shot by Don Kincl
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: European Motors, Seattle, 1974
– Posted on June 26, 2020
shot by Don Kincl
-
-
-
American Brands: GM 
American Brands: Ford 
American Brands: Chrysler 
American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others 
Automotive Histories and Misc. 
Asian Brands 
UK Brands 
Australian Brands 
European Brands 
Cars Of A Lifetime & Auto-Biography 
Buses 
Trucks, Pickups and Vans 
Design 
Trains, Planes & Ships 
Motorcycles, Trikes, Bicycles 
Engines, Transmissions and other Tech 
Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment 
RVs, Motorhomes, Trailers, Campers
I’ll take the Harley please!
Nice bike, that’s one brave guy to ride in such soggy weather.
It’s got a radio, antenna and a bubble light, so I’m thinking it must be police. But no other markings.
That’s a beautiful mid-summer day in Seattle, perfect riding conditions. 🙂
While even more dangerous (in theory) than riding in the dry, I sort of enjoyed riding in the rain back in the day, as long as you’re wearing proper attire that allows you to stay warm and dry inside, it was fun to see the water splashing and the drops popping and fizzing on the engine when stopped at a light.
I call dibs on the Polara!
…if it survives. Note the ONE WAY sign.
I think the business was on a corner, and the one way sign was for the side street. A left turn would have put you into oncoming traffic.
Oh, yeah. The perspective messed with me.
The picture is on Seattle’s Westlake Avenue which runs at an angle to the traditional gridded street pattern in that section of downtown. That area of town has been taken over by the Amazon campus.
@ Eric, yup of the things in that picture the building behind the Towne Motel is the only thing left standing. Surprisingly the Towne Motel just fell in recent years while the corner where this was taken was redeveloped about a decade ago.
Pinto?
On the front row?
Looking like a crossover between those Porsche 914s. For the record the Pinto was 50″ tall and might well be the lowest car ever marketed as a “sedan”.
As a pre-74 model (small bumpers), that Pinto would have the pushrod 1.6 “Kent” motor or the 2.0 OHC “Pinto” motor. Since both engines were designed and built in Europe, call it a mixed breed. In ’74 Ford dropped the 1.6 and began to offer the Lima Ohio built 2.3 engine, which shared design roots but very few parts with the 2.0 OHC.
Ford dropped the 2.0 from the US lineup in 1975, but over in Europe it remained in service until 1989. It’s referred to as the Pinto engine because that was the first vehicle to use it, but it ended up in many different European engine bays.
Porsche 914 for me. I’ll pass on the Midget and the Euro Capris, though the Fiat 850 Spider is tempting.
Anyone know the car on the extreme right, and is that a Renault 12 in white right at the back. Unlikely, surely?
Maybe it was a Fiat 128 sport?
Looks like my FIAT 128 3p. At 40k the local dealer said it wasn’t worth repairing. It wasn’t.
I like the 914s and that giant Polara. I’ve always wanted to measure the rear quarter stamping on those, that’s one long hunk of sheet metal.
There’s a Capri way off in the LH side of the frame. I’ve always had a fondness for them, as that’s the car on which I learned to drive a stick shift. Also, I’d bet a fiver that a place called “European Motors” was a much wiser place to get your Capri serviced than any L-M dealer ever was!
I’ll take one of the 914s and the ’73 Mach 1!
BAP GEON auto parts store at the back.
I can’t say for sure that I ever bought parts at that store, but I can’t say for sure that I didn’t.
Looks like the two businesses shared the same lot — and probably the same owner.
Wow, was excited to click into this based on the blog title. What a yawnfest of mid to low-end cars.
What hasn’t yet been mentioned is in the extreme far right, the taillight appears to be that of a 1969 Dodge Dart. Most likely a four door sedan.
That would be my pick, almost regardless of the engine.
I can legit say I’d be happy owning almost any one of these cars in this photo. Another reminder of my terminal born too late affliction.
What I like about this picture is how it captures the automotive variety that was typical on the West Coast in the seventies. Polara, Dart, Mustang, Pinto … and also 914, Z, a few MG’s and Fiats. Nice, even with the photobombing Harley 😀
In the mid-90’s European Motors maintained my E30. You can see two garage doors on the left building- the right one was a steep driveway down to the shop, the left one was the up ramp. The owner, Uva, was a factory-trained Mercedes mechanic and was the only one I trusted with my BMW and 2 of my 3 W126s, until he closed the shop (long since moved) a couple of years ago to focus on sales instead of service. Probably a good idea for him but I was bummed!
Polara hadrtop coupe all the way!
Ehhhh, does the “Benz Specialist” have even one?