My wife is a notorious night owl, and my three high-schoolers have spent the last three months up late doing homework. (Either they get more than I did, or they are a heck of a lot more dedicated than I was!) Plus my sister-in-law is hosting Thanksgiving dinner. The result is that no one else was up this morning, so I decided to take a walk. Living in a San Diego suburb, there are plenty of potential CCs to share … plus I thought some of you might want to vicariously share in our weather. It’s 90 degrees and less than 5% humidity today, so rather than a winter weather advisory, we have a fire weather warning. But on to the cars. Every one of these was taken today, Thanksgiving, within three blocks of my house.
The first one I came across, perhaps 10 houses down the street, was this Chevelle. I’ve met the owner of this car – his son and #1Son are classmates — and he has restored other similar cars in the past, and somehow he looks like he’s still in the 70’s. Perhaps one of you can identify the exact year – I haven’t taken the time on any of these.
A few houses down was this relatively rare two-door Blazer. At the time I liked the look, but it seemed kind of primitive (so I bought a YJ Cherokee instead – go figure).
This is arguably my favorite of the walk. I see it from my driveway every morning, at the opposite end of the street. Hopefully the owner will get it back on the road soon.
BMWs are anything but rare here, but most of them are newer (leased) ones, not at all interesting. This one is from 1990 or so judging by the license plate number. (My 87 Mustang had a 2G.. plate; my wife’s 91 Miata started with 2Z, so this with a 2V is right between them.) It’s in very nice condition, even with an SDSU student decal on the front.
This GT is the same age but somewhat rattier. But it does have a 5-speed. I didn’t notice the F150 in the background when I took the picture, but I rather like that too.
The next street over from the Gladiator has this Satellite. Judging by the amount of rust on the roof roof, and the 5E license plate, this is a (relatively) recent California transplant. Either that or it spent quite a few years unregistered in a field.
This is a somewhat less desirable Mopar, but still pretty rare now. There’s also a mint daily-driven Omni around somewhere in the neighborhood, but it is apparently garaged as I have never seen it parked.
This Nova is certainly more interesting. Rather looks like a car from my high school parking lot. No, scratch that, this one’s too nice.
I love this generation of Chevy truck, though I would prefer a 67 Ford. But this one is kept up nicely and still used (see the stuff in the bed?). I am not as familiar with the numbering scheme for truck license plates, but I do think it has been re-registered relatively recently.
And now for something completely different… Three doors from the pickup lives this pair of Brits. I never realized just how small a Midget is until I saw it next to this B. I hope the B gets to live again.
Actually, *this* is my favorite car of the walk. It’s in great condition except for the hood paint. It lives in a house with another Nova and a more recent Mustang.
You can’t see it here, but there is a missing panel on the floor of the bed that covers what would be the back-seat fott well in a wagon version.
Oddly enough, this is registered as a truck. (“Car” license plates start with a number followed by three letters; while trucks have only the one letter.)
Even here in the land of minimal rust you don’t see many Rams of the pre “mini-18-wheeler” generation.
These first-gen Odysseys are pretty rare too, though their progeny are almost as ubiquitous as Explorers once were.
I’ll close with a pair of XJs. This white one is being slowly fixed up by my neighbor. I had its twin for a while, though without the lift kit and with a 5-speed.
This one’s a little rougher, but it will probably soldier on in our sunshine.
I hope you enjoyed my walk. Time to go eat some turkey!
That’s a 1969 chevelle malibu
The BMW is about an ’82. The ratty Mustang is quite a bit newer, about an ’89. Speaks volumes about their relative quality of materials.
Wrong BMW Supremacist. Think about what kind of owners each vehicle had before making sweeping generalizations.
I did keep that in mind! Material quality is just a simple fact. You might even say that your assumptions about the kind of owners that cars have are “sweeping generalizations”.
Chances are that BMW spent quite a bit more time in a garage.
