(first posted 10/5/2018) I was in southern France a few months ago when I caught this “Mercedes 306 D” pickup. I said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t know the first thing about trucks. But I do know an interesting one when I see one. This one sort of rang a very faint bell, but I don’t think I’d ever seen one in my adult life. The Mercedes grille was tacked on to something decidedly non-Stuttgart, that was for sure.
(first posted 10/5/2018) Need I say it, but the Australian car market is quite different from the American? This Rambler Hornet is a very good example of that. “Rambler?” I hear you say. Yes, the Rambler name kept going here well after it was dropped in North America. Let’s take a closer look…
It’s somewhat of a large juxtaposition…good friend and fellow Tokyo Expat Tatra87 spends his Sundays perusing the Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Shoebox Fords of Tokyo’s upscale Gaien district. I, on the other hand, hike the industrial suburbs on the outskirts of the city – and come across finds like these three. I’m not complaining though… Read the rest of this entry »
Yes, there was a difference between a pickup and a truck with an express bed. It’s pretty irrelevant in the bigger scheme of things, but then we’re all about the irrelevant little anachronisms of automotive history, right? Finding this ’56 F-350 express in Port Orford gives us the perfect opening to delve into this somewhat obscure automotive semantical differentiation.
’85-’87 Mercury Grand Marquis images from the Cohort by SlantSix.
The year was 2000 and we had bought a new home. However, as we came into the 2001 tax season, we found out that the property tax had tripled. It was something the builder knew about but did not disclose the information. Between that and the mortgage, we found ourselves way behind the eight ball. Money was tight.
I called an attorney who told us that we were going to have to declare Chapter 7. At that time, the law stated that we could each have one car since we both worked, but the value of each car was to be $850 or less.
So off I went to search for our prized cars!
(first posted 10/5/2018) From 1989 to 1997, the Williams-Renault F1 team was highly successful in the Formula One World Championship. But the UK based Williams company was not involved in the development or production of the Renault Clio Williams, introduced in 1993. It was a Williams in name only, as this pitbull of a hatchback was entirely the work of Renault Sport.
(first posted 10/4/2018) Yesterday’s piece on the Camargue garnered a lot of query around a prototype Rolls-Royce it featured. It was hardly familiar to me as well, so I did a bit of digging. This is the SX, an in-house proposal for a downsized sedan prepared in the early 1980s.
Let’s have a bit of fun with fashions today. One more gallery in this series of folks and their period attires, all displayed near some vintage metal of the era. A showcase of the fads of the time, and this time with quite a few photos that almost seem to tell a story.
This is likely the ultimate daydream for many of us. Think about it…if you own an old shopping mall and have just over 2,000 classic cars (that’s no typo), creation of something like The Orlando Auto Museum is something many of us would aspire to do. Like the tourists coming to Orlando, Florida, these 2,000 cars come from all over the world.
Somehow I managed to take several hundred pictures. There was simply that much to see during my four hour visit. To better enjoy the experience, the cars are (mostly) presented with minimal commentary.
Let’s start with the big, white elephant and go from there…
Despite, or perhaps because I live far away from the Big Apple in New York City, their classic Yellow Cabs hold a certain allure. There are not many vehicles left in this age of globalization that so clearly evoke a specific place, and the image of the New York City taxi perseveres in the public’s psyche even amidst the rise of Uber and Lyft.
So imagine my surprise to find three iconic NYC taxi cabs parked in midtown Atlanta. What are the odds of encountering some of the most recognizable vehicles of all time in one place? Plus the inclusion of a modern also-ran successor.
While I’m the guy that happily plunked down money (twice) for what is arguably the most maligned Jaguar model line in history, I draw the line at Rovers, be they of the Land, Range, or just plain Rover Rover variety. A man must have his principles, dontchaknow, otherwise he won’t have ANY money left at the end of the day. However, when I first saw the Human League’s excellent video of “Don’t You Want Me” back in late 1981 that opens with a scene involving a Rover SD1 at night, I was enthralled. Although that only lasted a few seconds after which a black Saab 99 Turbo also entered the scene, and like the American market as a whole, all thoughts of Rover were cast aside.
But forty-something years later, (specifically Thursday), I came across a remnant of that time, one of the 1,200 or Rover 3500 V8s (SD1 in rest of world parlance) that managed to find homes in the United States back in those heady days of 1980-1981. So let’s take a closer look.
(first posted 7/25/2013) If a car ever inspired me to emote and wax poetically, it was the Corvair, especially the second generation that delighted us upon its arrival in 1965. So I’ll try hard to restrain myself (as usual): The 1965 Corvair was the best European car ever made in America. And if that alone doesn’t explain the Corvair’s inevitable failure, let’s just say that in 1965, Americans were eating a lot more Wonder Bread than baguettes. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 10/3/2018) My musical tastes match my taste in car shapes, insofar as sitting primarily between 1950 and 1980. But there’s an essential difference between these two life-affirming art forms for me. If I hear something on the radio from my favourite period that I don’t like, say Meatloaf, I switch it off. For me, hearing music I hate is like fingernails down a chalkboard. Can’t stand it.
With cars, I’m more inclined to sustain my gaze on a shape that doesn’t appeal to me. Like the Camargue for example.
What do we have here? None other than a bunch of ’65 Fords for sale in the middle of the Space Age. All nicely aligned and ready to launch in front of the large “Gemini V Sale!” window display signs, alluding to the Gemini V space mission of August 1965.
So, what car of these would you purchase for “Going for the Moon or bust”, as the dealer’s promo suggests?
