Just a few shots from the parking lot of the CC Manor Apartments.
CC Outtakes: The CC Manor Apartments
– Posted on February 28, 2018
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Curbside Classics Archives
Just a few shots from the parking lot of the CC Manor Apartments.
I haven’t seen a Subaru wagon of that generation in…forever.
The others are, in my part of the country, still pretty common individually but one is unlikely to see a parking lot entirely peopled by 15+ year old cars. (If one ignores the Soul lurking in the background.)
And while the newest of the cars (the Cavalier) is probably from the current century, the newest design featured there is that Accord, having debuted in ’94. So we’re turning back the clock even further.
I get your point, but that generation Cavalier debuted for model year 1995 while the Accord came out for model year 1994. The Accord was far more modern and the updated Cavalier was way too late, but technically the Cavalier was “newer.”
I’m most intrigued by the USPS Promaster. I was under the impression that the postal service was supposed to procure American-made vehicles.
What gave you that impression? They’ve bought over 9000 Promaster vans so far.
Just how do you define “American-made vehicles”?
Keep in mind that the USPS is an independent governmental agency, with its own governance. The government (executive branch) has no direct control over it.
I guess I thought all government-procured vehicles were supposed to be built in the US by a US-owned company.
The ProMaster is built in Saltillo, Mexico by an Italian-owned firm.
Learn something every day.
FCA is not “Italian-owned”. It’s owned by its stockholders which as a publicly-held company, are undoubtedly all over the globe.
And it’s not an Italian-based company either; it’s multi-national company whose headquarters are technically in London, but its de-facto headquarters are in Auburn Hills, MI.
And I suspect that quite a few other cars and truck various federal agencies have bought were actually assembled in Mexico or Canada.
That is the way it used to be in the 1970’s and 1980’s but now it is whatever the government gets at a good price with in reason(you are not going to see the Commerce Dept with BMWs)
GSA (the government entity which controls the motor pool and most federal buildings) puts out a contract offer for a bunch of cars to replace older models. Car makers that want the business tender a bid and GSA picks the best one.
On cars (at least) the Federal Govt wants to save tax payer money so they get the cars that are the best deal.
On occasion that means some strange cars and trucks. For instance, when i worked at USDA years ago, my boss asked me to go with one of the GSA folks to help them pick up two cars from the local Chevy dealer. The two vehicles were brand new trailblazer SS with the big 6.0 l V8 engine. They were silver with a nasty red color interior.
Apparently a customer ordered both of them from the factory but pulled out and GM was left with them, GM made a good deal with GSA to be rid of them. The price the government paid for them was dirt cheap.
In our motor pool there are several Hyundai Sonata Hybrids.
For the longest time Honda and Toyota were not present in the motor pool because they did not tender a bid. From Toyota’s perspective, if they are selling 400,000 or so Camrys with John and Jane Q Public, why do they need to sell to fleets or the government. But now they are waking up to it.
“Keep in mind that the USPS is an independent governmental agency, with its own governance. The government (executive branch) has no direct control over it.”
This is true to a degree. USPS does not get money from Congress and does have a lot of control(which is why it is hard to make any changes in how it is run) however USPS despite making all their money inhouse and not needing money from Congress still has to have congressional permission to spend a lot of that money.
The agency I work for is self funded (they make all their operating budget without Congressional appropriations ) however during the shut down, we still had to shut down just like everybody else did even though we had plenty of money because Congress has to give us the approval to spend it.
In North Carolina in the 1990s a white Cutlass Ciera with a blue interior screamed “State government fleet car.” In fact the driver’s ed car at my school was one of those.
That’s a detail of living in North Carolina that I’ve long forgotten! Now I remember that enormous fleet of white Cieras… each with a front license plate like this one, if my memory serves me correctly:
West Virgina also has plates that say state owned on the front of their vehicles unless that has recently changed.
When I was in grad school and living in Raleigh circa 2002, the woman who lived in the apartment next to mine had a white Ciera like that. I never asked, but I always wondered if she got it at a government auction or something.
I’d completely forgotten about the front license plates, but of course I must have known they were state government cars somehow. The license plates must have been it.
I wonder if the Cierra with Washington Plates is a resident or a visitor? My apartment complex in Tualatin has a few Washington plated vehicles that are used by residents.
It sure is neat to see 20th Century vehicles having a strong presence in parts of Oregon still.
Paul, d’you remember those swimming-pool-green government Acclaims (some with LeBaron grilles) Eugene used to be crawling with? There was a parking lot full of them in (IIRC) the 400 block of High St.
Those were US Forest Service colors before they switched to white a few years back. And that lot is a block from their offices downtown. I do remember them, as a matter of fact.
A lot of the USFS cars and trucks ended up in private hands here, not surprisingly. I still see pickups and Cherokees in that color, but they’re fading quickly. I used to see the Acclaims in private hands. If I see one, I’ll make a point to shoot it. I might have waited too long, though.
Life’s funny like that. I thought my super-clean time capsule of a de luxe ’91 Spirit ES would surely outlive the much rattier Acclaim around the corner. It did not—I’ll save the rest of that story for when it’s my turn in the COAL mines.
Believe it or don’t, I happened upon that lot when I lived at 15th & High. I took a walk down the street to see what might be at № 420 High Street, haw-haw-haw.
A co-worker has a white ciera like that with a vinyl roof and rust.