Much more affordable back in those days would have been something like this first generation Honda CRX. This seems to not be an Si version, but someone painted the cladding black along with the body but kept the red stripe. The wheels are I believe from the accessory catalog, I don’t think these were ever standard on any Honda although the Prelude had something similar. It’s shocking how tiny these appear nowadays.
Later that summer I noticed the Impala from earlier again at the other end of my street along with another one.
Around the corner on I think the same walk was a Covid-Camper conversion van of the sort popular around here these days, with massive bumpers, ride height increase, 4WD, roof tent with a set of racks on top of that, etc.
In August, this little BMC job (I can’t tell them apart, but I know you can) and a Ford pickup tried to be closer than they appeared but never got any closer to me than this. It’s like looking back in time…
Turn of the century Chevy Silverados are of course all over the place here, but not the stepside version, and the single cab short bed is rare as well. I’m not wild about the color but it’s nice to see out and about.
Late August brought some rain and a little Suzuki Samurai Toad. Like the one earlier this one looks original as well but with the soft top and what seems to be an original spare tire cover. These guys were headed north on I-25 outside of Denver.
The beginning of September brought this sighting of a fine late 1980’s Saab 9000. These too aren’t around too much anymore, even in a Saab-town such as ours.
This looks like a very late W123 in a great color and in fantastic condition.
And yes, it’s a 300D turbodiesel (US only) with the Bundt wheels. This one has a third brake light but I believe production stopped in the middle of 1985 to make way for the W124, so perhaps it was added later. This may be the one to have these days, as new as possible and in as fine a shape as possible.
Just a few miles up the road I passed this mid-70’s BMW 2002 automatic. It’s possible that this guy and the Mercedes 300D has both been at some sort of event together.
I can’t recall the last Datsun/Nissan Sentra wagon that I’ve seen. This one had both name badges as they did for a while during the transition. Not in perfect shape but perfectly driveable, also apparently a new-ish owner judging by the plates, but missing the rear wiper and sporting a few minor dents.
I knew exactly what this was even from a distance due to Jason Shafer’s write-up on the Pontiac TransAm GTA a few months prior to this early October sighting. Another new purchase for someone, albeit with expired temp plates, this one looked outstanding waiting to turn right near my house.
No, the right brake light bulb didn’t just die, it was actually signaling to turn and I caught it during its cycle.
Here’s the big brother to Paul’s truck that I came across at the gravel yard while I was loading a ton of it for my shed base. This is apparently the color that Paul’s used to be before someone painted it yellow. Like Paul’s, this one is still in use and in this case dropping off a pile of brush. These trucks seem to be all over the place all of a sudden, everyone is pulling them out of the barn and dusting them off.
Oj jeez, speaking of pulling stuff out of the barn, what kind of a two-fer do we have here. It’s hard to tell if this load is going to the junkyard or the restoration shop.
Maybe both, the XJ-S is not for the faint of heart and being towed backwards behind a flatbed is not how one in good condition usually moves about.
I’m not kidding when I say all this 50’s stuff looks to me the way current mid-size sedans look to many of you, all exactly the same. Dodge? ’56? Restorable? Most likely, and with a good color combination.
I don’t think I’d take a 5-year-old kid in the back seat of a Willys on the freeway with a 75mph limit and moving much slower than that, but whatever. At least it looks in good (modified) shape. This was a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and yes it was very cold out, no more than upper ’30’s. It had to be miserable in a Jeep, er, Willys.
I’ve been seeing this green Toyota Cressida about town for a while now but never stationary and never in the same area so it’s been eluding me. Finally I caught up to it at a light.
I’m a big Cressida fan, and this one seems to be local to our town judging by the old dealer tag. It had a few dings but otherwise looked in great driver shape with full hubcaps, and all the late 1970’s gingerbread that Japanese cars had at the time. This one is near the top of my list of cars I keep an eye out for when passing parking lots and other places where it might be captured in greater detail.
As with Chevy pickups I am also becoming a fan of this generation of Chevy vans, and this Jayco camper using a G30 chassis is very nice. I spied this at my favorite grocery store and was going to take more pictures, however on the driver’s side of this rig is a large picture window with the man and woman occupants sitting at the table inside eating lunch, so never mind, I’ll just move on. This doesn’t look particularly old although the G30 was last produced in 1996, and was in excellent condition.
