I took my daily visit to the Cohort, and I was instantly greeted with a bunch of very familiar cars and scenery. CC reader Teddy, who lives in Portland and posts his many great finds there at the Cohort, obviously paid Eugene a visit. And according to the “date shot”, that was today (5/7). You should have dropped me a line and dropped by! I’m always glad to meet one of our stalwart readers and Cohort.
I’m sure you all remember this poor little Rambler American. I’ve come to reconcile myself with it; it’s certainly not drab.
This pink bus I’m actually not familiar with. Or maybe it’s a recent paint job, as the bus does look like one I’ve seen around.
A little slice of Eugene’s colorful Whitaker neighborhood.
Not exactly exotic but then not so common anymore either.
Speaking of common, Teddy had to shoot at least one example of the official CC of Eugene.
I know this F100; it’s a particularly clean and well kept one. Undoubtedly, it was someone’s pampered pet until the current owners got it, and now it’s being used like it was meant to be used.
The official taxi cab of Eugene. I keep wondering when the last one will finally disappear. At one time, like a dozen or 15 years ago, this company was 100% Previas, all bought used. But now there’s maybe two or three left.
I know this bus.
Bicyclist, old Camry, and Toyota pickup. it doesn’t get more Eugene than this.
Or maybe it does. For some reason, Caravans are particularly common canvases for the car painters of Eugene.
Nice collection, Teddy. And if you’re still in town, drop by CC World headquarters at Niedermeyer Tower. I’m on the 58th floor. And I’ll make sure the guard lets you in.
Peter Egan wrote a column concerning Chrysler’s launch of the Caravan. He stated that the factory P.R. guy told him he thought that the minivans would appeal to the grown up “Flower Power” and Grateful Dead generation of VW van owner. Good to see this prediction came true for at least one van.
While the fickle and trendy trying to avoid the soccer mom stigma have long ago abandoned the minivan and moved onto the SUV fad, I suspect the core of the minivan demographic remain the ‘sensible shoes’ types, and it’s good to see that some of them (particularly in Eugene) are almost certainly geriatric hippies who still maintain a smidgen of their free-spirited, artistic bent.
CC Effect: Just yesterday, I saw a Mazda 323 similar to the pictured one above in a driveway that I’ve passed numerous times. Never saw it there before.
There are not many cars that I ardently dislike, but that generation of 323 hatch is one of them. I loved the earlier 323s (owned one, too), but when the 1990 model came out I was bitterly disappointed – it was so plain, so dorky, so awkward with that beehive shape – I never warmed up to it. Fortunately, the Protege during the same period carried on Mazda’s prior success in the small car field, so the 323 hatch’s disappointment wasn’t too noteworthy in the end. But still, I feel a tinge of annoyance whenever I see one.
I agree, those late 323 hatches looked like Droids from “Star Wars”. The previous versions were cooler.
Y’all never got the Lantis/Astina, which also came with a gutsy DOHC 1.8.
The following generation was even sleeker – especially in new hardtop sedan form – and came with an optional 2.0 V6.
Oh, I’m envious — I like that a lot!
Want some? very plentiful and extremely cheap in NZ.
The Niedermeyer Tower has a nice ring to it.
Glad to see that Rambler is still on the road..
How about the “CC Fortress of Mystery?”
Perhaps there should be some sort of tournament to determine The Most Interesting Car in Eugene. That Rambler would definitely be in the running…
Teddy snapping pictures in Eugene without management approval? WTH – I had to pay a big franchise fee for Central Indiana. And then CC Corporate allowed Jim Grey to take over half of that. Sheesh, how is a guy supposed to afford a new boat?
“New boat”? What you really need is a really old wood boat. It’s the logical next step up for you from those lawn chairs. 🙂
One of those aluminum boats with a 1 hp Evinrude on the back and a cooler of beer besides the ensign in command. He can learn to paint aluminum and use a trolling motor
Sorry, CC doesn’t allow trolling ( or phishing). Paul does a.great job of keeping both in check!
A local maritime museum had one of the original Concordia yawls for sale as part of their charity auction: just a stunning old wood boat. Unbelievably beautiful. Now all I need is the required 25 hours a day for maintenance. And money. Maybe I’ll stick with cars, now that I think about it.
“A boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into”…”the best days of boat ownership are the day you buy it and the day you sell it”.
Fortunately for Jim, I don’t think this one is for sale.
It could probably burn a year’s gas budget in an afternoon.
Sounds good Paul, I will shoot you an E-mail next time. If you are on the 58th floor you are higher than most Eugene residents.
Hey Paul there is a White Chevy Celebrity Eurosport Sedan with Yellow on Blue Cali plates driving around and I hope you find it since I could not nab a photo.
If you are on the 58th floor you are higher than most Eugene residents.
I’m not so sure about that. It can take a lot to be higher than most Eugene residents. 🙂
Old Ramblers are some of the creepiest looking (and driving) transportation devices known to man.