(first posted 4/23/2018) I recently had to go to Laos for a couple of days, which is always a pleasure. It was one of the first countries I really explored when I came to Asia, and a trip there never fails to perk up the sprit. Lao people are very laid back. The town of Vientiane, on the north bank of the Mekong, is about as peaceful as South-East Asia gets. Alas, as I recalled from my last stay there, the pickings would be slim, CC-wise. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 4/10/2018) “What the hell is that?!” Brendan Saur exclaimed after I shared with him my latest find. What the hell, indeed. Even in the context of the European market, full of tall-boy wagons like the Renault Scenic and converted vans like the Citroen Berlingo, the Škoda Roomster was a curious creature. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 4/23/2018) If I were to pinpoint a specific year when the flagship Cadillac Division of General Motors lost its mojo (yet to be recovered), it would have to be 1981. Bad product planning choices and a catastrophic powertrain strategy conspired to deliver the unthinkable: Cadillacs were suddenly underpowered, much less reliable and increasingly out-of-style. The brand that had been a “no-brainer” choice for American status seekers no longer looked as compelling, with rivals closing in from all sides to lure away Cadillac’s customer base. Let’s go back to 1981 with some period reviews of Cadillac and key competitors to dissect how this disaster unfolded.
I’ve been shooting and posting Festivas since the earliest days of CC, when they had clearly established themselves as the shitbox of choice hereabouts. They were all over the place, like little baby roaches that wouldn’t and couldn’t be killed. The party has slowly wound down these past few years, to the point where seeing this one actually got me to stop. Are there any others still around?
The bright red paint and the owner-added decorations made it even more compelling. This festival will end, one of these days.
This week, the T87 files will be opened on the “1970s Detroiters” tab. Big hoods, huge engines, garish detailing and vinyl roofs – in glorious overabundance. Let’s start with something not too exaggerated, something relatively modest and restrained, albeit with a dash of style.
I’ve written plenty about having grown up in Flint, Michigan and my decades spent in beautiful Chicago, but there are entire chapters in between that were written in the Sunshine State. My first three years of college starting in the early ’90s were spent in Gainesville, Florida (go Gators!), which represented several significant life changes for me at the time. Not only was I no longer under my parents’ roof (that is, before I moved back for one year), but I was also in a different state and part of the United States. For the first time in my life, I felt like so many choices were mine alone to make. I had wanted freedom, and I got it. However, this also meant that I now had added responsibility. It was no longer up to me to simply come up with witty, sarcastic quips about things I was being forced to do and didn’t want to.
(first posted 4/9/2018) I ran into this article in the New Yorker last November, and found it to be an excellent look at the forces re-shaping the auto industry in the mid-late 70s, which were of course rising energy costs, government intervention, greater environmental/social consciousness, foreign competition, and globalization. The massive wave of downsizing that GM undertook starting in 1974 for the 1977-1980 model years, culminating with the FWD X-Cars, was the biggest industrial investment in the US since WW2, totaling over $20 billion (roughly $90 billion adjusted). It propelled GM’s market share and in the process almost bankrupted Ford and Chrysler. And it reshaped the entire industry in the 1980s, for better or for worse.
This article has interviews with the key decision makers, and brings a lot of insight and perspective to what were probably the most challenging years of the industry.
(first posted 4/22/2018) I recently posted about European microcars, which are still a thing. But mobility is a global issue – especially in rural areas, where motorized transport necessarily doubles up as a working implement. Thailand has developed an interesting and novel approach to the problem over the past decades, resulting in a unique cottage industry that is still thriving today.
CC reader John Kelley sent me these shots of this immaculate Jeep Gladiator parked at Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts just as the sun was slipping away. Not surprisingly, this Glad recently found its way to salty New England from Texas, which rather explains its condition.
There’s a bit of a surprise under the hood.
Photo from the Cohort by tbm3fan.
I occasionally think of music and cars, as in: What type of music would work with this car? And if one must think about it, many factors come into play to figure out a car’s proper soundtrack. After all, cars are a product of their time and each carries a certain essence. Plus, location plays a factor too.
The last is not an element that often comes into mind, but a defining one. In the tropics, where I currently live, it takes some getting used to listening to gloomy Pink Floyd records while driving. All that sun and brightness just work against lyrics like: “I have grown older, and you have grown colder, and nothing is very much fun anymore.”
I’ve mentioned a few times here on Curbside Classic that I have a great fondness for rental cars. My feelings are directly and proportionally related to my lack of fondness for owning new cars. Particularly as I’ve gotten older, wiser, and poorer (one of these things is not like the others, except in my case) the idea of making a commitment to shelling out good money for a vehicle that will rapidly depreciate (despite its being termed an “asset”) and grow inevitably and increasingly undependable on my dime is not at all something that I find desirable. On the other hand, for a couple hundred dollars, I can have that whole new-car experience for a handful of days; and at the end, I can just fly away with no commitments whatsoever. Many things in life should work this way, but don’t.
In short, I love rental cars. And sometimes they – or at least the rental car companies – love me back.
This 1962 Electra 225 Riviera sees a fair bit of the street here in Melbourne and I’ve managed to capture it on multiple occasions. I’ve also managed to meet its owner, who it turns out piloted half a Honda Z360 in the 1986 film Malcolm.
(first posted 5/8/2013) As we all know, boys in their teens tend to focus on two subjects- girls and cars. Since I graduated High School in 1979, the girls of my youth came wrapped in bright polyester, and the cars often came wrapped in mediocrity. As manufacturers budgeted money for mandated emissions and safety equipment, other areas of car design languished in the shadows. I recall reading about the new models for 1975 or 1976, and noting that “new” for most domestic manufacturers meant offering two tone paint options. These new paint designs and vinyl graphic packages were the automotive equivalent of polyester suits and attempted to distract from the aging platforms and reduced power outputs. Thankfully, the 1979 Buick Riviera burst into this automotive wasteland, and let us know the future held better days. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 4/21/2018) The Corona was growing steadily since its start as a rather small little thing. But it was also becoming much more comfortable, and ever-more suited to American drivers looking for an alternative. The SR hardtop coupe may have been a fair bit smaller, but undoubtedly appealed to many Americans that might otherwise have gone for a rather large and heavy American mid-sized car, which were getting rather huge at this time. R&T takes a closer look.
