I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in quite a few years now: hopped in my car to see what I could find, meaning cars. It’s not like I don’t have hundreds, probably thousands of shots that I’ve never gotten around to using; it’s the thrill of the hunt. I was a bit bored, and there’s been times lately where the number of cars that are worth shooting on our walks is diminishing. In a bit less than two hours, I stopped and shot 102 cars from the car. Drive by shootings, in other words.
I’m going to break them up into groups of 25, and maybe I’ll do more. Let’s start in order of how I found them, with this fine Dodge Conquest (Mitsubishi Starion).
Looks like a Duster to me.
The first of a number of Beetles.
Nissan Pulsar
Forlorn ’67 Fairlane.
The first of many Volvo 244s, most of which I didn’t stop for. Too much redundancy.
Neighbors who are both into cars. RX-7 and W126 MBZ.
VW buses, of course. T1 and T2 here.
First of several old Ford pickups.
Not a great find, but early Explorers are getting a bit scarce.
I stopped because of the art.
Former JDM 4×4 vans are popping up like mad. I saw several; shot this one.
Marginally worth the effort to stop.
That applies here too.
The first of a number of Previas.
This was directly across the street; a two-fer. But I didn’t shoot any more. And that applies to large numbers of ’90s and 00’s Japanese cars in general. I would never have been able to cover any ground.
But this Subaru was worthy.
As well as this LC.
Aha; an American CC at last: a LeBaron convertible.
And more Americans next door.
I recognize that 1946 Chevy pickup! I did a CC on it; “The Oldest Working DD Truck”. Looks like it’s not working much anymore, as I haven’t seen it around in some years.
A shot from the front. And a Villager.
Even these are starting to diminish in numbers.
A Jeep Comanche truck hitched up to a trailer.
Lots of interesting stuff that is virtually never seen in my part of the country.
Am I right that we have never done a proper CC treatment on the 66-67 Fairlane (at least one not called a Ranchero)?
You are right. Especially the hardtop coupe. I did an Outtake of a sedan, but this one has eluded us so far.
Quite pleased (more than I expected to be) with my Ranchero.
Oh sure, the one time something is *actually* hooked up to a trailer and you don’t show the whole thing… 🙂
The Conquest, nee Starion still does it for me even if those wheels on it are the wrong offset. And the Pulsar NX is one I haven’t seen in quite some time, looks decent in white.
Good to see you making the rounds again with your shotmaker.
Always enjoy viewing your “Real World” pictures, Paul!
Please keep ’em coming.
Paul, enjoy your pics. I could drive around Ottawa Ontario for weeks and not spot that many older vehicle’s parked outside. Guess older vehicle’s here either died from salt cancer or parked indoors like my 1966 Bird conv.
The Dodge Conquest (Mitsubishi Starion) brought back a fun memory. Summer 1986, lived in Philly, my companion worked for a “lady” who owned an advertising firm. “Lady, was a knockout”, three times divorced, enjoyed her drink and clubbing with her ‘guys’ (totally inappropriate in todays workplace). One night after clubbing and more than a few drinks, she wanted to switch cars with me for a week as for some reason she wanted a less conspicuous car then her red 1985-86 Dodge Conquest (Mitsubishi Starion), as if my nearly pristine 1976 white Eldo conv. was less conspicuous! Her Dodge Conquest (Mitsubishi Starion) was fun to drive for a week, sporty by mid-1980 standards.
Never asked why she wanted to switch cars for a week or where she drove my Eldo.
Most of those cars look in better shape than the houses they are parked at!
For the most part the houses in the pictures were all relatively old when most of the cars in the pictures were new.
That Dodge Conquest is a fantastic find. I don’t believe they were ever sold in Canada so a very rare sight for me.
Those Nissan Pulsars are growing on me of late. I didn’t care from them in the day but they are neat finds these days.
Not surprised to see the predominance of Japanese/foreign brands. West coasters have always been early adopters and eagerly embraced foreign brands (especially Japanese) when they first arrived. Wonder what percentage of registrations in CA OR and WA are foreign brands? And, although not foreign, I wouldn’t be surprised if west coast Tesla registrations vastly exceeded the rest of the nation on a per capital basis.
