Washington, DC has an image around the country as a city filled with lawyers, lobbyists, bureaucrats, and other unproductive white-collar members of society, and along with these professions comes an image of cars corresponding to their owners: Mercedes, BMWs, Priuses. Normal people with normal cars live there too, though, as shown by the presence of curbside classics around the city. Among these cars, Detroit compacts of the 1960s and 1970s win by a landslide. The ongoing use of these cars makes sense: they are simple and reliable, dirt cheap to maintain and repair, and small enough to park easily on tight city streets.
This 1968 Mustang is the car that first inspired this idea. (Pony cars, being based on compacts, are included in this category.) I have seen this car around the city for almost a decade. For many years, I saw it regularly after work, parked top-down outside of a now-closed liquor store near the downtown sports arena and the National Portrait Gallery. About a year ago, I finally found where it lives on the street, surrounded by Priuses, Range Rovers, Mercedes W123 diesels, and other cars more typical of an affluent urban neighborhood.
The owner that I saw years ago was of an age indicating that he could have owned the car since new, and the interior abounds with one-owner-from-new old car details – an original-looking radio, sheepskins over the front seats, a Club, and an ashtray crammed full of cigarette butts. The plastic plates over the cowl air intakes are an unusual detail, though; perhaps the owner does not want his cigarette smoke diluted by the ventilation system when the top is up.
The Mustang has a slightly younger cousin living across town, a bit more corpulent and hobbled by a flat tire, but still registered and apparently ready for the road. The rust cancer, which includes undercoating hanging down in sheets that indicates a Fred Flintstone driver’s side floorboard, makes me concerned for its longevity.
Fans of the Brougham era of the 1970s will feel somewhat left out by the curbside offerings of DC, but the streets have not sent all of their vinyl-roofed, hood-ornamented children to the melting pot (the crusher). This Mercury Monarch, a compact so luxurious that it was positioned above the Ford Granada, which you could not tell apart from a Mercedes according to Ford advertisements, needs only new wheel covers and a front bumper rechroming to take you back to the disco era.
The Chevy Nova is a well represented vehicle on the streets of DC. The Dart/Valiant and Maverick/Comet (https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/curbside-classic-a-blazing-mercury-comet/) appear occasionally, but the Nova appears to account for the most survivors on the streets. The Nova in this photo lives only a few blocks away from the Capitol Building. A 1973-74 model with big steel bumpers, it is in no danger of suffering the sort of ugly deformation experienced by the plastic-bumper modern car behind it.
This view shows that it is wearing a substantial set of dual exhausts and an appropriate vanity plate.
A few blocks away, a 1965 Chevy II continues to soldier on after almost 50 years. With the red ribbon on its grille, it makes a great counterpoint to those awful long-running Lexus Christmas ads.
Speaking of soldiering on, this nicely customized 1973-74 Nova wears stickers on the rear window declaring the owner to be a veteran awarded the Bronze Star. Whoever you are, thank for your service, and congratulations on a tastefully modified car that is not a garage queen. The Cragar wheels, narrow front and wide rear tires, and hood and trunk lid stripes make it exactly like the Novas that once abounded on the streets in the 1970s and early 1980s, but have largely disappeared from everyday use since then – many survive, but heavily modified cruise night cars and drag racers account for many if not most of them. This car shows that not all of the Detroit compacts parked on the street are just old beaters.
The end of the line for this class of cars (aside from the pony cars) came with the introduction of front wheel drive compacts such as the GM X-cars and the Chrysler K-cars. Less than a football field length away from the Nova in the previous photo, this Chevy Citation lives regularly on the street in Georgetown, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in DC. A Citation II from 1984-85, it represents the period when GM badly fumbled the transition from the 1960s holdover platforms and drivetrains of the 1970s to the unit body, front wheel drive designs of the 1980s. The survival rate of these cars has been low, but this car is still registered and on the street. It remains to be seen whether it and the other surviving X-cars, K-cars and Tauruses will have the longevity of their 1960s and 1970s forebears as they reach antique status.