Ah yes that rich German plastic sure is something… regardless of materials I bet the BMW cost and will continue to cost a whole lot more in maintenence to keep running than the Mustang. Pretty much the reason most old BMWs are in the great junkyard in the sky and Foxbodies are still Lego kits for car enthusiasts.
Holy mother of thanksgiving miracles! Junqueboi has come out of hibernation!
Junqueboi, good to see you back!
JB: I see you are back, and tweakier than ever.
And how does your sweeping generalization have anything to do with paint fade from the sun? Different owners affects paint fade??
If you want to simply state that you think the Mustang had better material quality and paint than the BMW, feel free to do so. But not with name calling another commenter. That’s a no-no here, and puts your comment in risk of being moderated.
The ‘Stang is red. Notorious for chalking and fading faster than pretty much anything else. All that car needs is a paintjob and some decent looking wheels to be a slick ride. Fox 5.0s still get plenty of respect.
I like Bimmers too, but whats the appeal of a smoke grey 4 door? If that’s your bag, you can get that at literally ANY car dealership in the country.
I can respect your admiration for 2-door over 4-door cars, but saying that a 35 year old 7-series is the same as a current Altcamcordion is kind of a stretch. The BMW is interesting in a survivor context, and as an artifact of what was a premium sports sedan in the early 80’s. Plus rarity–I can probably count on one hand how many E23 BMW’s I’ve seen in the past few years. Far rarer than its chronological counterparts E24 and late E21/early E30, also rarer than the 1602/2002 from what I’ve seen.
That BMW could be as late as an ’85, BTW, but there is no way it’s as late as 1990.
It could be but BMW discontinued the (7 series) E23 after the 1986 model year.
The Malibu, Satellite, and Nova are my favorites. The Satellite likely had a vinyl top at one time, which is why the roof is so rusty now. Looks like mostly surface rust though.
+1 on the Satellite
Yes, even in CA, vinyl tops tend to do that to cars. Just one of the reasons why I hate them 🙂
Agreed. AND a vinyl roof on pretty much any beefy 2 door just looks kind of dumb to my Gen X eyes. Slicktop, please.
Slicktop and no sunroof – both deal breakers for me. Very eclectic neighborhood. On a side note – what differentiates a ’68 from a ’69 Chevelle?
The ’68 Chevelle had vent windows on the front doors, also the tailights are larger on the ’69. There are many other smaller changes inside and out.
I would have loved to have had this car stock with at least a 307 and a THM 350.
Iirc, Chrysler did not paint under vinyl roofs beyond a thin coat of primer. Once the vinyl came off, sun and rain did the rest.
I wouldn’t moan about most of these, but would put the V8s at the top, followed by the 6s….with the BMW being a “wild card” of sorts. I have always wanted an early 7 series but with a very rare manual transmission.
I used to live near the bay area of northern California, and still miss seeing all the nice older cars on the roads.
That El Camino is sweet
I was hurrying off to eat turkey as I wrote this…. The reason I bothered to mention the ElCamino being registered as a truck is that both of the Cherokees are registered as cars. Apparently you have some flexibility…
You do. It’s actually a “commercial vehicle” plate (One number, One letter, more numbers). All pickups are that way and if you have a wagon or SUV, MAYBE a hatchback depending on the DMV employee you get…you can elect to register it that way. But not a sedan. Our old Sienna minivan came to us that way and we had the choice to continue it. The registration is more than if you did it as a passenger car, it is based on weight, BUT you are allowed to use Yellow loading/unloading zones. This comes in VERY handy if for example you are a salesperson in San Francisco or somewhere else that has minimal and expensive short term parking.
Oh, and here’s a picture of the Nova that lives with the El Camino:
I’ll take this Nova Coupe please .
It appears to be another stripper , prolly has a wheezy old 250 i6 that smokes & pisses oil out every joint , I’ll whip it into good road shape in two weeks and run the fricking wheels off it =8-) .
Lotsa nice cars here , as much as I dislike the new Cali white plates , seeing them means one more not junked and back on the Open Road where it belongs .
