I promise I’ll get to the cars, but first a word about drums and differences.
Curbside Shopping: 2022 Ford EcoSport – You and I Travel to the Beat of a Different Drum
– Posted on November 22, 2024
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Curbside Classic: 1980 Toyota Celica USGP Limited Edition – An Excellent Condition Limited Edition
– Posted on November 22, 2024
As someone who’s intrigued by special editions, my eyes immediately fell on this car’s stripes. Racing stripes on a Celica – yes, this was a package made to commemorate Toyota’s sponsorship of the United States Grand Prix. But temper your expectations: Despite its racing connection, this was little more than a subtle appearance and trim package. Still, it’s an exciting find for those who like rare versions of common cars. This car’s excellent condition was a bonus as well. Only 600 examples were made, and after 45 years, the surviving examples have already taken the checkered flag of daily service and are now mostly in retirement.
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Curbside Classic: 1956 DeSoto Fireflite – Yeah, It’s Got A Hemi
– Posted on November 21, 2024
(first posted 8/14/2014) Actually, they all had Hemi’s that year, at least the ’56 DeSoto Fireflite sedans like this one did. I drove past it on the way back from an appointment and I thought, “wait, that’s not a ’55 Chevy,” so I turned around and went back. I happened to have my camera with me since Vancouver has such a bewildering number of old cars and I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping it stashed in my car.
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Obscure Rebadges From Around The World: Part 6
– Posted on November 21, 2024
(first posted 11/21/2018) We are six installments into the Obscure Rebadges series and we’ve only scratched the surface of the world of rebadges. Hell, we’ve only scratched the surface of the world of General Motors rebadges. Earlier, we covered three Asian-market GM flagships: the Alpheon, Isuzu Statesman de Ville and Mazda Roadpacer. Today, let’s look at some more GM rebadges from around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
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Vintage Dealers: 1960 DeSoto On The Showroom – Snapshots In A DeSoto-Plymouth-Valiant Dealer
– Posted on November 21, 2024
I’ve no information on the dealer featured in this photo, other than it clearly belongs to a DeSoto-Plymouth-Valiant one with a showroom filled with new products. And while Valiant was the new kid in Chrysler’s tent, it’s the DeSoto at center that’s getting all the attention from the ladies in attendance. The brand may have been in its waning days, but at least in this photo, these ladies seem to have been DeSoto fans.
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Curbside Find: 1983 Buick Electra Park Avenue – On The Way Down
– Posted on November 21, 2024
The CC effect can sometimes hit twice; only a couple of months ago this post by Joseph Dennis was published with a featured in-motion ’83 two-door Park-Avenue, followed a month later by my own post of a ’78 Olds Omega (that’s in a seriously sorry state). Well, here’s another curbside find, that is another ’83 Electra Park-Avenue and is also spiraling downwards, condition wise. This, however, is a four-door.
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Curbside Editorial: Lexus in 2025 – They Aren’t Not What They Used To Be
– Posted on November 21, 2024
I saw my first Lexus TX in the wild not long ago and I was a bit conflicted about it. It’s a massive crossover clearly on a transverse-engine FWD platform, which isn’t exactly aspirational for us car dweebs. Huh, I thought. Looks like Lexus is finally getting in on the 3-row troop transport game. It lacked the pricey gravitas of an X7 or GLS but looked fully capable of taking on the Q7, XT6, MDX, and LT70x in the suburban status derby.
That last one isn’t a real car, by the way. This alphanumeric naming soup is so overcooked that you can invent a plausible one by just mashing your fist against the keyboard. TR-55e. See?
