It’s turning into a roughly annual thing, for me to dump out of my iPhone all of the interesting cars I photographed from the driver’s seat of my car. Scout’s honor, I always do it either from a complete stop, or when I’m going slowly and there’s no traffic around. There was definitely traffic around when I fell in behind this Model T! I’ve never seen one on the road before, and then this one passed right through my neighborhood. I have no idea what the message on the spare tire cover is about.
It’s also not often I come up behind a sixth-generation Ford Thunderbird.
I shot the bird in motion last summer, but last month while taking a morning walk I found it parked right across the street from my house! This family cycles through cars pretty fast, usually Tauruses and the like. Lately some more interesting cars have turned up here, like the Escort wagon and that Fox Mustang.
This Prius is certainly not a Curbside Classic yet, but the interesting juxtaposition of messaging on its tail caused me to stare in puzzlement and wonder. It’s not an obvious conflict to love God and also enjoy guns. I hope this fellow doesn’t somehow conflate the two, however. And the last place I’d expect to see both messages is on the back of a Prius for heaven’s sake.
Late RWD X bodies are uncommon here in Rustopia, and so I was pleased to find this three-light Chevy (Concours? Nova Sport?) waiting to turn left.
I was extra pleased to find this ’65 Ford Galaxie convertible cruising down a major artery in town. I was so pleased I broke my usual rule and am showing the car a little bit hidden in traffic. Such cars have largely passed out of driver status here.
I have an unrequited love for the humble Omnirizon. Their tidy design has always appealed to me. I remember these having great visibility, which I especially value in this era of gunslit windows and tree-trunk A pillars. And I’ve always had a “thing” for hatchbacks: so useful. Yes, this car ticks all the boxes for me. I know I can admit that here with no shame.
I couldn’t believe it when I pulled up next to this Celebrity at a stoplight. The Buick and Olds FWD A bodies became Roaches of the Road™, but the Pontiac and especially the Chevy versions have all but disappeared. I’m sure it’s in part because they ceased production before the others. But Chevy cranked out Celebrities by the gazillions back in the day. They were everywhere. Now they’re nowhere. Except at this light.
Does the Saturn L-Series qualify for CC status yet? They went out of production almost 13 years ago.
The seventh-generation Buick Riviera definitely qualifies. These were probably very nice small luxury-ish cars; I’ve never been in one to know for sure. And I know this is an old trope around here, but did this really have to wear the Riviera name? Kind of like the Mustang II wasn’t a terrible car in a vacuum but it lacked the qualities that made it a Mustang.
I admit it: I photograph cars at lights just because I know I’ll collect them eventually into another Spotted While Driving post. When I put one of these posts together I’m always struck by the volume and variety of CCs I see plying local roads. Otherwise I’d probably think there aren’t that many classics being driven anymore. And any way you look at it, a Rabbit GTI convertible has become a classic.
I photographed this Skylark in the parking lot at my nearby Walmart. I wasn’t driving, but in my defense this car was about to take off and I had just seconds to act. Notice how the ends of the bumper are a little droopy? Remember how common an affliction this was on these Skylarks?
Finding this Citation coupe felt like a Holy Grail moment for me. Hatchback Citations are rare enough these days. But the coupes, which were never remotely as popular as the hatches when new, are hen’s teeth. I watched it roll by as I waited to turn out of my subdivision one morning. It was surprisingly speedy. I had to drive seriously extralegal speeds to catch up to it.
Time was, plain-Jane Blazers were enormously common. Today, it seems like SUVs are like the Ford LTDs of yore: basic platforms all dressed in their Sunday best.
And what’s a Spotted While Driving without at least one Panther? And an early one at that.
Wrapping up this installment is this slightly rusty Volvo 240 wagon. Here’s another car I dream of owning. So reliable, so spacious, so danged useful. I like useful cars.
Related reading:
My previous Spotted While Driving posts: here, here, and here.
Wow, that’s a mix. I found a Model T in our neighborhood, but haven’t caught it curbside. It tends to hide in the garage and come out only once or twice a year.
