Today’s walk takes up to the very peak of tony College Hill, which is the neighborhood just to the east of us, although some of my neighbors like to think of themselves being in College Hill. It’s an older and always fairly expensive neighborhood, as it has both the aspects of being on a hill with views yet very close to town.
Its name has nothing to do with the University of Oregon, but the very short-lived Columbia College, a Presbyterian initiative that opened in 1855 and closed in 1860, its single building having been burned down twice, at least once by arson. It was caught up in the intense pro and anti slavery battles waging in the far West, especially in Oregon at the time.
Anyway, at the very peak of College Hill, next door to some old friends that moved up there, there is a run down house partly closed off and condemned, but the (single) owner does have quite a fleet of CCs. Let’s take a closer look.
Let’s start on the left, where we see a rather prosaic Chevrolet Prizm, a twin of the Corolla made at what is now the Tesla factory in Fremont, CA. Not very interesting, but I rather suspect it’s the most viable driver of the whole fleet.
But here’s the queen of the fleet, a genuine Eldorado Biarritz. Wow; it’s the only one around, and right here in my neighborhood (there I go pretending I’m one of the elite that gets to live on ritzy College Hill). If I did, I too could have interesting neighbors like this.
I always thought this choice of names was a bit iffy, as I can’t help but associate it with Bizarre. The Cadillac Bizarritz. Works for me.
Its interior sports some curious touches, mostly in that zebra pattern cloth draping the dash.
A Chevy Venture van is tucked in behind the Caddy, and then there’s this fine boat out front, that hasn’t touched the water in a decade or two. And then there’s the Ford F-150.
It’s in front of a camper that hasn’t moved at least as long as the boat; probably longer.
It suffers from some sort of serious eye malady. The stitches from its most recent surgery haven’t even been removed yet. Maybe it’s not healing right?
I didn’t show you the house with plywood over some of the windows and tarps on the roof. And lots of hoarded objects in the side and back yard. My friends the neighbors say that money is not the problem, as he’s inherited more than just the house.
A golden Cadillac, a boat, a camper and a pickup to pull it – this guy is living the dream! Though it is not necessarily a good dream.
Paul, I do enjoy your various neighborhood walk entries.
Pls keep posting ’em!
The Caddy dash cover is interesting. Lol
Wow, those vehicles say a lot about the owner!
Paul, I always find the descriptions of “tony/upscale” neighborhoods vis a vis the photographs to be curious. It seems as though tolerance is much higher for what would be considered “low scale” in other areas; and as always, you can never judge a book by its cover! The walk around tours are always enjoyable and interesting!!
After reading this article, I searched for College Hill on Google Maps out of curiosity. On the left of the map screen are photos of the area, and “featured photo” was of a three-wheeled Chevette.
Not surprisingly, that Chevette has been featured here before too:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/cc-outtake-chevette-up-on-three-wheels/
That’s funny, more ways than one. That house most definitely is not in College Hill; it’s several blocks west of us down in the flats. At first I thought that might be my picture of the Chevette, but apparently not. The dog and I walk by it most mornings, and it’s still up on three wheels.
The random rabbit in the Google Street View pic is a nice touch.
I’m surprised they didn’t fuzz out its face. ;o)
That picture was clearly part of a Rabbit vs. Chevette comparison test…
Good one, Eric. The Rabbit does appear to be looking at the Chevette with derision.
The cost of repairs on a fancy boat like that one multiply exponentially when the time away from the water is figured in. 1yr = $500, 2yr = $2,500, etc.
A decade? Where the motor hasn’t run and the electrics have laid idle? He would be better to flog this on Craigslist and use whatever proceeds he gets to fix that truck.
I like the evergreen air freshener tied to the well-used ashtray. It fits the overall theme of Always Add, Never Subtract.
Kinda-sorta looks like the back yard/parking lot of the “Animal House” lot.
(Wasn’t that filmed in Paul’s area?)
Yup, Animal House was filmed in Eugene.
I am trying to understand that one extra headlight (if that is what it is) to the right of center in the grill of the Ford. Is it a Cyclops, or is he trying to re-create the center headlight of a Tucker? I’m not sure I would want to come upon this vehicle on a two lane blacktop on a dark night, that could be quite confusing.
There was some sort of Fuselage era MOPAR (maybe the generation before), perhaps a Polara, that was written up a while back that had an extra off center headlight. There was a cool name for the option, too. It may’ve been JPC that wrote the article, but I can’t find it to link it.
Perhaps the owner of the F-150 was going for that look, although I think he has it on the wrong side.
I’ll bet the neighbors do indeed love it. People are funny–we’re social creatures and live in hives, yet we do things like this which require acres of open space per capita in order to not irritate each other. Well, unlike a barking dog at least these pets become undetectable once you draw the blinds.
The poor Ford appears to have contracted an eye infection from the surgery.
There’s at least two hoarder guys on my dog walking route that live in once-nice homes on “desirable” streets. One guy fills up his Chevy Suburban with so much paper rubble that he can barely see out of the cab; the other doesn’t drive much, but fills up his Ford 500 with all manner of detritus. Both have porches crammed with stuff, and are probably targets for real estate agents just itching to get at their Craftsman homes…
That Caddy reminds me of the one Robert Deniro’s character drove in ‘Casino’ – the one that blows up in slow-motion’!
Biarritz is a French resort area close to the border with Portugal. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, at least mine. This was a top of the line Eldo since forever, I guess. Back when we still named cars after places as opposed to microchips.
This is me just guessing here, but I think that extra light in the F-150’s grill is supposed to be an aftermarket fog light. But the driver’s side of the vehicle got damaged in a car accident, taking out the other one–along with the headlight–in the process.
Anyone notice the boat trailer’s coupler appears to be nonexistent? No way to hitch it up & head out to the lake without that.
I suspect only the Prizm & MAYBE the Eldorado are still legally (& safely) drive-able in their current condition–things don’t look too good for the Venture with how that rear window wiper is just hanging there. The camper probably needs to be scrapped.
The non-existent coupler keeps people from stealing it.