I think it’s because they built a new grocery store right around the corner of my house that I’m not finding as many old parked cars to photograph. You see, probably half the cars I’ve written about here have been parked in the lot at the Meijer nearest me. Meijer is a Midwestern big box store, kind of like a Walmart Supercenter but slightly nicer. This Meijer’s location on the edge of the ‘hood makes it a great place to find curbside classics. But it takes me 15 minutes to get over there versus just four minutes to the sparkling new grocery in my neighborhood. Guess where I’ve been shopping most of the time. And it’s relegated me to getting butt shots of old cars while I’m waiting at stoplights. At least it’s been a rich harvest, boldly led by this R-body Chrysler New Yorker.
Cutlass Supreme sedans like this droopy-bumpered example are almost as rare as that New Yorker in these parts.
Citations are even rarer, but I’ve seen this one on the roads near my house several times over the past few years. It must live near me.
I don’t think I’d call the W123 Mercedes exactly rare, but you still don’t often see one on your way home from work, as I did this day.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Monte Carlo of this generation on the road. This one looks like the ones in my high-school parking lot in the 1980s: butt lifted into the air, rocking fat rear tires.
Actually, this was a common sight in my high-school parking lot, too: a bunch of guys under the hood of a car that had somehow gone inert during the school day.
This Mustang was in primo condition. I got a good, solid look at it as it passed me as we both headed toward downtown.
Sometimes while waiting at a light, I spot an old car parked but lack the time to stop for a proper photo shoot. So it went for this LeSabre. A couple months later, I spotted it in a different part of town with a For Sale sign in its window.
While on an errand at the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, I spotted this first-gen Camry and a holy-cow-when-was-the-last-time-you-saw-one Bronco II. It cracks me up that the Camry isn’t quite as tall as the bed of the Toyota truck beyond it.
Finally, while near Noblesville as the sun set a couple weeks ago I spotted CC City. That Lincoln is a long way from home.
Oh man, I want that LeSabre bad. Probably want too much though.
I have never liked the Mark V’s. Give me a Mark III or IV any day.
I like them all, but I think the Mk V was a very successful restyle of the Mk IV.
The updating, with crisp, clean lines and less ornamentation was just perfect for the times.
But I will say the one-year-only ’72 front end was the best of the lot. The 5 mph bumper in ’73 and up made a mess of things.
I never minded the 5mph bumpers. I just don’t like the fact the Mark V has flush mounted bumper sides and was no quieter or smoother riding than the much cheaper Thunderbird. I own a 79 T-Bird and have ridden in a Mark V and there is no difference. In fact according to period road tests I have the Mark V was one decibel louder than the T-shirt. And a whopping 5 decibels louder than the 79 Rivera. Which was also less expensive.
I’ve never ridden in one, but I think the Mark V is a better-looking car than its predecessor. The long, wide body works well with the razor edges. The ’72 Mark IV does have nice details, but once it got the 5 MPH bumpers, no thanks.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree. I just simply don’t like the Mark V’s.
I’ve always liked generation Buick LeSabre.
License plate on the New Yorker: 319RT
Almost sounds like an option package for that LA engine. 😉
Also liked the colonnade Monte, except the Hugh Jass wheels.
Ha, that was my first thought on that Chrysler’s license plate: You got a typo on the 318, and it sure isn’t an R/T. 🙂
Awesome collection, Jim! That ’72 LeSabre looks like the one in Jason Shafer’s recent CC Fiction piece. Like in your experience, those Colonnade Montes were also in my H.S. parking lot. Those R-Body New Yorkers still look great in 2016.
My favorite thing about Meijer: the Purple Cow, where you could get hot doughnuts pretty much 24-seven, and a free ice cream cone on your birthday.
Meijer came to Indiana too late for the Purple Cow to have been a part of my experience. But in the last year or so, Purple Cow branded ice cream replaced Meijer ice cream in the freezer cases.
LeSabre for me, please.