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Curbside Classic: 1994 Chevrolet Impala SS Station Wagon – Factory-Built Unicorn
– Posted on November 21, 2024
I wrote about Chevy’s modern-era Impala SS last month. Everyone knows about that popular sedan. What fewer people know about is the fact that GM built one Impala SS wagon but never put the model in production. That car survives and is on the loose, occasionally terrorizing the roads of Minnesota. Here’s how I encountered it. Read the rest of this entry »
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Parking Lot Classic: 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Holiday Hardtop – Happy Haunting
– Posted on November 20, 2024
(first posted 2/12/2013) To continue on the trajectory of early -’60s Oldsmobiles that continues to haunt me, I present this Dynamic 88, which I first met under the cover of night. While I continue my daytime errand-running drudgery, let’s pause to examine where Oldsmobile was in the early 1960s.
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Curbside Classic: 1986 AC 3000ME – Optimism, With A V6
– Posted on November 20, 2024
(first posted 11/20/2018) The AC name is, or was, well known. Remember the Cobra? A Ford V8 and a Carroll Shelby designed installation in the compact AC Ace body and chassis, which dated from 1953. The resulting car was billed by some as the fastest car in the world in the early 1960s, albeit with a very different heritage and driving experience to a top European sports car. Perhaps it’s best to think of it as a de Tomaso Pantera for the 1960s, not a Ferrari. But it was still hugely charismatic and appealing, and that endures. Read the rest of this entry »
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Car Show Classic: 1927 Lancia Lambda (Series VII) Phaeton – Art-Deco Avant-Garde
– Posted on November 20, 2024
Lancia’s reputation for making extremely advanced and unconventional cars was well established even in the marque’s early years. If one model really stood above the rest in terms of sophistication, it would have to be the Lambda: not only did it represent a significant leap forward compared to Lancias that preceded it, it was arguably the most advanced automobile of the 1920s.
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Vintage Snapshots: At The Mall! – Parking Lots 1950s-1970s
– Posted on November 20, 2024
With Christmas Season approaching, the time has come to pay another visit to the mall. And what better way to do so than in the past, thanks to some vintage images?
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Curbside Classic: 1951 Kenworth “Bruck” – Custom Shuttle Bus
– Posted on November 20, 2024
While digging around in the depths of my digital photo albums for CC worthy oddities, I rediscovered this custom commissioned 1951 Kenworth I found on display outside of the Whitefish, Montana Amtrak station. I can’t add much beyond rephrasing what is known about this machine from the historical marker, which you can read in full here.
The curious “Bruck” name is less mysterious when you realize it is the words “bus” and “truck” smooshed together. It was used between 1951 and 1972 by the Great Northern Railway to replace a defunct short line railway connecting the small town of Whitefish to the larger town of Kalispell, Montana. After national passenger service was federalized under Amtrak, the Bruck was retired and soon found itself in long term outdoor storage at a train scrapyard.
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My 1978 Pontiac Grand Am – Commuting Days
– Posted on November 20, 2024
1978 Pontiac Grand Am image from the web.
It was 1990 and the growing joys and demands of family and work left me little time to pursue any automotive adventures. In the meantime, the ’87 Plymouth Voyager was a competent vehicle and versatile family hauler.
However, the ‘78 Grand Am I had bought for commuting had to be babied since there was no prospect of buying a replacement if it failed. All it had to do was get me back and forth to work and I had no desire or intention at the time to work on vehicles. Besides, the shift to electronic ignition, fuel injection, disc brakes, and front-wheel drive on our family fleet meant my experience was out of date and I would be facing a steep learning curve to tackle any issues involving those systems.
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Curbside Classic/Automotive History: 1977 AMC Hornet AMX – The Long Slow Decline Of The AMX
– Posted on November 19, 2024
(first posted 2/12/2013) In 1966, the American Motors Corporation (AMC) unveiled a pair of radically styled concept cars called AMX (American Motors eXperimental) in an attempt to better connect with the youth and performance markets. The cars generated a lot of excitement, and in 1968 AMC introduced the production AMX, which was available through the 1970 model year. Throughout the 1970s, AMC was in a long, slow slide as it struggled to remain relevant (and solvent) as one of the last American independent car manufacturers. The AMX name would be applied to a number of AMC cars, including our subject for today: the one-year-only 1977 AMC Hornet AMX.
