Skinner Butte is our favorite urban hike, and a fine place to see the sunset on a summer’s day. And the parking lot on top has been the subject of my camera many a time; there’s almost always something worth shooting. This triple CC shot was better than average, as was this perfect summer evening.
Regular grade cars still in use good shot Paul.
Wow – an unrusted Aerostar. Something not often seen in my part of the country.
There’s quite a few Aerostars left here in the Seattle area. One of my neighbors has a blue XLT Sport Aerostar for his daily driver.
They’re all over here, usually used as painters vans now, with the plastic bumpers broken completely off and no rust.
did you notice the chain holding the sliding door and the passenger door closed?
Ah the coffin nosed Maxima. Loved those cars. The 85 gen was the first with FWD, V6 and the SE trim. The one in the pic is a GL or GXE, those had the Ford style keyless entry on the door handle escutcheons.
The white, black and silver SEs were all the rage here in Calif. Smooth as silk and very fast with the 5 M/T.
Actually sighting an early Maxima with a functioning transmission is a feat all on its own, very quick cars in their day especially with the JDM limiter removed but they didnt last long.
head gasket issues usually killed the 1st gen FWD Maximas off around here. the VG didn’t handle the Texas summers very well, with the plastic radiators exploding and then the engine quickly overheating.
Shame as they are great looking cars and when I see one on the road I still like em.
The Maxima and Cressida of the time were proof that extremely squared off cars can still be quite attractive. Sometimes very surprisingly so.
+1
Three people in a whacked Maxima from 25+ years ago screams “dope deal”, especially in an isolated place. At least that’s what I’m told. The Aerostar, M-B, and Rabbit are truly an eclectic collection – with or without the aforementioned Nissan. What an eye you have, Paul.
I was thinking the same thing, I like how they are all looking at the camera. I assuming they are waiting for their dealer, if there is any justice, he will show up in an circa 1981-85 Monte Carlo.
It’s been years since I’ve seen that vintage Maxima on the street. A friend of mine had a sweet GXE with leather, it performed nicely until he decide to separate the oil pan from the rest of the engine.
It’s hard to tell but the Rabbit looks like it might be a roundie headlight version and thus German built. If so, yum.
Looks like it could be a scene from 1989… until you get to the 4th car, a new C-Class.
In New York City last weekend, I spotted a similar vintage Maxima parked on the street in the Upper West Side. For various reasons, cars parked on the street in NYC do not move often, and this one didn’t. We spent a week there and it had never been touched.
The blue one in the photograph appears to be an early model, maybe an 85, while the one in my photograph appears to be a later one. Unusual to find one in blue. Seems like every 85-88 Maxima that I see is some sort of gold color.
Agree with the above commenters—quite rare to see a Maxima of this vintage still operating. I have a soft spot for them—my mom’s first Japanese car was an ’86 Maxima, with the same wheels as the one above. It was exceptionally quick, to the point that it scared my father—he was used to a series of Toyota and Nissan pickups at the time.
My mom traded in an ’86 (?) Caprice Classic for the then-used Maxima. It served us well for three or so years, though the keypad entry caused a lot of headaches. She then traded the Maxima on a new (!) ’91 Oldsmobile 88 Royale. Four years later, she went Camry and never went back. She’s on her third now, and I still own the first two.
Great catch, Paul!
How did the keyless entry cause problems? I’ve heard cases where they quit working, but that was it, they just quite working and didn’t have any ill affects like causing the inside switches to not work nor random unlocking or locking.
It was a combination of the keypad and the alarm system. I seem to remember the car locking us out more than once—as in, the key wouldn’t even work in the door.
There were also embarrassing horn honking/lights flashing incidents that were somehow prompted by random key touches.
My first thought when I saw three people in a rough car was not dope deal, but something else, I am not sure. Nice lines on that Maxima by the way. The Aerostar looks the most fishy with its doors chained shut and while I do not like that color it is neat to see a mint one.