CC Outtakes: My Neighborhood, Part 2

By
– Posted on October 2, 2018

I showed some cars found mostly on neighborhood walks, with a few shot while driving, here. I selected the cars for Part 1 at random … for Part 2, I’ll show some more of my neighborhood finds. I’ll start with an eye catching first generation Nova. Is it really an SS? Even if it is, I’ll assume this is not an original color offering.

A pair of 1500 Spitfires. Time and UV haven’t been kind to the bumpers on the newer one, but the Minilite wheels and larger-than-the-OEM-155-13 tires, look nice.

The yellow Jeepster was a one-time sight. The newer Jeepster Commando is a long-time resident. Not sure if it’s a daily driver, but it’s moved regularly. I photographed it just fifty or so feet from the pink Nova, and half a block away from the Tesla Model 3 in Part 1. It’s a particularly interesting block, which also frequently hosts a BMW 2000CS, similarly patina’ed as the Jeepster, and another car I’ll show later in this post.

I mentioned in Part 1 that none of these pictures were taken at car shows. But we do have a few hot rod gatherings, plus a large annual Woodies event, and I also frequently see cars associated with the annual Monterey Historic races or concours, which take place 40 miles down the road. These next photos were all snapped close to home, in the wild as it were. not at any events.

This group of wagons was in town for the Woodies show. I intentionally included the minivan in the shot for contrast,

This Flathead coupe is a fairly regular sight – and sound – on the street here. I don’t know if it’s something about their restrictive intake and/or exhaust, by modern standards, but  I really like the sound of a Ford V8.

This one – not a Flathead – wasn’t so quiet.

This ’34 Ford (?) just looked so right in front of the card room. I didn’t cross over to see what was under the hood.

The last picture in this sequence, of the Flathead Roadster (and yet another Gen2 Prius pairing), is directly across the street from where the Jeepster Commando usually parks, but I don’t think it’s the same owner.

Other than the wheels, an unmolested ’55 Chevy. I suspect more four door sedans of the Tri-5 era have survived closer to stock, than two doors.

Well, I would say these two are perhaps ringers. I did catch them curbside and not at a real car show, but they were clearly brought into town for our monthly Friday night street party, which features music, dancers, open art galleries … though typically not motor vehicles. But both came under their own power, or at least left under power, as I saw and heard them drive away as dusk fell. The upper car, Big Bertha, is based on a Seagrave fire truck. Everything about it is super-sized. I have seen Big Bertha chugging around town a few times since I took these pictures. The lower car, the Blown Ranger, has a V12 Fairchild Ranger aircraft engine. it’s not exactly small either.

This Trabant is another regular sight – it lives just a few blocks from me, and I’ve seen it in a few places around town, but this is the only time I’ve caught it in traffic. In afternoon Hwy 1 rush hour, it had no problem keeping up.

Sometimes I think we have almost as many Amazons (Volvo 122S) in town as 240’s. I like the way the V70’s hoodline curves echo the 122’s design, 40 years older. in my opinion, neither car fits the “boxy Volvo” stereotype. The green wagon is a little newer than my parents’ gray 1964 wagon, which I learned to drive in, but it has similar wing mirrors. Perhaps also a UK foreign delivery like my folks’ car was.

This PV544 is the same color as the one my parents owned when I was young, before they bought the 122S wagon. Could it be the same car? We only lived about 100 miles away. These Volvos aren’t boxy either. I liked this lineup with the Cadillac and Fox Mustang – both comparative rarities around here, though slightly more common than Volvo 544’s.

More Swedes – or at least Swedish-inspired. I guess these aren’t exactly curbside, but one of the big attractions in my town is a seaside amusement park, with these Saab 900 lookalike Dodg’em cars.

I’ve only seen this Plymouth the one time. A ’65? I’m not usually a fan of whitewalls, but combined with the dog dish hubcaps, they look right on a four door. And it’s presumably a V8, not a Slant 6. Looks like a nice car.

Relax, CC’ers … I just threw this in for some comic relief. Post Diesel-gate humor.

This Cutlass Ciera had a “For Sale” sign on the back window. $1500. Despite the oxidation, it was very clean and straight, and looked original down to its flag badging. I was tempted …

Our neighbor’s CX Break was his daily driver for a while. I haven’t seen it (or heard it – it’s a fairly clattery diesel) lately; he typically alternates between a Saab wagon and a DS21.

The lighting made it difficult to capture this scene I saw walking home from a dentist appointment. A Datsun 510, Dodge Power Wagon, and a Adventure Wagon (I think) Vanagon hightop.

This Ghia is a daily driver, advertising a local business. I briefly worked next door to that business, and saw it pull in and leave almost every day.

Thanks for joining me on a neighborhood CC stroll. I’ll wrap up with a sighting that was a little further from home, but still within our city limits. I suspect this was a random pairing, found in a small strip mall parking lot when I was picking up some plumbing parts that Home Depot didn’t stock. Seen by itself, this Raptor doesn’t seem huge compared to the 3/4 ton crew cab pickups that are everywhere around here, but it certainly towers over the fuselage Fury.