Usually it’s the cars that grab me when I go trolling at the Cohort. But this shot posted by nifticus is a bit of a head-scratcher. Why does the owner of these three white Cadillacs (and one white Dodge pickup) place safety cones on their street sides? Is it a British Columbian thing? Anyone have a clue?
This is actually done for movie shoots.
A cone is placed where the car should be parked and the keys are left on the rear passenger side tire.
Most production companies are incredibly picky about where cars should be parked and often times they may need to re-position vehicles back and forth to offer a different scene for the same location,
Or, this guy just happens to have a thing for orange cones.
Christ I hope its not for Fifty Shapes of Gray..2 ?. The biggest wast of 2 hours in my life.
Maybe it is, but I doubt that’s the case here. What set designer in their right mind would want three white Cadillacs of the same vintage together? That’ll never fly.
My guess is that quite obviously they all belong to one owner, as folks have a habit of collecting multiples of the same car, and he uses the cones to “save” his parking spots when he takes one out. His neighbors probably all love him.
This. And he’s too lazy to put the cone in the trunk while the cars are parked.
And finally a good reason for an HOA…but now per Lang every time I see a car with a cone I will be looking at the rear tire for the keys.
Wes Anderson, maybe?
I agree with Paul that it is unlikely that a movie would want 3 white Cadillacs of the same era parked in such close proximity. I believe that it is a personal collection.
Movie shoot was my thought, too, on my street in Manhattan there is relatively frequent filming, and this is exactly what is done.
I don’t know about these, probably just to save the parking spaces. My brother once parkied his 66 Lincoln 3 door at a lot by valet and he was -pretty specific that he knew there were no dents in it and expected the same on his return. Wen he walked back to the lot, there were road cones all around it.
I bet his neighbors love him!
This is typical for film and TV shoots. Note that all the cones are near 80s vintage vehicles.
They are placed there by the Canadian Association for the Preservation of White Vehicles.
Bingo!
This gets my vote.
And mine!
Really slow autocross.
Quite possible. I mean if racing is so much fun why does everyone hurry to get it over with?
Were this not Canada I’d say an old AT&T (or to a lesser extent one of pre-divestiture Ma Bell’s other descendants like Verizon or Alcatel-Lucent) field tech/installer lives there. They always put cones around their company vehicles regardless of where or why they are parked. Even when they’re allowed to take the truck home and park in the driveway the cones have to come out.
I’ve actually seen a few telco old-timers put cones around their POVs when parked on the street.
In our neighborhood we’re a live and let live group, with one of our long timers who is in failing health. For their convenience, and to make it as easy as a two new hip and one knee man can, we all conspire to keep cones around his car. It started when myself and two other neighbors all started long-term remodel projects requiring pro’s for varying specialty services. The extra cars in our now hipster neighborhood caused great grief as they are one of the few w/o a driveway. I would, however, draw the line at two cars.
I must add that with the increased property values comes a decidedly transient feeling collection of new comers. If the gentrification process cools, these newbies will be on to greener pastures, and our area will go back to being a great collection of wanna-be bohemians and slow do-it-yourself carpenters, with our own hipster hangout – the Rebuilding Center. The local reseller of old house parts. We even have a hearse that is used as a weekly driver. He looks quite satisfied behind that large tiller.
I think maybe some collector is worried about their old cars and figures people will be a little more careful with the cones out and not side-swipe their precious chariots.
Wedding party rehearsal (no ribbons)?
A variation of The Red Hat Society? For those not in the know, white-haired (usually), mature women who attend “get-togethers” wearing red hats. Or in this instance, mature white cars “wearing” red (orange?) cones?
Some day, two years from now, a CCer will be sitting in a movie theatre, and there will be an “aha moment”…
I wonder if the ‘V8-6-4’ still works in that Fleetwood coupe in the left foreground. It is an ’81 model, with the Brougham behind it looks to be a ’88 or ’89 complete with the wire wheel option and a droopy headliner. The Coupe deVille on the right is too far away to ID any closer than an ’80 – ’83, but with no wheel covers and some sort of antenna on the trunk it does not look as clean as the other two. The Dodge appears to be a Club Cab, which would put it near the end of that bodystyle run (’90 – ’93).
I have no idea about the cones. I see part of a sign above the Fleetwood that says ‘Licensed’. Maybe it has something to do with that. A licensed therapist in hoarding disorders?
I’ll vote for the movie/TV shot – new X Files episodes maybe – I understand they’re shooting back in Vancouver. Anyone see the Cigarette Smoking Man…….?
If this was in the US I’d say it was an old USAF vet like me who spent some time in SAC – SAC policy at most bases was to put a cone in back of your government owned vehicle each time your parked so you’d have to physically check the area before you backed up.
Curtis LeMay probably saw a telephone truck on the street one day and thought it would be a good idea!
Just some cones having a day in the sun, nice Caddies.
This is a Vancouver thing. People feel entitled to the space in front of their home, so they put out cones to mark their territory. It is usually old people who have lived there for years, and, despite having parking off the alley on their property, still feel that they should have the spot in front of their house. We live in a city where there is a housing shortage, every home has a basement suite, and there are more cars on the street. Technically, its littering to leave objects on the street. We have a neighbor across the street from us that we were pretty sure tried to pull the licence plates off our car to scare us into not parking near his house. Welcome to our cultural mosaic.
The favored excuse is ‘I need a spot for the ambulance in case something happens’. The ambulance will block the road if they need to.
The pickle buckets people leave out are delightful too. Such a convenient spot to put doggie poop bags………
I love Vancouver. This picture reminds me why I love living here so much. It gives my inner weirdo a chance to spread his wings. Amen to this [body cavity rinse]-bag for keeping the spirit alive…
Yes, the Cadillac owner is probably reserving space on this street for his fleet of full-size vehicles.
If I see a cone on my street, I drive right over the bright orange thing and claim I never saw it. What’re you gonna do? Tow me for taking a public spot with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever? I purposely have a budget for ICBC comprehensive deductibles in case anything “unfortunate” was to happen to my car. It’s worth it to me for the price of righteous satisfaction. But, since I drive a humble mid-size Ford, it wouldn’t matter as the resentment factor probably wouldn’t even register for the cone-offender. If I still had my Merc, however, I could expect a small pin in the sidewall (replacement cost less than $300 deductible).
Anyway the most consequence I’d receive, if any, would be to give the City of Vancouver their “COV” cone back…
When I was a little bit younger, I shared Mouat’s attitude. Now that I’m nearing Social Security eligibility age, I can see I’m more in line with that stereotypical old ager attitude as exhibited by Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. Folks who are not my guests/visiting my home, park in front of my house at their peril.
The whole reserving space thing strikes me as really odd. The part of Richmond I lived in until recently was composed of what were essentially detached row houses, intermixed with small apartment buildings. Some had a single parking spot or a one-car garage off the alley, many had no off-street parking (I was in the latter category as my building took up the entire lot). So parking was, to put it mildly, competetive. But I can’t say I ever saw anyone put cones out to try to preserve “their” space. The cone(s) probably would have been moved in short order and the would be spot-saver would be thwarted. Maybe this is more accepted elsewhere?
I sure would do a double take if I saw those 3 Caddy’s parked like that on any side street. I’m going with the owner not wanting to lose his parking spaces theory but you never know today. Having 3 white Caddy’s in a shoot could also serve a purpose where one of them is needed for multiple stunt shots with some interior and some exterior etc. This sort of thing used to happen all the time in film making.