(first posted 9/22/2017) Here’s an activity: name a mid-sized luxury sedan sold in North America during the 2005-12 period other than the pictured Acura RL. Did you think of one? Good. If you said anything other than the Volvo S80, then you named a car more popular with American buyers. Read the rest of this entry »
Atlas, Effer, Fassi, Hiab, HMF and Palfinger belong to the genus of knuckle boom cranes. They are not only used to load and unload freight, but also for hoisting jobs, both outside and inside buildings. Thanks to multiple steering axles, the carriers -either a truck chassis or a tractor- can turn on a dime.
The Dutch Lift ‘n’ Load event, this year held on September 16, is dedicated to this booming business. Let’s zoom in.
I found this really sharp 1961 Chrysler Newport for sale on Craigslist. It’s truly striking in two-tone black and white–but if you want to see something really special, take a look inside…
It’s time for Volume 3 of this series exploring travel-related ads that feature automotive themes, as well as some of the backstory for each ad. For today’s installment, we’re journeying to South Africa, to Malta and then to the British Isles. Enjoy the adventure, and the cars!
In late 2019, I bought a 2004 Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas. That one was an early build, having been shipped over from Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich facility sometime in calendar-year 2003. It also proved to be an unmitigated disaster, with ultimately an unsolvable air-strut issue that caused me to part ways with it.
So, what on Earth made me decide to buy another X350-series XJ?
Well, I just like them a lot.
(first posted 9/22/207) There’s a new arrival or visitor in my neighborhood and it’s from outer space. It certainly isn’t from this world, where aerodynamic plastic-clad fish-mobiles with bulging eyes and wavy sides noiselessly swim the streets. No, this burbling extra-terrestrial visitor, still covered in space-dust, is clearly from another world, and there’s little doubt that its home planet is not round, but square. How else to account for its shape? Read the rest of this entry »
For today, let’s check with a few Buick owners and their vintage rides. They’re a rather jolly and proud bunch, and most carry the air that only comes from owning a semi-premium brand. The images are more or less arranged by decade, and a few have been slightly color-corrected.
It was the summer of 2000, and our work meeting had come to a close. Each of us came out with a list of archive photos and footage to gather, needed to finish the video project we were working on. As we reached our cubicles one of my workmates, a Gen-Xer like me, approached me. It was clear there was an item on the list that stumped him:
Oldsmobile’s sales had been steadily collapsing by the time the new Aurora arrived in 1995. Its arrival came as a surprise to those who still paid attention. It looked like nothing else in Oldsmobile’s lineup, and it’s no wonder. The 1989 Tube Car concept on which it was based wasn’t originally meant for the division. Instead, according to Chuck Jordan, the Tube Car was created by GM’s stylists as an exercise, and Oldsmobile’s management appropriated it. It was the styling statement the division hoped would reignite its fortunes.
This one took me by surprise. You learn something every day when you’re out hunting for CCs, but I wasn’t mentally prepared for this. I lived in several countries – including Thailand, where Isuzu are still very much in the SUV game – but I confess that this one really had me stumped. Well, it figures: Isuzu only ever inflicted the VehiCross upon two markets: Japan and the United States. Not Thailand, Isuzu’s last stronghold, and definitely nowhere near Europe.
(first posted 9/21/2017) I’ve long had a fixation on the lack of four speed transmissions being available on American compacts in the 1960s. The standard three speed manual transmission was a relic from the pre-war era when cars had slow-revving engines, very high (numeric) geared rear axles, and highway speeds were very modest. Driving conditions were different, but most of all, driver expectations were different.
In the 1950s, when the great import and sports car boom were under way, things changed quickly. Highway speeds increased, which meant that rear axle ratios were lowered numerically, effectively increasing the gaps between gears, especially between second and third. With a big lazy V8, or for buyers looking for minimal motoring function, the three speed was adequate enough. But the compacts’ brief was to compete against the imports, which almost invariably had four speed transmissions.
Of course the true import-fighter Corvair had an optional four speed, as of the spring of 1960. And I knew that the Falcon was available with the UK-sourced four speed behind their six from mid-year 1962 through 1964. But a four speed behind the Chrysler slant six on their Dart and Valiant? I was never aware of that, until yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a little while since we did a bit of traveling around the US of yore. It’s time to attend to that pending matter. Here are a few vintage postcards, from various US locations, with some nice locales and very light traffic. In the postcard above, Deadwood in South Dakota.
You may have been wondering what my house looks like with all these models. Here’s one display area.
This is not what it looks like. Oh, sure, it’s awful close to the 1968-87 Citroën Méhari. I mean, it was built by folks who specialized in manufacturing parts for them, so that makes sense. But under the familiar plastic body lies a completely new EV chassis. This is not a conversion, nor is it a replica. It’s much better than that.
Datsun 210 images from the Cohort by Jerome Solberg.
It’s no surprise to Curbside readers that some car models have different lives, all depending on what market they are sold at. Renaults were trouble-prone tinny cans in the Americas but were trustworthy companions in Europe. Kia Prides were quirky little boxes in the Western world but served as faithful family haulers in developing countries. And so on.
And that’s just the case with the ’77-’81 Datsun 210 (4th gen. Nissan Sunny). In many places, an accessible economy car. In others a second family car, for Jr. to attend college. In other places, a sensible family sedan to do full-time duty. And in my case, an object of lust and desire. At least for a short while.