Great variety (for the midwest, anyway.) It is funny that I have seen a lot of CC material in the parking lot of the nearest grocery store. Maybe you will see more decent ones when the weather warms.
The yellow Monte in the 1970s version of “assume the position” is a little new from my experience, as it was all 69 Chevelles that looked like that with butt in the air and fat back tires. The Monte was what the mothers of those Chevelle boys were driving.
You remind me that I have a growing collection of “caught in traffic CCs” that I need to mine for a post or three.
That looks like a full size early 90s bronco in the front and a bronco 2 in the back… Or I’m seeing things
No, you’re on the right track. The Bronco II and Ranger received a facelift in 1989 that could best be described as a cross between the current F-Series/Bronco and the upcoming 1992 F-Series/Bronco.
The one thing I liked about the 89 restyle was the new instrument cluster. I absolutely hated the 88 and earlier ones with their kindergarten sized lettering.
According to 15Q.net Arizona used to be a two plate state so it makes sense that Lincoln has a front plate on it. Also, how could you miss the Aspire in the background?
Good collection of vehicles indeed including about three I have seen in the past week in Portland, OR and here is a MasterAce from the Hoosier State.
Oh, I didn’t miss the Aspire. Or the big bloodmobile/bookmobile thing behind it, or the bus. That’s why I called that shot CC City!
Damn I never see anything that interesting here, I don’t think I’d even regognize the R body unless I got a look at the emblems, I’d probably follow it around and go out of my way until I figured it out lol
That jacked up Monte Carlo completely appeals to my inner white trash desires, my almost first car(a 76 Cougar) had the exact stance with slot mags. I have to admit I still think that stance/tire wheel combo looks cool, it can make the dowdiest car look tough. Sadly the custom stances people my age are into is hellaflush, which is just ridiculous looking.
That Mustang is a 70 Boss 302 unless it’s a clone btw, love that color combo
The Cutlass brings back memories of childhood when they were still relatively common older used cars, I swear, droopy bumpers were equally as common with those as droopy headliners
Why do you think the bumper droops?
I don’t know, maybe GM used the same glue to hold them to the frame as they did to hold headliners to the backer? 😀
Headliner sagging isn’t exclusive to GM. Most 70’s and 80’s big 3 had this issue with the felt headliners. I just looked at a clean 1980’s M-body Fifth Ave New Yorker a few weeks ago. Not only was the headliner coming unglued but so was virtually ever cloth covered piece in that car including the A-pillar covers, the rear window blank outs and the cloth behind that where the courtesy lights lived. It was a nice car but the interior was a shambles.
Rust attacks the mounts behind the bumper. Many a “Federal Bumper” was held onto the car via bungee cord back in the day, at least here in the rust belt.
I did a lot of driving in the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s and saw a lot of droopy bumpers and no bumpers on GM cars. Occasionally I’d spot one on the shoulder of the highway or against the Jersey barrier in the middle. I did see one fall off too. It was held on by a bungee cord on one side when the other side let go.
Many years ago I saw a 78-83 gm wagon in downtown New Bedford ma with the bumper dragging on the cobblestones and emitting sparks
Even that Ford Aspire in the background of the Lincoln is very rare in my neck of the woods.
I thought they were rare, too, but I’ve found two parked, and wrote them both up here. Search and you’ll find the posts!
I’m with everybody on the LeSabre! I’m a huge Buick fan (it sort of came out of nowhere about a year or two ago) and even though I’ve owned a 1976 Chevy Caprice Classic Coupe, I feel like the LeSabre of this generation is a completely different car. I guess it just looks so much classier.
Like your Caprice. I have my grandma’s 74 Impala Sport Coupe.
Matt, didn’t you post a COAL (Cars Of A Lifetime) on your Impala? I tried to find it, but couldn’t.
I sure did! Here’s the link: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/coal-capsule/coal-1976-chevy-caprice-classic-coupe-cheap-transportation/
Here in Portland it seems like every third car is a classic! Really kind of amazing when you see a steady stream of 30 year old plus cars in daily use.