-Nate
What a nice collection of cars and licenseplates.cc will help with the truck plates. UV damage is obvious in many of these photos and even though I like patina I would repair the roof of that Satellite so no holes develop. Wonder if it had a vinyl roof because I cannot think of any other way the roof would accumulate so much patina.
I think the chrome strip at the base of the C-pillar on a Mopar of this era would indicate a vinyl roof. Wasn’t this the start of fuselage-think?
I’d like that Gladiator in good nick for a trip to some of the more remote parts of the country. Interesting range of cars.
Many of these photos wouldn’t have been possible if Californians used garages for their intended purpose.
House or property plans have changed because of the automobile; older homes have one-car garages or a narrow driveway going past the side to a garage in the back, where carriage houses used to be, or else the rear garage is reached from an alley. Now, the front is dominated by two- or even three-car garages; that reflects cultural priorities.
Note that NONE of these houses have basements or usable attic space, that definitely causes some of it (the using of garages as storage). Most other locales have the same two or three-car garage frontage but usually with basements, especially in colder climate states.
I imagine the concrete slab expedited construction in the postwar West Coast housing boom, though at first, many houses had at least a crawl space underneath.
We Americans need a Place to Keep Our Stuff (per George Carlin), things we hardly ever use, but won’t get rid of.
Where I live, people think nothing of leaving a $40,000 car out in the hot sun and rain so they can store $400 worth of junk in their garages.
I’m in California and a garage is for one thing only… cars. I may collect some car parts which are organized in shelves along the walls. Well lets say lots of car parts big and small ones in parts bins.
By the way where was it 90 degrees and only 5% humidity. I lived in San Diego between 1967-77 and the only time there was 5% humidity was during a Santa Anna. Especially since the weather in San Diego proper is low 70’s and high humidity.
He specifically said it was a Santa Ana (fire danger).
Relative humidity is not the best indication of comfort, which is better measured by the dew point. San Diego is considered to have just about the most comfortable climate in the US, because it has (good) humidity at lower temperatures, but moderate-low humidity when the temps get high. That’s what makes it feel comfortable, regardless of whether it’s cool or hot.You’ll never find hot and humid days there, or cold and dry ones.
I moved from Iowa to SD, and I thought I’d gone to heaven. Best weather ever.
Actually it must have been the high pressure system that was over most of California. When I checked, since San Diego to me is the coastal area, and not El Cajon to the west or Escondido to the north it was mid-80’s and just low humidity.
As for San Diego I know it like the back of my hand after spending 10 years there from 8th grade through SDSU, body surfing at MB, PB and La Jolla Shores, while covering the county, from San Ysidro to Oceanside, in one of my many different company cars calling on Luckys, FedMart, Vons, Alpha Beta and Safeway..
I hate to see a house with a forward-facing two car garage, let alone three. The worst are the narrow houses that are dominated by garage door, with the entrance set back–it just emphasizes the fact that we are afraid to venture out into the world outside of our transportation pods.
I’d love a two or three car garage, but I’d prefer it side-entrance or detached. When I look at a house, I want to see the house, not a blank expanse of vinyl with tiny little windows at the top. Give me a nice front porch any day.
(Rant over.)
The Nova is my favorite Chevrolet. They really got the proportions right. The lines are so clean.
Im pretty anti-Chevy but agreed. The colors and the Cragars make that car really look ‘right’.
@Neil: so right about the garages. My neighborhood is from the mid-70’s, so it slightly predates the “garage home” style that started in the 80’s, where the 3 car garage is almost all you can see from the street.
But another factor is that there is no basement or even crawl space, so garages are mostly for storage and/or home workshops. In a 3 car garage, the 3rd bay is a “California basement”.