Mid-December brought a bit more snow and crappy weather and while on my way to Boulder I passed this F200 in a fabulous color.
The driver looked a little cold and a little cramped, to be honest. But he was moving right along and the truck was obviously outfitted for work and in fine fettle. You can’t seem to kill these things, they’re like the Toyota of their day…
The next day brought this at a traffic light. We too get the Japanese imports out here of course and the Mitsubishi Delica is one of the most popular. This one was a little more modified than most.
Big wheels, mudflaps, and excellent graphics. I think the owner “modified” the wheel arches with some tin snips to make the tires fit. This thing absolutely took off when the light turned and was moving rapidly by the time it came alongside me, the picture not being cut off anywhere was pure chance.
A few days later back on I-25 was this FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser, all decked out in overlanding gear as so many of them are around here.
And finally from my front yard is this poor shot of something very old and very loud that came up my street being chased by a bunch of little kids. It stopped at the Stop-sign and then accelerated with far more verve than I would have expected while the driver looked behind him to be sure the kids had not caught up. It then kept going and disappeared around the next corner never to be seen again (so far).
Well, that’s my 2020 of one-sies and two-sies in review, thanks for coming along and letting me unburden myself. Let’s see how 2021 plays out in regard to more of these.
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In no particular order;
– The BMC something is an MG 1100/1300, chassis code ADO16, One size up from a Mini.
– The LeSabre T-Type really frustratingly, agonizingly, missed its’ market. It would’ve been so easy for GM to build a T-Type sedan but they never did, the sedans were mostly pushed out to dealers with Brougham Era trim that ruined the car’s basic good styling.
– My cousin’s grandparents had a Comet like that one, only theirs was banana-cream-pie colored.
– I have to wonder what sort of effect things are having on the prices of old trucks. Paul could be sitting on a gold mine.
An excellent variety! I agree that those old Ford trucks seem to keep going forever as long as you can keep the rust away – something that’s a problem where I live. That 4th gen truck was often seen hereabouts still working, but with the nose tilted towards the sky due to rusty cab mounts that caused the cowl to sink.
That red roadster looks like a very original and beat up Ford Model A roadster, the way they probably looked in the 40s. Every restorer seems to convert the trunk to a rumble seat on these, so to see the lid with the low handle tells us that nobody has messed with this one. Well, other than with the red paintbrush.
And I remain of the opinion that the 63 Impala was one of the prettiest cars of its era.
The green Ford pickup at the top of the post looks to be a ’65 or ’66 based on the placement and design of the emblem on the front fender.
My Dad had a ’65 F100 shortbed stepside and he had to fabricate new front cab mounts for it as the original mounts had rusted,causing a gap between the lower portion of the front fenders and the doors,which pinched the upper portion of the fenders against the doors and caused the doors to bind up when trying to open them.
The 65 badge was a one year only as was the 66 badge just like the grilles. That badge is 1965.
Wow what a mix. I agree about the Z-car. And they look even better with Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman) behind the wheel. Also with you on the C3 Vette. Never cared all that much for them when they were new but now…make mine a ’69 please! While a 4 door Maverick is like french kissing your own sister, I’m a huge fan of ’70-72 2 door Mavs. I’ve owned two. The double cab VW is cool too, But WHAT is that red jalopy??
I think the roadster is a ’26-27 Ford Model T
The neighbors Chevys are ’63 ( and their LeSabre is ’03-05)
The Dodge is definitely a ’56. Looks like a top of the line Custom Royal
So much good stuff here, but that Dodge pickup is the cat’s meow. It’s a ’91 to ’93 with the last two years having the juiced up Magnum engine if a 318 was chosen; the 360 got Magnumized for ’93.
These Dodge pickups are still very thick on the ground around here, greatly outnumbering their Ford and GM counterparts. It’s all the more remarkable given how relatively few were produced. I’d drive that Dodge all day, every day.
Elsewhere on the pickup front, that both of the ’60s vintage Fords you found were 3/4 tons is quite remarkable. Stout would be the best descriptor for these.
