(first posted 10/17/2015) Have you ever looked at a picture and might not have recognized the characters, setting, event, but something just seems so familiar about it? Here is a picture I came across recently.
The Stelvio Pass is the highest pass in the eastern Alps and one of the highest in the Alps, at over 9,000ft, and links Italy and Switzerland. Visually, it is perhaps the most stunning and photogenic pass in the Europe, and has featured in everything from the Giro d’Italia cycle race to Clarkson era Top Gear. And Alfa Romeo and Ducati model names. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 10/17/2015) In his write-up on the 1968 Plymouth Barracuda Formula 340 S, Paul indicated that there might be a vintage review available. In fact, between the 1967 launch of the second generation Barracuda and the 1968 launch of the 340 V8, there were quite a few articles written praising the Plymouth. One of the best is this one, from Car and Driver in March 1968, where they compared a 340 Barracuda with a 390 Javelin, 396 Camaro, 390 Mustang, 390 Cougar and 400 Firebird. Read on to see how the Barracuda stacked up during the height of the Pony Car wars.
Older US conversion vans aren’t rare in the Netherlands, let alone European camper vans. But seeing them parked side by side is exceptional, so there’s that.
(ED: Rich’s last COAL had to be postponed to this week due to a death in the family. SajivW’s COAL series will pick up again next Sunday)
I started off this COAL series with my relatively very rare 1965 Opel Kadett L, wondering whether our choices in cars was somehow preordained by how and where we were raised or was it rather the result of circumstance. As I look back on the 22 vehicles I have owned since 1973, I guess it’s been a little of both. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 10/16/2015) Though the downsized Caprice/Impala had been an enormous success since being introduced in 1977, market conditions were changing quickly as the 1970s came to a close. In the span of a few short years, the smaller full size cars began to feel too inefficient once again. Luckily, Chevrolet had decided that a significant mid-cycle refresh was in order for the Caprice/Impala to maintain sales momentum. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 10/16/2015) Speaking as someone who once traded a ’54 Buick for a ’68 Lincoln, I don’t have that much against big, ostentatious cars, but GM’s ’71-’78 E-bodies (Cadillac Eldorado, Oldsmobile Toronado, Buick Riviera) even give a guy like me pause. This example, from the last year before the inevitable downsizing that had already swept the rest of the lineup, turned up in the parking lot at Old Kingsbury Aerodrome near San Antonio last May, and was the first one of these I’d seen in years. Read the rest of this entry »
Roshake 77 came across this poor little SuzukiSwift (Chevrolet Sprint in the US) looking a bit lost among the much bigger contemporary cars of today’s Budapest.
It’s identified as a “Swift 1.0”. The question in my mind is whether that was the version with the 970 cc F-Series Suzuki four or the 993 cc G-Series triple.
I’ve never seen an FC-170 with duals on the rear and a flatbed. It looks so much like a proto-Isuzu cabover, or other similar modern trucks. Of course compact cabover trucks have been around for ages in Europe and Asia, where space is a premium. But in the wide-open USA, that was not the case in the fifties or sixties.
This one is rated to haul a 5,200 lb payload, and on a mere 103″. A miniature giant indeed.
Another post in this bi-monthly series is on, and this time I’ve amassed some serious CC percentage. All of this does not even include the Oldsmobile Starfire I posted earlier, which should have been part of this post but was so wonderful it posted on its own.
The Lancer was being doted on in Northern Michigan, as much as it’s possible for a man with too many cars of his own (and a day job seeing to customers’ cars) to dote on mine for fun. He installed the Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 10/15/2015) Not too long ago Citroen announced, much to the chagrin of everyone that loves their cars comfortable, that they would stop producing and developing their world-famous Hydropneumatic suspension. Citroen CEO Linda Jackson told the media that this was because it is “old technology”; you know, like springs made out of steel. Really, the thing reeks of bean counterism to me. Not to mention yet another blow to Citroen’s quirky individuality, which seems to be surviving only on the exterior design of some models and their DS sub-brand (Oh, and the Cactus). They’ve had it rough on that front, so rough in fact that Renault actually out-citroen’d them with two cars back in the early ‘00s.
(first posted 10/15/2015) With more versatile models such as the Cayenne, Panamera, and Macan, I’m sure the number of Porsches serving as daily drivers has increased significantly in recent years. While even new 911s, Boxsters, and Caymans might make suitable daily drivers for some individuals, I’m willing to bet the large majority of 944s still alive and kicking do not see daily use. Read the rest of this entry »
They love their Minis in this country. After the UK, Japan’s contingent is probably the second largest, judging by how common these are on local roads. The lion’s share of these classic Minis are of the late type, made in the ‘80s and ‘90s – imported and sold in Japan when new. Finding a CC-worthy BMC kernel among all that Rover-branded chaff is the stuff of needles in haystacks, but every once in a while, one comes along that actually looks interesting.
After posting many straight trucks with some type of roll-off system (hooklift, chains, cables) over the past years, I could finally take several pictures of the exposed equipment of such vehicles. All trucks had a 6×2 drivetrain with a liftable tag axle, usually such a chassis is rated at a maximum GVW of 28,000 kg (61,729 lbs).