And the Prius, that’s a real head scratcher all right, clearly not reading the same book as me, maybe the driver has consulted Brother Maynard and the Book of Armaments.
The Prius has become popular enough here in SC that my children play “Punch Prius” in the car. I have seen a few with all kinds of incongruous seeming stickers plastered all over the tail end and it does make a person look twice.
It’s a shame they have become politicized as they are good little cars.
I don’t think they are much politicized any more. Initially they were basically status symbols for people flaunting their particular political and/or environmental bent. At this point though hybrids in general have been around long enough that they are just another part of the landscape. You buy one if it fits your needs/wants and makes economic sense. Pure electrics seem to have taken over as the “political statement” vehicle of choice and that will pass as well in time.
My own take on the Prius is that if you painted it brown it would look like a cockroach. (A line I recall from a decades-old road test of the Datsun B210!)
My carpool buddy is pretty conservative politically, but comparing my Civic’s 39 mpgs to his V6 4×4 Tacoma has him wanting an eco commuter, and he’d take a Prius. The gas mileage plus the reliability the Prius has displayed impress him, and me too, actually.
Meanwhile, here in Texas
WOW. Didn’t expect those particular bumper stickers!
Love it.
To return the world to spinning in it’s normal axis, here’s a more typical Texas, uhm, ‘bumper sticker’ that I spotted while driving not too long ago
I’m thinking maybe a rural male owner who bought it to commute into work in the city and got so much guff from his buds for it that he covered the back in God-and-guns stickers so they’d stop.
LoL, ? I see over compensation there too!
I am not terribly religious, However I am a firearms enthusiast (mostly WW2 Allied rifiles Lee-Enfield,Mosin, Springfield ,Garand..) I would NEVER equate my guns with my family…. My family is significantly louder! ?
The GTI/Rabbit convertible was never a thing. As far as I know, they were all called Cabriolets. I’m guessing someone switched the badges.
I thought that was the case, because I certainly never recalled a convertible being an option with an early (or later, for that matter) GTI. Not that it wasn’t possible to add a few parts here or there and make one at home.
I thought of creating a “Plymouth Sundance Convertible” using a Dodge Spirit. No real reason to move “down-market” except to be the only one to have one! ?
They were badged Rabbit (Convertible) ’80-’84. In 1985 the Rabbit name was retired with the introduction of the MK2 Golf. So in 1985 they were rebadged Cabriolet. GTI’s were never built as a drop top. This applies to USA models.
Funny about the Celebrities — I hadn’t seen one in months, and then in the past two weeks, I’ve spotted two of them.
The car on the left is a stripped-down 1986 model, and was in very good condition. The car on the right is a better-equipped 1989 Celebrity, but was in much worse condition.
The Citation is quite a find there! I think I would have been tempted to drive at extralegal speeds to catch it!
90% of the ones I see here in the Middle West are also missing the hubcaps…
Spotting a Celebrity or a 6000 is becoming a “rare treat”, OTOH, Their Buick and Oldsmobile brethren are still “dime a dozen”, I saw one of each this morning!
Oh, my goodness! That medium grey Celebrity is EXACTLY the same I owned before! Same hubcaps as well.
I added the side turn signal repeaters from Lancia because I was so tired of people failing to see really, really tiny lamps blinking in the side reflector and running lamps when the lane changes occurred.
While I was on modding streak, I added Hella 100/130w H4 and 100w H1 headlamps. I know Daniel Stern would scold me for not beefing up the electrical system and relays, but I took risk.
Not satisfied with my modding work, I split the taillamp circuitry to separate the turn and brake signals. No least-common-denominator function here.
I hated how the seat back leaned so far back. I swapped the check-shaped braces between sides, which improved the position. While I was on the go, I removed the part from the seat belt rewinders. That eliminated the ‘comfort setting’ that caused the seat belts to sag If you lean forward, forcing you to jerk it quickly to pull back.