Agreed!
Up until about 5-6 years ago 2 of them were mine, 1970 Sport Fury & 1972 Dodge Camper 9000 pick up. The Dodge was one of the most obscure models of Dodge pickups, everything was specific to that model which was rated at 9000 lbs from the factory. It had 8 lug wheels, but normal 8 lug wheels would not fit because the studs were 5\8. It had front disk brakes that the pads were specific to that truck. I had them relined every 15,000 miles because the rotors were turned way undersized, new or even good used rotors were unobtainable because the spindle diameter and the holes for the lugs matched nothing else The highest I went over the scales with it was with a Dodge PU box trailer was over 13,500 lbs, both loaded to the gills. Also it had two gas tanks with a common filler in the side behind the drivers door which filled the old standard behind the seat tank and the one mounted below in the frame rails. The dash switch let you select which tank to use and the dash gas gauge worked on whichever tank was selected.
Great finds, especially for the Rust Belt! 🙂 Or has that moved further north due to global warming?
Cue the outrage about the global warming hoax!
The drooping bumper on the Cutlass indicates the right rear frame rail is rusted through and no longer attached to the frame. The bumper bracket is still attached to the rusted part of the frame though. A very common thing with these A/G bodies that lived in the rust belt. Back when these were becoming cheap used cars, and I still lived in NY, it was common to see the drooping bumper, bumpers held on with chains, duct tape, bungee cords, rope, or any other thing someone could conjure up.
Easily avoided by washing said frame rails out at the end of each Winter. I used to wash mine out and the dirt and crud that blew out was amazing. Never had a compromised frame on any of my Winter driven A/G-body cars by doing this even when they were 12-15 years old.
I was not able to get a pic, but last October on I20 in Dallas there was a late 20, early 30 something girl driving a green 73 version of the LeSabre. She looked happy enough. And the car was clean. Not restored, but still nice looking.
Must be something about light blue Citation sedans that made them endure. There is an old man that drives a mint condition light blue Citation just like the featured car that I see all the time. And it is the ONLY Citation that I ever see. Can’t remember the last one other than the aforementioned light blue one in these parts.
Back in 2014 there was a yellow Citation with V6 for sale at a garage sale for $400. It actually ran ok, at least in the driveway. Wife wouldn’t let me buy ANOTHER car, so I didn’t test drive it. So there are some non blue ones out there.
Not all blue citations have survived. North of Claude Tx on US 287.
I commented on this one a week or so ago in a post about Thunderbirds. I spotted this “Bullet Bird” on my way to work that very morning. I thought it an anomaly, but I think the guy may be using it as his daily driver, as I saw it again this morning. Young dude wearing a ski hat both times. I wonder if he knows what he has or thinks it’s just another old car he could afford….
I’d hope he knows what he has, as those aren’t exactly cheap these days in good condition. And at 50+ years old it probably requires a higher standard of care than the “hey cool old car” buyer would tolerate.
I think he knows. When I spotted this car, I noticed that although not mounted on the bumper, he had Maryland “Historic” tags in the back window. The screen grab above is really crappy resolution, as I ‘try’ to save space on this server by reducing the size of the pictures I post to save server space here. The actual picture of this ‘Bird is posted in the comments on THIS Curbside Classic article and you can click on it an zoom in for a better image. The historic tags can be seen on the back deck.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/cc-outtake-1964-ford-thunderbird-flair-for-fodder/
The post is pretty far down, as I was late to the party.
Ironically, the very next day after that post (3/9/16), and then again this morning exactly two weeks later (3/23/16) I spotted THIS ’74 Caprice Convertible on the exact same commute between Baltimore and DC on I-95 South. It’s really nice to see these rare prizes in the wild still being used for the commute! Sorry for the image quality, but I really shouldn’t be taking pictures with my phone in some of the worst rush hour traffic in the nation….
A couple of weeks ago as my daughter was driving me around we pulled up behind a Pontiac Fiero at a stoplight. I can’t remember the last time I saw one, didn’t see that many even when they were new.
