I had an appointment downtown and decided to walk on this drizzly morning. It wasn’t until I headed home again that it occurred to me to shoot some of the more interesting old iron on the streets. But then maybe 100 finds might be overkill?
This fine old box Caprice wagon is what gave me the impetus to shoot on the way home. I’ve shown this one several times before over the years; it’s a daily driver owned by an elderly gentleman who seems to have decided that this is going to be his last car. Good choice.
Next up was another box, or brick, if you prefer. In this case it’s a Volvo 740 sedan, and a fairly early one in its long run.
These two-door Chevy Tahoes were never common. I still want to call it a Blazer.
Another boxy Volvo, in the form of an 850.
I have to keep reminding myself that cars of this vintage are genuine curbside classics now.
Good luck determining the model year of this Chevy van. Does it matter?
Chrysler “cloud” cars like this Dodge Stratus have become rather scarce.
As have these gen3 Accords, but then they’re a fair bit older. Nice Legacy wagon behind it.
Buick LeSabre and one of those awkward gen 1.5 Ford Focus behind it.
Good luck keeping one of these FWD Continentals on the road, or at least above it.
A Chevy Aveo or just the shitty little Chevy.
The bra makes this Camry worthy.
A twofer: two Subaru Impreza wagons in one shot.
Here’s the other one. Looks to be in quite nice condition.
Yes, these are old enough now to deserve a quick shot.
A fine Volvo 240 sedan; one of the later ones with the rounded grille and big composite headlights.
A somewhat rough GMC dually pickup.
A Mark III Jetta. These have become mighty scarce, but what hasn’t, of this vintage. Don’t ask; you’ll see several of them.
I was hoping it would be a Freestyle but it’s the Taurus X version.
A Nissan Villager. These seemed to be fairly robust, as there used to be quite a healthy number around until recently. Or was that a decade ago? I’m getting old.
Two of the best selling cars of their time.
Another yellow brick. Makes for a great fall tableau.
The great and powerful Sunfire! Ignore that dwarf behind the curtain…
There has to be at least one Previa, and preferably with a Prius with it. A tie-dyed-in-the-wool Eugene household.
Something a bit more butch is in the driveway across the street.
The answer to what is still very plentiful on the streets? Old Toyota pickups, of course! Here’s two of them.
It’s Volvo day, in this case a 960.
A shortie Chevy box pickup in fall colors.
Another Stratus! Well, it was a cloudy day.
A nicer than average Ranger, although not a Continental version, sadly.
GMC’s version of the immortal Chevy Astro van. I though that every one of those Ford Focii had died due to their Paper Mache PowerShit transmissions. Or maybe it’s a manual?
It wouldn’t do to not walk past a VW T3 Westfalia (who does almost everyone spell it “Westphalia”?)
Yes, these are now genuinely old, or older.
I was beginning to worry that there might not be an old Ford pickup on the way.
A Nissan pickup in front of a house that its owners lovingly resurrected from what I assumed was going to be a tear-down. It was a total wreck; they spent years making it look very original again.
The VW bus is an iconic Eugene-mobile, so there just had to be another. A fine T2 Westy. Will there be a T1 too?
Now I ran into a string of old pickups, starting with this superb Nissan Hardbody. These folks have had it for quite a few years as an extra helper for hauling composts and such. Like so many others…
This is my neighbor and friend Paul Dustrud’s official work truck. He’s a successful architect but like to keep it simple and modest.
The next house down has a vintage Toyota truck that we’ve not yet seen on this walk.
And the folks across the street have had this Mazda B2200 as their yard goat for years now.
And the next house down goes in for something a bit bigger. And yes, these are vintage now too.
There used to be a TR-8 next to this Jaguar XJS, but it seems to have moved on.
The two women across the street have had this GMC van under cover for as long as I can remember.
And of course there has to be a T1 (not “Type 1”, Nate) to make this walk complete, along with a ’66 Beetle (Type 1) that has been awaiting a paint job for a bit too long now. Oh, and another two-door Tahoe; I almost didn’t notice.
Our neighbor Hedda has been driving this Neon since it was new, or almost so.