Compact cars,America’s finest all the style and glamour of a Yank without the thirst or bulk.Love the Novas,who said Americans can’t make small cars?
I always liked the roofline of those Novas. The slightly bloated rest of the body, not so much.
The cowl intakes on the Mustang convert are covered because the ductwork is rusted through, allowing rain water into the interior. A very common problem on unibody Fords, and not easily repaired.
Yep. For those that don’t want to fix the notorious rusted-though cowl on first generation Mustangs, aftermarket companies sell these vent covers. Many people make their own also.
I’m one such victim 🙁 Ingenious idea on those covers.
I also live in DC and have seen most of these cars. That ’69 Mustang coupe hasn’t moved for the past several months. There is (was?) a badly wrecked full-size ’72 Chrysler residing on the Hill that sorely deserves a CC, but I haven’t seen it in a couple of months. But my favorite DC CC is this beauty:
That Lincoln Cosmopolitan, I have never seen before. I have never seen one in the metal before, in fact, so I did not know that they had suicide doors. Where is this one usually parked? I will have to check it out some time.
I also have not seen the 72 Chrysler that you mentioned, but I have seen a green (and somewhat scaly) 1965-66 Plymouth Fury in Capitol Hill that is begging to be profiled. By all means do it, since it sounds like you live near it.
The Lincoln is actually a regular Lincoln, but not a Cosmopolitan. The Cosmo was on a larger body with a different greenhouse, as below. The regular Lincoln shared the 49-51 Mercury body. Most people who did not suffer through an unrequited love affair with 1940s Lincolns would likely know the difference, though. Either one would be a fantastic find.
I’m not sure whether the site has a policy against giving out the exact location of cars, but I’ve always seen it parked on 14th St. NE, just north of H Street. That Fury you mention has been around Eastern Market for years. It’s also on Google Streetview:
Oops, I mean just south of H, between G and F.
These were never common even when new, and it’s nothing short of amazing to see one in current use. They had big flathead V8’s that were also used in Ford F-7 and F-8 “Big Job” trucks, and were probably quite understressed in passenger use. The automatic transmissions were Hydramatics bought from GM.
Yes, Ford mercifully put a bullet in that miserable 292 V-12 after 1948. Pretty sad when a Ford Truck V8 was heralded as a great thing. Most people do not remember or realize how much of a disaster the Ford Motor Company was in 1945. The entire 1949 FoMoCo line was a massive change from a chassis that (in basic design) went all the way back to the Model T. One of these Lincolns just begs for a proper CC. I would love to find one.
BTW, the plural for “Prius” is not “Priuses,” it’s “Prii.” 1.8 million votes were cast on toyota.com and “Prii” came in on top.
Who’d have thunk .6% of the US population would have such inarguable grammatical influence!
Toyota, apparently. They had to find out some way to solve this fiasco of plurality which was usurping the minds of all Americans:)
“solve this fiasco of plurality which was usurping the minds of all Americans”
Hallelujah!!!!!
I lived long enough for this question to be answered in finality!!!!
I can now escape the surly bonds and fly high to the great beyond.
Thanks for the factoid!
It was one dummy who had nothing better to do, casting over and over. Priuses it is !
~Dolr
If the 68 Mustang had been a hardtop, it would have been the twin of the one I owned, but for the automatic (mine was a 3 speed). The fact that both Mustangs are the same color shows how popular that color was when offered from 1967-69. It was everywhere then, and I loathed it, which is odd considering that 2 of my first 3 cars was that exact color. I am finally coming to appreciate it.
Kudos, sir, on finding a genuine Mercury Monarch. These were never that common, and are much less so now. The most irritating thing about those was that nobody knew what you meant when you mentioned one of these. I always had to add – “you know, like a Granada.”
