their tendency for serious rust, this Scout II thankfully, appears in salvageable condition. Good looking street itself, as well. As Denver appears to have some of the best maintained road network, of the US cities I’ve seen.
I don’t stay on top of all CC news, but I thought you were based in LA, for some reason.
You’re not wrong, I was writing out of LA for about 10 years.
I like to say I am Minnesota born and Colorado bred, but I did spend 17 years in LA. I returned to Denver two years ago, just as the pandemic was building a head of steam
Ahh, thank you. Hope you are enjoying your new home. Lovely locale!
Regarding the Scout based vehicle I’d say someone did a cut and shut on the Traveler Top to make their own pickup. From what I can tell in the pic there is no signs of the strikers or support straps for a tailgate. The back window appears to be about Traveler size, the Pickup and Terra rear windows were smaller. Travelers were hatch backs and that was a big piece of fiberglass that is known to crack. It is not uncommon for people to cut off the lower portion and fit a standard tailgate for a clamshell style as used on the TravelTop versions. Because the Traveler is a fast back of sorts its rear window is taller than on the TravelTop. That probably explains the hump on the top. To get an angle closer to that as used on the Pickup and Terra they needed a little extra height so they could have a bottom rail that meets up with a stock bulkhead panel.