Our next door neighbor picked up a new partner a couple of years ago. He has this Mercedes SEC, but I never see it being driven, Hmm. But they’re always off in his big Tahoe pulling an Airstream, including to Burning Man every year.
Oh, right; I’m home. I’ve been getting very lazy about shooting cars, but maybe this will inspire me, especially now that fall and winter are coming and we’ll be doing a lot of urban hikes.
The first few photos answer the age old question “How to Design a Vehicle Using Only 90 degree angels”. Aerodynamics be damned.
Lots of interesting images here .
That 1966 DeLuxe Beetle is in fact a Typ I #113 , I follow the factory nomenclature .
-Nate
That 1966 DeLuxe Beetle is in fact a Typ I #113
Of course it is. I was very clearly referring to the bus. It never fails…
As only Beetle entomologists know, the 1300 cc engine was fitted for only model year 1966 in North America, and was also Paul’s favorite Beetle engine. In ROW markets it was available for many years alongside 1500 and 1600 cc models.
That’s quite a variety for 25 minutes. I’d see a VW beetle on my walk (Yes, mine is back on the road!) but little else.
FBMP is full of 2013+ Focii either needing a new transmission or just not selling, because nobody wants a $5k car with a $5k time bomb ticking inside of it. That’s really too bad, because they are otherwise great little cars. Both our 2013 and 2016 Focii are going strong with manual transmissions.
5 pre-modern Volvos! Oregon is upholding its reputation as where old boxy Volvos go to go on forever. If I’m lucky, I may see a V70 wagon every so often, but otherwise it’s wall to wall XC40s; and seldom are those more than 3 or 4 years old. I think they must all get traded as soon as the warranty is up and then sent somewhere else.
Also love the variety of small trucks. Do folks there not have gigantic F250s and Sierras with double cabs and AWD? Or maybe just not in your neighborhood?
Great houses too. I particularly like the brown Victorian cottage that took years to restore. Really nice.
+1 on the small import trucks.
My neighborhood has quite a few old Nissans, Toyotas, and Mazdas running around. Even an old Mitsubishi.
That said, they are likely outnumbered by the gigantic diesel pickups. Total overkill.
I agree about the architecture. My favorite is the house behind the purple Stratus.
Small trucks are now rare enough that they get my attention. I found this remarkably clean 1990s Nissan recently, complete with genuine ’90s swooshy graphics:
That is a fine looking Mazda B2200. It appears to be only a couple years old instead of a few decades old!
Love those northwest volvos, seems to be a plethora of them. Used to buy and sell 2 7 and 940s on the side… Even had three 780 turbo bertones and 3 164s.. Best cars volvo ever built… Love me some red blocks…!!!
The model year of the 240 sedan can be narrowed down to 1986 to 1988 based on the color (yellow #190). By the 1989 model year, this color had disappeared from the program.
The 240 fall edition Volvo brings memories of junior high school, when I’d walk home by a street with several embassies on it. There were quite a lot of ’79 and newer 244s and 245s. 264, though, I remember only the presidential car in Uruguay (a 78 model in blue, which still exists, with a Toyota 2.4 diesel and driven to a milimeter of its life)
I can’t believe the pristine condition of that Volvo. It appears to be a 1979, the first year of the wraparound taillights. (Chrome side window surrounds disappeared after 1980, and ’79 was the last year this trim level was badged as a 244DL.)
Basically, what you wrote is correct. Nevertheless, I think we’re dealing with an 1980 model year. The trunk lid with the ’79 lettering seems to come from a different car. It’s clearly yellow (as is the rear panel). The actual body, however, is more of a sand beige. The fender emblem isn’t where it should be either—so it’s probably not original.
The shape of the exterior mirrors suggests MY 1980 or later. It can’t be an ’81 model because of the chrome trim, as you point out correctly.
I also think this sand beige wasn’t available until MY 1980, but I’m not entirely sure. In earlier years, there was a paler beige. Unfortunately, I don’t have my color charts handy.