I own an ’88 Fiero notchie…pic below. Being a 4 cylinder automatic, it’s not the fastest, but is still a blast to drive.
Love that white ’76 Chevy Monte Carlo, I’ve always liked this era of the Monte Carlo’s a lot and my mother used to own one back in the mid 80’s.
That poor New Yorker. While it had a few charms relative to what was available on the market, Chrysler certainly was hamstrung by its resources at the time. I recall the details of seeing this car up close, and they could only appeal to (or be ignored by) the most loyal Chrysler buyer.
They sort of half sprung for a new back bumper to distinguish the New Yorker from the other “R” bodies. They moved the back-up lights into the bumper, but bolted the license plate to the bumper surface between the bumper guards instead of building a proper bumper with a plate nacelle as was customary at the time.
The typical “R” body bumper……
Not quite the same as the previous generation when Chrysler was the “Federalized” bumper expert……………..
The R bodies could be pretty good looking when new. One of my aunts had a ’79 Chrysler Newport that was white with a red vinyl (?) interior. I got to borrow it for my high school prom date in exchange for a good wash, wax and interior cleaning. Not a bad deal, since she always kept it nice, anyway.
Chrysler may have slipped a little with their bumper designs, but that car had a really attractive dash panel. Still used oil pressure, ammeter and temperature gauges, IIRC.
I agree they were pretty attractive! If I had money for it, I’d be sorely tempted by a 1979 New Yorker on Hemmings with 25,000 miles that apparently George Steinbrenner bought new for his mom! I don’t know the rules about posting links, but I copied the picture for those with similar taste…
I remember looking at these when they were new as a 10-11 year old at the Chrysler, Plymouth dealer nearby. Even when new build quality, fit and finish and interior materials were borderline crap. The plastic on the front and rear bumper surrounds warped almost instantly. The fake plastic cloth covered rear window blank outs were haphazardly attached and creaked when you pushed on them. The early examples also had such poor window glass fitment that I could poke my 10 year old finger out of the gap between glass and seal. Some cars even had what looked like wrinkled cloth on the A-pilars that didn’t get glued down properly. I once remember looking at one of the Dodge examples some time in 1982 at the same dealer and it was a left over last year 1981. it had a 318 engine. An old timer was looking at it and wanted to trade in his 1980 which had a Slant six and according to him was severely under powered. The problem was they were discounting the 1981 so much they could only give him under trade in for his. He ended up walking out!
I’ll take the New Yorker or the Mark V any day. They need some lovin’.
In the Bronco 2 picture, the telephone pole couldn’t be placed any better to illustrate my biggest beef against the styling of those wrap into the roof back windows. The lines in relation to the front windows are all wrong. The Ramcharger committed the same sin.
I feel lucky when I see an R-body Mopar which is usually once every couple of years. I’m almost certain that it’s only been the New Yorker. I’m not really sure if I’ve seen a R-body Gran Fury.
I do know that I have never seen a St. Regis. It might as well be the unicorn of cars as they’ve all been destroyed en masse in police action movies and have only been given three depressingly short production years. Seeing a running St. Regis (or even a non-running one, if so be it) is on my bucket list.
The notorious rustbucket Volares and Aspens outnumber the R-body. Oddly enough, the prior B-bodies seem a bit more common to me (I don’t know if it seems that way because my grandfather has a restored ’77 Fury), but those are definitely an endangered species by themselves.
It’s been beyond ages since I’ve seen an R-body of any kind, so that’s a nice spot. I remember seeing a light blue St. Regis around town when I was a kid, but few to none since then.
Still a handful of Bronco II’s around town, as well as RWD A/G-bodies. Saw a Cutlass Supreme sedan motoring down the road just yesterday.
I like this, please keep it up!
That W123 shouldn’t have the CHMSL in the back window…but at least it looks like a genuine MB part from a W124 model.
I would rock that LeSabre…even in that color. Get matching whitewalls and I’d be good to go.