Hmm, let’s see what else. Yeah, I had wanted to change the colour of turn signal indicators to amber in the taillamps. However, my car had enough of me and my German driving mentality. The engine popped the gasket, and the antifreeze fluid found its way into the oil pan, whipping up a split pea soup. Goodbye, Celebrity…
I’d be reluctant to use almost any pre war car as a DD, But the current round of construction in Pittsburgh left traffic in parts so slow that a Model T is doable. ?
Assuming the spare cover refers to a model t (tin lizzy) tattoo or meet.
I was thinking the T was used as a rolling billboard for a tattoo shop. It wouldn’t be a bad way to draw in the attention.
Speaking of Citation coupes, I had one pass me on the highway the other day, the same blue color as the one pictured above, but it was an X-11! Even more amazing is that it was mint. I’d love to hear the story behind it.
I haven’t seen any FWD X bodies on the road in at least 10 years….I think. However, I have found 3 different early 80s Skylarks on different Craigslists in the last year. Most recently I found a 4 door that must be a step below a Limited (was that a Skylark trim level?) as it has a V6 with the obligatory automatic transmission and full power accessories.
Yes, “Limited”was used as a Skylark trim level. In Buick parlance of the era, “Custom” was the base level, Limited was the “luxury” level and there’s the “T-TYPE” sporty level. if the Skylark you saw was a “stripper” it was a “Custom”. I believe the “Limited” out sold it.
X Bodies are getting rare here too. But I saw (but not shot) a Skylark on the go the other day that I hadn’t seen before.
Nice collection!
I have actually seen a couple of Model Ts out on the road over the last several years. They are always a treat to see in action – pure machine and nothing more.
At least you caught the Omnirizon with the sun at the right angle. One of those nearly blinded me on the interstate once when the sun hit that flat back glass at just the right (wrong) angle.
You are right on that Skylark bumper. Did Buick ever build a single one where the complex curvatures of the bumper and the rear deck/quarter sheetmetal lined up correctly? Perhaps in prototype stage, but I don’t ever recall seeing one in the wild.
The Oldsmobiles of that era, especially the late 60’s full size shared the same problem as the Buick. Their bumpers never fitted properly. Even their advertising depicted strangely disjointed fit and finish, as if by design. As a kid, I thought they all had bern in minor accidents. As an adult I think it was a visual quirk or illusion of their design.
I also think it’s sort of an optical “illusion” veiwed “dead on”, it isn’t as “bad”, but at an angle it looks “off” – every last one to the same degree!
What bothers me more on that Buick is that strip of trim that droops down in a weird awkward way…it matches literally no other line on the car. Im not sure if the fender skirts (missing from this car) hurt or help.
I usually don’t take pics while driving either, but it was very light traffic & I’d never seen a barn-find-looking Cobra on the road before
Looks like real racecar patina. Very cool.
Or is it faux-tina?
I passed it after I took the photo, it looked properly ratty to me
WOW! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one on the road that wasn’t a reproduction! (At least since the ’70s).
I’m not convinced that’s not a replica with the various colors under the peeling gold paint – one side is the ubiquitous blue the other side and trunklid seems to be primer, or even bare fiberglass(which would rule it out being real right there). Still, that’s much cooler to see randomly driven about. My favorite movie as a kid was gumball rally and my memory of that used and abused REAL 427 Cobra, devoid of stripes and racing livery so common on restored real ones and clones alike, was the coolest thing in the world to me.
The odds of it being an original are profoundly low. Looks like an older reproduction. That dark patch on the right rear fender looks like fiberglass repair. The originals had aluminum bodies.
That is the real deal, it is a famous car. Originally gold, it was repainted blue, and most of the blue has been removed to reveal the original (and ratty) goldish color. It recently stole the show at a big car show covered by some of the car blogs.
Dutch is absolutely right, it is the real thing – an unrestored 1965 427 S/C which, despite appearances, is in very good original condition.
