(first posted 7/20/2019) We’ve looked at a number of buses our parents and grandparents could have toured Western Europe in during their vacations in the 1950’s and 60’s; the Krupp SWO 480, Mercedes-Benz O 6600 H and O 321 H, Pegaso Z 403, and Krauss-Maffei KML 110. Let’s review a bus from this same time period from the prolific German coach manufacturer Neoplan – the NH series, or “Hamburg.” Read the rest of this entry »
I was on my way to the office on a Sunday morning, and decided to stop and get some breakfast. In the parking lot of the breakfast joint was this interesting Pontiac Grand Prix survivor. I am not normally a GM person, but growing up I think most people acknowledged that the GM G-body coupes from 1978-1987 were the exception to the malaise era. Generally well-built and solidly engineered, neither oversized nor prematurely shrunken, even in coupe form, they had a comfortable interior for front and rear passengers. Read the rest of this entry »
by Victor Van Tress.
Honda has made a lot of really wild motorcycles in many configurations. Yet no matter the design, one thing remained constant – Their reliability. Be it a Turbo Twin, V4, straight 4, straight 5 and straight 6, flat 4 or flat 6.
I however, have only had the straight 6 version, multiplied by four. Yes, I’ve owned 4 CBX bikes, all 1981 variety, for a total mileage of around 400,000 miles. The mileages may not seem that significant over a 44 year period, except for the noteworthy reason that all those miles are in town. In Los Angeles and lane splitting most of the time.
The 1958 Oldsmobile. Just to say it evokes moans, giggles or rolling eyes. One of the most over-styled cars of the 1950s (if not of all time), it has become more of a punch line than a car. Just what, exactly, is there to say about this car. As Jack Benny famously replied to the gunman who demanded his money or his life, I’m thinking, I’m thinking . . . . . .
I am on the whole an indecisive man, but put me in front of an internet auction with a car I’ve never seen, and I will never waver. That’s how I ended up with a 1967 Volvo 1800S that has some needs, some of which have yet to be met, and others that may never be.
In March 1986, Honda launched a new luxury brand called Acura, which originally offered two models: the luxurious new Legend sedan and a sporty compact hatchback called Integra. Based on the Civic platform, the Integra wasn’t a luxury car, but it offered an appealing combination of performance, practicality, economy, and fun-to-drive road manners. In fact, on balance, the first-generation Integra might have been the best Honda product of an era many people still regard as “peak Honda.”
(first posted 6/15/2017) Chances are you’ve never seen one of these Mazda Jeeps: these were only built in Burma and never exported, as far as I know. There are still a few one the roads here and I chanced upon this one not far from where I live, in front of the (only) North Korean restaurant in Yangon. Solid info is hard to come by on this car, so here’s what I could dig up, along with a little historical context…
(first posted 8/9/2019) It’s been a while since we’ve featured anything with a landau top and I’m sure some of you are suffering from serious withdrawal symptoms. Well, suffer no more, as looking at this fine example of a 1984 Dodge 600 will take that pain and turn it into joy for you. The rest of us will cram into the back seat and ride along. Read the rest of this entry »
Today, we’ll pay a visit to America’s premier luxury carmaker during its peak ’50s to ’60s era, all seen through the window of period postcards around that era. A nice way to check out what was available in those Cadillac dealers of that era. We’ll start with the image above, from Robinson Cadillac-Oldsmobile, in Wheeling, WV.
We’ve all gone through those awkward adolescent years when we didn’t quite look like kids, nor adults, but instead appeared to be a random collection of physical characteristics from both. AMC’s Eagle SX/4 was an automotive version of such awkwardness. Part compact car, part off-roader, it was really neither – but it looked like it yearned to be either one or the other. It’s hard not to have empathy… as long as you don’t stare at it for too long.
Photo courtesy Goodyear Corporation
Good ‘ole Flxible Clipper – intercity bus, entertainer traveling coach, mobile television studio control room, postal bus, civil defense vehicle, roadside diner … and we can’t forget mobile airship mooring platform. This classic bus really could do it all. Read the rest of this entry »
As a strict observer of the Tenth Commandment, I’ve never once coveted my neighbor’s ox; however there’ve been times I’ve admired a neighbor’s car or truck and thought I’d like to own one like it.
In the mid-1980s one of my wife’s friends bought an Isuzu Trooper II, and I thought it was a fine looking vehicle indeed. I’m sure you remember the Trooper II, the tall boxy truck designed by a draftsman who’d lost his French curve and had to use a straight-edge ruler instead.
(first posted 6/28/2017) Swiss-American socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein continued to have facelifts so she would look more like a cat. The Saab 9-5 continued to have them so it would look like it was still a competitive offering in the premium midsize segment. Who was more misguided, Jocelyn or the team at Saab? Read the rest of this entry »
The 1985 GMC lineup.
Last week I posted about my Elky, and how that 1974 El Camino influenced my user name here at Curbside Classic. In that post, I bid farewell to Elky as I traded it to my son in law, Dylan, for another classic of his. And as I said I would, I’m updating you on what I got next.
So what did I trade it for? I’ll show you.
The Rockford Files ran between September of 1974 and January 1980. Jim Rockford ran his private detective business from his house trailer on the beach in Malibu, California, and pursued bad guys in his gold Firebird Esprit with a tan interior. Throughout its run, Rockford starred the engaging James Garner, and he always drove a gold Firebird with a tan interior. Read the rest of this entry »