The rest of what you found is pretty good too, but pales in comparison to that Dodge. 🙂
Here in Virginia, in regards to 1980s/90s trucks, it seems that Fords are most numerous (not surprising), but Dodges would be second, and Chevy/GMC a distant third.
Great stuff! I think the roadster is a T body on an A frame. The front fender and wheels are A, body is 26-27 T.
How do you guys get these shots while driving? I’d have to futz with my phone for 10 seconds, by which time it would be too late. Also, what’s the fine for using your phone while driving in Colorado, around here it’s $615 🙁
Texting isn’t allowed here, but talking on it is, although I’m almost always on Bluetooth these days for that (and a surprising amount of cars have the ability to read texts to you and let you respond via speech that it then sends as text without needing a hand.) For photos, the newer iPhones have a camera button on the home screen without needing the password or Face ID so I can hit the right side button to turn it on, then the lower right camera icon and then holding it one-handed without focusing, just general aim, snap off a series of shots, usually one or two are usable. Before posting everything gets straightened and cropped and maybe zoomed. Zooming in motion is impossible to do and I have a great collection of pictures of my knees as well as a “Name That Sunvisor” series almost ready to go…
I think you are right on the roadster. I honed in on the wheels and didn’t bother looking at examples to explain how the top half didn’t look quite right. I was chalking it up to the terrible red paint job. Plus I had not yet had my second cup of coffee.
We had a ’63 Impala wagon when I was little. It was turquoise but glowed violet at dusk. Why is blue so out of fashion?
Great series of finds!
That is one tough kid riding in the back of the Jeep! I’ve ridden in the back of Jeeps and it’s a character-building endeavor even on a warm day. But on a highway in a Colorado winter? Wow! Incidentally, my in-laws have a Jeep Wrangler that doesn’t have a back seat, and when my kids were little they loved riding in it because they could (legally) ride up front.
My favorites in this bunch might be the Cressida and the Comet. Both exceedingly rare, and in intriguing colors.
I’m pretty sure the Jackson Pollack Rogue is a car wrap rather than a paint job.
Now that you mention it, the Audi Coupe Quattro does look very contemporary. Must be a result of the high windowline – I remember sitting in one back in the 1990s and didn’t like it much for that reason.
Great catch with the Sunbird! You get extra point for that one since it has that quintessentially perky ’90s “Sunbird” tape script on the back.
I just saw a similar Accord hatchback earlier this month, though the one I saw was deteriorating out in a field. But at the time I thought “Wow, I haven’t seen one of those in ages.”
Thanks for a great bunch of cars, but that Cressida takes the cake! Toyota knew exactly who they were targeting as customers back then, and it looks like the original driver, wearing a trilby I think, is still plodding away reliably forty years plus later.. From the 70’s Toyota More-Is-More styling playbook, and that color, I’m sure one could order an entire 70’s kitchen, fridge, stove, cupboards, the works, in that fetching shade of green.
87 to 89 LeSabre T-types are rare, and becoming more so. However, many are well kept for exactly that reason. They have a following. online and in reality. Here is my 87.
It is a 280S though and likely a gray market import with those hubcaps. Stately would be the best way to describe its acceleration.
No, not grey market import (note the battle ram bumpers). The 280 S for the US market was equipped with steel wheels and hubcaps as standard. The Bundt alloy wheels were optional extra cost during the 1970s for most models except the 450 SEL 6.9, 450 SL, and 450 SLC in the US.
Re: the DoKa and it’s ex-military appearance – those chrome dog dishes go a long way toward distancing that truck from any military service. But hey, why not? When I was driving the battalion commander’s HMMWV all over South Korea I had JC Whitney ship over some blue dots for the taillights. Not exactly regulation but he could always pick out his vehicle…
That F100 is tan, or beige, or some such color. Mine was originally yellow, but it was a lighter shade, like this one below.
Lot’s of great finds. Love the old Ford Model T/A mashup. That’s the one I’d take.
What a collection to start the new year with! I’ll have the Audi Coupe Quattro. I liked it back then, and I still do after all these years.
A guy on YouTube bought a nearly 30 year old Econoline, a ’92 +/- and got a Quigley style 4X4 conversion at a small shop for about 9 grand. It’s not a route I would have chosen, but at least he was out west where rust wasn’t an issue.