The late 1990s F-150 caught my eye here, principally because I may well be getting a similar truck soon. My wife’s parents owned a 1997 F-150 extended cab just like that one – and since they’ve passed away, the truck’s just been sitting. Since we could use an extra vehicle, my wife and I are thinking about taking the truck. Those 10th generation F-150s drive very well; I wouldn’t at all mind using it as my daily driver. Plus, being an old, and low-value vehicle, it wouldn’t be subject to personal property tax, which is onerous here in Virginia.
One vehicle that’s really disappeared from around here are Neons. A woman in our neighborhood has a friend who visits occasionally who drives a Neon, but I haven’t seen another one in about a year or so.
The XJS owner was lucky to get a license plate that says “589 MPH”. I think it’s a standard-issue plate from about 2021.
I’m not 100% sure, but I think the “2-door Tahoe” in the pic with the Volkswagens is actually a RCSB pickup with a fiberglass shell/topper/cap/canopy on it.
Opening up the picture in another tab does show that is a pickup with a canopy.
That green Sunfire GT is absolutely fantastic. I had a 1995 Sunfire GT Spring Special with the 2.3L Quad 4 and the crappy Isuzu 5 speed trans. I always considered the Neon to be superior drivers to the mid-90’s J cars, but my Sunfire GT changed my mind.
I’d be a happy old dude if I could find another 95 Sunfire GT. Not gonna happen in Rust Country©, though…
What a fine and eclectic collection of CCs! A few examples of these exist in Charlottesville, Virginia, but nowhere near the sheer numbers you’ve captured here.
My old (1998) Nissan Frontier would fit right in!
It may be just me…
While I know the 2nd-gen Stratus is the last ‘cloud car’, I have a hard time including it in that grouping. The reason…the originals (Cirrus/Stratus/Breeze), with their radical cab-forward styling, were truly unique.
The 2001-06 Stratus became mainstream…and just doesn’t seem unique enough to warrant inclusion any longer…
Very nice! I have been noticing that in my part of the world, the Ford Rangers seem to have outlasted the Chevy Astros. I see at least one Ranger on the road every day. It has been awhile since I have seen an Astro. Let alone most of the rest of these.
Love this format!
Is it just in Jersey or have the 2002-06 Camries become the ultimate cockroach? In the previous decade the later GM As fit this bill but it seems a lot of them died off in the Covid period. The Taurus, Accord and other midsizers don’t seem to have the A/Camry quarter century lifespan.
That style Camry has taken the Curbside Cockroach thing from the GM As which seem to have severely diminished during the Covid years.
The old pickups are not surprising since the average pickup stays on the road 25 years vs 17 for sedans and 20 for SUVs
If only you’d found your true love-a 1971-72 Ford Galaxy or better LTD! One that’s been flogged a bit!
As I looked at the older F150, I remembered test driving two of those after my GM lemon law was final. I rented one and it was quiet if not a nice driver. Then I went to look at one to buy. I wanted the XLT trim, color didn’t matter, and either V8.
The dealer showed me a silver unit. But alas there was one issue-it was an XL…. On one side! The salesman had to reference the window sticker to see what trim it really was! I thanked him for his time, but decided that if Ford couldn’t put the right trim pieces on, I’d go elsewhere!!
The “Nissan” van is actually a Mercury Villager, the Nissan branded version was a Quest.
Quite the variety of vehicles here! The white Focus is nearly identical to my mom’s ’07 (final year for the original body) but has the same hubcaps as the ’06 I wrecked in a freak accident back in 2012. Rangers and “jellybean” F-150s are also still relatively common in my neck of the woods. Astros/Safaris are a bit rarer but still pop up every so often. I always try to wave whenever one passes by as a way of complimenting the driver for being able to keep it on the road–I used to own a final-year example that reached 286k miles! The Astro has now been discontinued for as long as it was in production–20 YEARS!
I’m with you on the Blazer/2-door-Tahoe thing. Assuming both are using the GMT400 body, there’s virtually NO difference between the two save for the badging. The GMT400 trucks in general are still fairly common too, as are the previous-generation models to a slightly lesser extent–they’ve sure got some staying power!
The Previa, all the Volkswagens, the other compact pickups, and the Volvos were good visual treats too!