The Conquest stings a little, as the original wheels are not only way better looking than these dull flat aftermarket ones on it now, they’re better looking than the car itself!
The first gen MoPar mini vans have essentially disappeared here in the Mid West. They were, IMO, a really nice design, both functionally and visually. Altho I must admit when I test drove a new one way back when….I was under whelmed enough to NOT buy it. My wife, otoh, liked it very much, but then she has NO “gas in her blood”, sadly…….:) DFO
Oregon is amazing, I love the car culture.
I live in Southwest Florida and basically the only CC matrerial around here are usually old panther body Lincolns and Grand Marquis, or random Oldsmobiles or Park Avenues.
Something interesting is extremely rare, like the pristine old W123 300 TD Benz I saw over a month ago clattering around Naples, FL. And the douch type resto mods with antique plates here just make me sad. Rock on Oregon.
This is a great cornucopia of cool old cars.
That first shot – of the the Dodge/Mitsu in arrest-me-red is really striking. Those are just great lines on that car, and if it had a stick shift in it, I’d be in love. Someone has taken good care of that unusual car, and that’s nice to see.
The Pulsar always looked weird and malproportioned to me. I haven’t seen even a picture of one in a long time, and now that I have, yeah, it’s a strange looking shape. It’s still cool in a funky 80s Japanese way, thought those cheese-grater lights have always looked pretty awful to my eyes.
The Previa speaks to me because a friend’s mom had one in that same color when I was growing up. I can remember getting rides in it when I was a middle schooler, and I can remember driving it once it became my buddy’s once we were teens. He kept it well into his 20s, and it was an obedient soldier of a van. Previas were so unique looking, and they were roaches of the road. But the Sienna was much easier to work on because of the engine location.
My mechanic shares a shop with “The Previa Guy” here in Eugene, and he’s certainly a part of the reason so many are still around here. Among his tons of parts is Previa turbo engine, which we joked about putting in my Matrix.
Maybe I’m biased, and I am, but any ’83-92 Ford Ranger 4×4 is pic worthy. But it must be 4×4. Don’t waste your battery on 4x2s. They are body parts trucks for the 4x4s. My 302 powered ’83 4×4 thanks you!
Wow. Two hours of prowling and you snap over 100 pics? I’m amazed. I’d consider it a good day if I get three cars in that sort of time.
Funny how some things are true on both sides of the Pacific, though: I no longer brake for Volvos and Beetles either. Just too many about.
Gotta ask though: why is a Previa worthy?
@Tatra87
Previas are neat looking, mid-engined, and can be had in AWD.
They could also be had with a 5-speed manual.
Agreed, there are still WAY too many Previas around here. (North sound, north of Seattle.) I don’t care what they look like they are horrible in a cross wind, remind me of a weird bug of some kind, and the rattle from the SAD shaft…please… sorry don’t mean to be a hater. 😉 I am pretty sure we have just as many CCs up here in western Washington, I tend to get immune to them but they are there when I start looking.
The Nissan Pulsar & Mitsubishi Delica have pretty similar license plate numbers, neat!
Great bunch of photos, thanks Paul.
I’m surprised to see that many of these cars, especially the VWs, seem to be stored outside. In this country we cherish anything old, wrap them in cotton wool and only take them out for shows, well mostly..
“Former JDM 4×4 vans are popping up like mad.”
I’ve noticed this as well. More than a few Delicas ad Hi Aces I’d never seen before are floating around. 25 year rule or something?
Here’s one in the Whit:
EDIT: Paul I tried three times to post pics and it will not work. Any ideas?
Lots of Delicas and Skylines up my way.
The Starion was such a cool car. Turbo four, manual transmission, rear wheel drive, and dramatic styling. Too bad the car was replaced by the bloated front wheel drive Dodge Stealth and all wheel drive Mitsubishi 3000. If you get a chance look at how thick the doors were and how little passenger room there is inside. The Starion was improved over the years and the last versions could be had in pretty impressive performance trim.
The Conquest is the rarity for me. I don’t think I’ve seen either a Dodge or Mitsu-branded one in many years. It has certainly aged well, aesthetically. By comparison, I saw a Comanche and two Previa’s just yesterday, and several Delica’s when I was in Oregon a few weeks ago,