There are several new suburban communities near here that have returned to using rear garages accessed from alleys. Everything old is new again or something…
That’s the predominant style in my neighborhood and most of the other older neighborhoods near downtown–if there is a garage, it’s a one or two-car accessed from an alley. From the garage you emerge in the backyard. It’s really nice not only from hiding the garage door, but also in that when you walk along the street, you’re not walking across driveways and having to look out for cars turning in and out. Plus it does promote CC viewing, especially given that in most cases if it’s not in the garage, it’s on the street as there is no driveway per se.
I so hate southern California… grrrrrr… Can I sell you guys some road salt 😀 ?
Those are XJ Cherokees, not YJs. Jeep YJs are Wranglers.
d’oh.
Fixed. I should have caught it last night, but I was feeling a bit soporific. 🙂
A ZJ is the first gen Grand Cherokee, btw.
The pictures remind me of why I enjoy travelling to southern California. No shortage of interesting, well preserved cars.
Enjoyed all the pictures and now its time for me to shovel 25 centimetres of snow around my yard.
Have a great Thanksgiving weekend down there!
The clear signals on the Odyssey actually give it away as the much rarer Isuzu Oasis.
It seems to have a gold Honda badge on the back though, no?
Great pics, and I’m always green with envy seeing photos of SoCal. I’d love to drive my old girl all year long, with no tin worm fear. I try to tell myself its not worth it because of the emissions testing, but I don’t believe myself haha.
Favorite of the lot is the E23 7. I don’t see those anymore, but its really cool how it looks like a 4-door E24. Rather, the E24 looks like a 2-door E23.
I wish you did a full shoot, but maybe that would come later?
What a lineup! Tastier than any Thanksgiving spread, IMHO.
That Gladiator is just BEGGING for a resto. FSJ’s are some of the best looking pickups ever built to my eye. They just look that little bit different…very rugged and beastly, yet gorgeous at the same time.
I cant be the only one with some love for that 1st gen Ram. Granted, I had one as my first ride (via my dad) but they just look good at every angle. With a little more black, the bodystyle actually looks good in white.
I like the look of that Elky. Im a sucker for turquoise and Torq Thrust D’s.
The Satellite really needs some love. With the right paintjob and wheels, that car would be a stunner.
@tbm3fan – I’m in Poway, far enough inland to be 10° + warmer than the airport right on the water. The Santa Ana had indeed calmed down but the high pressure kept it warm and dry. The temp was actually 87 (I rounded up to
annoytease those of you in colder climes), but my weather station really couldn’t register a humidity at all.Nice assortment! I have visited San Diego a few times, and recall drooling over the stuff for sale there on CL.
The 67 C10 is a beauty, looks better than new. Also really like the brown Nova. The dry climate prevents rust, but the sun is hard on the paint and interior. Brother built a cabin up by Mt. Palomar around 1990. I was visiting him last November and we took a hike, the extended drought is really taking it’s toll on the trees up there. Seems to be turning into a desert. Folks lived in Oceanside in a nice over 55 retirement community, and the first few years the neighborhood was really nice. Laws were later passed turning the neighborhood into an all ages community, and low income apartments quickly sprang up. After the house had been broken into twice, and jewelry that was in our family for over 100 years and my Dad’s WW2 medals were stolen, among many other things, they sold the house and moved into what would be their final home in Washington state. A week before the move (in 1985), the 1970 Ford Econoline van my dad bought for his over 55 softball team was stolen. It was recovered and the damaged wiring was repaired 3 days before they moved. Still, parts of San Diego are beautiful. They never regretted the move, and I moved near them in 1997 from LA and was able to buy a nice house for under 100k. I’m here to stay.
Personal favorites are probably the Gladiator and that beautiful C10, though I can also find room for the El Camino, the Satellite, and the 733i.
Those 2-door Blazers of the 90’s were always great-looking trucks. Never drove or rode in one, but knowing GM at the time, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a swoopy new body based on outdated mechanicals and a plastic fantastic interior…
Plastic fantastic interior is right. I recall lots of potentially useful little cubbies, but with Revell-model-quality plastic.