I went for a bike ride this morning and passed by this late 1980s or very early 1990s Ford station wagon. Old wagons are interesting on their own because you don’t really see many old full sized American wagons anymore. But this one had three custom wheels and one stock wheel. Maybe the owner could only afford three custom wheels? Or maybe that’s just his spare and the fourth one is one of those strapped to the roof. Judging from the sun shades over all the windows, I’m guessing someone lives in that car.
I also saw what I think was an early 1950s Cadillac that looked like someone had converted into a camper decades ago. I didn’t feel comfortable taking a picture of it because someone was in the yard of the house it was parked in front of, but it looked similar to the second photo in this post. Except the one I saw was really beat up, closer to the condition of the rusty one on the left, not the yellow one. Like someone suggested in the comments, I’m guessing it started out as an ambulance and someone later converted it to a camper.
The same house also had a late 1960s Datsun roadster in the driveway.
A GMC Motorhome, from the mid-1970s. A blast from the past.
There’s one of these on the way to my sister-in-law’s house, quietly rotting in someone’s back yard. I wish I had the money and energy to restore it.
I saw one last week and snapped two pics of it onto imgur. They’re a blast from the past.
On my (extremely hot) walk today I saw a Caddy Brougham, in quite good condition. The car is still an ungodly mess, but for a 30+ year old beast it held up remarkable well.
Today I saw a BRG fishmouth MGB.
Today I saw a Hyundai Veloster with a roof rack, cruising down the freeway. On the roof rack was a canoe almost as long as the car, and also a large shelter packed up and wrapped up. And the Veloster was pulling a small camper trailer (like this one, https://is.gd/Ln8rxC).
A pretty nice setup.
I was working from her house. Ran an errand at lunch & passed a Cobra. Walked outside after work & it’s sitting in the neighbor’s driveway! It’s his SiL’s. a real 1965, not a kit!
Going to ask the neighbor if SiL will bring it back & give me a ride.
I’m pretty jealous if you do!
On Shelter Island today–a converted electric 1973 VW Squareback:
The decal on the back window says “No dinosaurs were harmed in the fueling of this vehicle.”
Saw some modern Ferrari coupe, painted steel grey (boring!), at the end of our road, pulled over with the hood up.
That’s the across-the-street neighbor. The next door neighbor is a renter. The guy who owns the property only rents the house but shows up occasionally because he uses the detatched, two-car garage…to store his Maserati & Lambo Huracan Spyder! I want a ride from him, too.
Unfortunately, the people who own the cars are seldom on the street.
Last night I saw this Toyota HiAce 4x4 while I was waiting in the drive-thru line at In-N-Out. It looked like it was right hand drive, so I assume someone brought it over from Japan. Looks like it’s being used as a camper of sorts; that thing on the roof looks to be a rooftop tent.
I also was behind a Pontiac Fiero in traffic yesterday. When was the last time you saw a Fiero on the road?
I think it was last year that I posted that I saw one in Seattle. I think it was this one, but the one I saw had gold Japanese writing on the side.
Today in the parking lot at Kroger I saw beautiful 1959 Impala. It had a deluxe trim package with the spare tire under a cover on the back with an extra little chrome bumper to protect it. It was parked way up close to the store. I think most people with a ride like that would have parked way out! It had modern low profile wheels and tires.
The thing that really surprised me was the license plate.
It was from Cuba.
Driving home from a trail run south of the city I spied a 1964 Ford Falcon V8 convertible, red. It looked muscular and loud.
That is surprising. When I visited Cuba about 5 years ago our guide told us that under Cuban law it’s illegal to export any old cars from Cuba. They consider all the old American cars on the road a part of their history, and a major tourist draw. They’re afraid that if trade opens up between the US and Cuba (which seemed more likely in 2015 than it does now) American collectors will buy up all the classic cars from Cuba.
The license plate appears to be vintage 1959 to match the car and the car certainly matches to a tee what you might expect to see in a documentary about Cuba but I assumed the plate was from Cuba but not the car. Maybe also possible that the car and plate came over together long ago. It didn’t have any other plate on it, though.
Looking at a picture I took of it…
The plate is mustard yellow with red lettering and a red line around the outside.
Top Line “Particulares”
Middle Line “1959” and then in larger numerals "A4337
Bottom line “Cuba”
There is some kind of sticker in the lower left corner that I can’t make out.
Ah, it was a vintage style Cuban plate, not a modern one. From a little Googling, it looks like it’s possible to buy a “souvenir” license plate in the style you described, although they’re technically meant to be “decorative” and not something you actually put on your car. Now my guess is someone bought one of those souvenir Cuban plates and put in on their classic car. I can’t imagine that would be legal, though, since they would have to register it in whatever state they live in, but I guess the owner probably drives the car rarely and doesn’t think they’ll get caught.
What would you call that color? In the pictures it looks more yellow than I thought it did in real life. It seemed to be more of a Champaign color.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/189571352@N07/50186013148/in/dateposted-public/