We appreciate your tour of DC CCs. This reminds me that you should be on the lookout for an original British Cobra, so you could write up an AC DC CC. Sorry. However, there remains one burning question: How many Novas in NoVa? 🙂
I’m sure I remember the Mercury Monarch being sold in the UK late 70s/early 80s the only one I saw was a gold sedan.
Hard to believe they found any buyers besides those seeking novelty. But the Swiss were really into Cadillac Sevilles back then, from what I saw. Maybe our weak currency (vs. the franc) played a part.
Having been a long-suffering 3rd gen Mercury Capri owner, I can relate to the idea of having to use a simile to describe your car. You know, like a Mustang…
I got so tired of saying that. In fact, to my non-car nut friends, I usually just described my Fox body Mercurys as Mustangs so there isn’t an extra 10 minute description of the distinction between the cars.
Ivy Gold – ugh! Our blue ’67 Rustang was originally that color… It was also a 200 L6 3-speed manual with Ivy Gold interior equipped with rocker panel moldings, AM radio, and pretty much nothing else per the build sheet.
Not a flattering color despite my green-loving tendencies.
That Lincoln is a great find. I guess I was lucky to have had such car awareness even as a small child, and to have been old enough to remember when these beasts still roamed the landscape. One of our neighbors in west L.A. had one of these, I was always fascinated with their recessed headlights and tiny circular taillights. That front grille had a droopy appearance that made the car look sad. But even by the mid-50’s these cars looked very old to me.
Loved the Mercury Monarch in it’s four door guise. My parents briefly considered a Ghia model when looking for a replacement for their ’71 Lincoln. I would always request a Granada/Monarch whenever renting a car in my business travels back then, they drove competently, their compact size was perfect, and they fit my 6’+ height well. Dismal gas mileage with the V-8, though.
My father actually made that jump, from a 72 Continental Mark IV to a 76 Monarch Ghia sedan. It is probably a good thing that teenage-me did not get to drive that 351-powered Monarch very much. By 1978, Dad did an about-face and traded the Monarch on a 78 Town Coupe.
Once a big American car guy, always one, I guess. My dad passed on the Monarch Ghia because he wanted something big enough to carry his golf buddies and their golf clubs and paraphernalia in, and always wanting a Cadillac, he moved on from L-M cars to his last ride, a ’77 Coupe de Ville. He even eschewed the Seville that year for those same reasons.
I wonder about later-model DC DCs – one would expect the Focus Titanium, say, to appeal to someone in the 3-series demographic but expected to buy American and stick to non-“premium” brands for professional reasons. Like, say, Congressional staffers.
Yes, those compacts and pony cars are pretty reliable once you’ve sorted out the issues. I can’t hazard a guess as to which of the FWD cars will take their places, though.
I suspect there’s a bit of non conformance for the younger folk who may be driving these cars. The others (like original owners) probably appreciate the uniqueness of their surviving rides. I can understand that.
Maybe revisit this again looking for older compact and subcompact FWD cars and see what shakes out?
Giving the same treatment to early FWD family cars is an excellent idea, and I am already on it. In addition to the Citation, I already have found an Aries/Reliant, and others should follow soon. Chrysler K-Cars and GM A-Cars seem especially common in this area, but we shall see what is out there when I actually pay attention. 1988 seems to be a good cutoff year, since it is the borderline for the 25 year antique car rule in most states, and also the year that I graduated from high school.
Looks like the hubcap fairy needs to pay some people a visit but D.C. is too far for him to drive. Somewhere there’s a beat-up ’69 Chevelle wearing a ’69 Mustang wheelcover *sigh*
Bare rims look better than those plastic wheelcovers. They have got to go.
Minor differences between 73 and 74 Novas. 74’s had built in shoulder belts, bigger head rest to hold them, and a gold Chevy badge on the grille.
The bright blue Nova is a 74, and the grey is ’73.