Here’s a write up at Hemmings.com:
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/01/17/unrestored-1965-cobra-427-sc-turns-up-at-petersen-museum-cruise-in/
Impressive!
I went out for a quick drive yesterday evening and I was following a Model T, I think. It had the fabric top and hanging on the back was this metal box that a pre-teen kid was sitting in. And being hockey mad Edmonton, it had a giant Oilers flag on one side that kept whipping in the kids face and an inflatable shark (for San José) on the other.
It’s my guess that there will be occasionally commuted-in Model Ts and As long after most of the roaches of the road are extinct.
I am also unsurprised by the Prius. I’ve looked into both it and the Tesla. My petroleum-industry-paycheck and politics don’t trump good financial sense.
I’ve seen a lot of “A”s in driver’s condition on the road. (In city streets,or two lane roads). “T”s OTOH require the truly committed driver (in both sences ?) given their….. Unique….. Controls…. Hat’s off to the “T” driver in modern traffic at any speed above 30Mph! ?
Point of clarification.
The three-some shot up top shows a “New Edge” Mustang. Which is of course based on a modified Fox body platform. In other words it’s not really a Fox body Mustang. That label is generally used on Mustangs from 79-93.
I draw a sort of distinction between using the terms Foxbody Mustang and Fox Mustang. To me the original 79 to 93s are the Foxbody, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the 94-04s can’t be called foxes, since the platform underneath is almost entirely unchanged(no more so than a Fox Mark II or Thunderbird, etc.). Plus it gets murky in the 94-04 years because the technical and popular designation for them is SN95, but there are a faction of people who only call 94-98s SN95s and 99-04s New Edges(which I vehemently oppose since it has nothing to do with the platform, only styling).
It’s all very random, the Panther came out at nearly the exact same time as the Fox and was called Panther to the end of the line in 2012(?), and they went through substantial chassis and suspension revisions, much more extensive ones than the Fox/SN95s did over the years at that. Then look at the broad brush to classify first generation Mustangs as… first generation Mustangs. A full body and chassis inspection between a 65 and a 73 model would probably seem more extensive than doing the same between a 79 and a 04 if you exclude the engines used in them.
I agree, I’m not the resident Ford expert, But I believe it’s more “Fox” than not!?
Also true the Panthers had many changes over time, but still was the same basic platform. Just as did the “Falcon” platform and the Mopar “B” bodies before (hell, I consider the Mopar “R” to be a “B”!) Styling change alone does not change the basic platform.
Good points worth noting. Thanks, I have been enlightened once again.
Welks, as the “kids” might say.?
The Ford “Fox” & Ford “Falcon” platforms and the Mopar “B” platform facinate me just from the sheer number of different TYPES of cars they supported!
Although the Panther had the longest run, They were all “regular” sedans/wagons.
Half the “sport” of carspotting is keeping track of these platforms ?! Some day I’d like to write a book on just the A/B/C/D GM RWD platforms from 1936-96!
Cheers ?
Didn’t have my camera handy (and I don’t have one of those infernal smart phones), saw a ’72 Gran Torino Sport cruising down the street.
The Skylark pre-bent rear bumper is exactly the reason I dislike the 68 & 69s and like the 70s. There are actually a surprising amount of surviving ones here in the Chicago suburbs, and the bumpers look bad on both mint restorations and rust buckets(not patina here LOL)
Hmm, we don’t exactly have any Model T daily drivers around here, but I see them on the road a few times a year; Model A’s are a bit more common. There are a few local A and B based rods that I see several times a month, in traffic with everyone else, or parked on the street, not at Cars and Coffee or a show.
“Notice how the ends of the bumper are a little droopy? ” – Just like this example. It just happens to be residing in my garage right now 😉 . And yes someday when I have addressed the myriad of other things the rear bumper will be next. At least I got it for free from a friend who was less mechanically inclined and tired of moving it around with him from place to place.
pure speculation here. tattoo was a bugle call in military. taps is a variant of it. could the T’s wheel cover be a military reference we youngsters just dont “get”?