Walking and biking the streets of my California hometown continues to reveal an unending variety of curbside finds. In the past, I’ve looked for themes of commonality, or contrast, but today I’ll just document the variety. All of these photos were taken in the past year, and most just a short unpowered distance from my house.
We’ll start off with a pair of Honda Elite scooters, from the mid- or late-1980’s. Until then, most scooters echoed the curvy styling of the Italian Vespa and Lambretta designs, but Honda aimed for what they called a 21st Century look, fifteen years ahead of the new millennium. With water-cooled 4 stroke engines, they certainly were cleaner and quieter than the more typical two stroke scooters of the time.
Just around the corner, though not on the same day, I found this patina’ed Chevy pickup still working for a living. I think it’s a 1965 or ‘66, based on the A pillar shape. The truck’s owner was indeed whacking weeds in the rental property yard. The steel rear bumper bears the name Redus Chevrolet, in Dilley Texas. As near as I can tell, Dilley is famous for watermelons but no longer has a Chevy dealership. I’ve seen this truck a few more times on the job in town.
Quite a different shape, and a lot smaller and brighter in color, is this Triumph Spitfire. With Overdrive! And owned by a member of the Santa Cruz British Motorcar Club. Not the only red sports car we’ll see on our travels around town.
Not red, not British – but with a link to the UK, in its Aston Martin Cygnet version – is this Scion iQ. Not a common car here, far outnumbered (still) by the Smart Car.
Just as I pocketed my phone after taking the picture of this Australian Capri, a young woman came out of a nearby house and got in and drove away. No smoke, no rattles, no oil puddle left behind, this Mazda-based car will probably give good service for a long time, probably better than the Spitfire. But not as well proportioned as the Triumph, nor as distinctive as the iQ. I’ll take a pass on this red sports car. Or maybe that’s really just “sporty car”.
Two Fords, both grayish in color, but that’s where the similarity ends. I’ve had a few rental 1st gen Escapes and they were surprisingly enjoyable to drive. I’ve never driven a CRV or a RAV4 but if they’re anything like the Escape I guess I can see why crossovers are popular. I’m not especially a fan of the retro TBird, but compared to the Australian Capri, it has aged quite well.
Taking a turn in a more utilitarian direction, here’s a vehicle which is a rarity on our streets, and perhaps anywhere that they weren’t used as taxis. The MV-1 was built by AM General, of Humvee and other military vehicle fame, as a taxi and “civilian” version optimized for wheelchair transport. They were built in the early to mid-2010’s with Ford powertrains, both 4.6 liter modular V8 and 3.7 V6.
OK, enough gray. Let’s go back to red sports cars. This Mitsubishi 3000GT looked pretty stunning on a sunny Spring day.
Not so stunning, and back to gray, is this Coda EV. If I’m not mistaken, we briefly had a Coda dealership in town … and I guess they sold at least one car here. A total of 117 were sold in all of California, the only US market, in 2012-2013. It was a 100% Chinese product, manufactured by Hafei and in turn based on the Mitsubishi Lancer.
A bit more colorful, and a very rare find, was this Ford Model T which I saw, and heard, pulling into a gas station surrounded by 100 year newer cars. Definitely a four cylinder, based on sound, and no front brakes, but when the fill up was done and the driver got back in to leave, it fired up with an electric starter. I’m not a T expert, but I believe this taller, rounded hood and radiator tank suggest it’s a 1923 or newer model. But I’m sure at this point it’s a hybrid of parts from many years. Older than our usual fare here at CC, but probably the most distinctive sighting I’ve made in years.
Although this gas station is close to my house, I’d never seen this T before, nor have I seen it since. But on a bike ride a few months earlier, I had seen two Model A’s, several miles apart, both on the road keeping up with suburban traffic. No pictures unfortunately. Otherwise, the oldest vehicles I see driving in town on a fairly regular basis are GM Advance Design pickups.
More in the vein of the Capri or even TBird on the sports car spectrum, is this Bricklin. Not a fan of the styling but the white over black color scheme doesn’t look too bad. I’ve seen this car a few more times in various parts of town so it is getting some use.
This VW based dune buggy looked sad sitting out in the rain. The number 43 reminds me of stock car racing great Richard Petty but I doubt there’s any connection. I didn’t see any brand identification but I don’t think it’s a Meyers Manx, perhaps the best known of the many dune buggies that appeared in the 1960’s, and just as quickly faded away.
I first thought this was just the owner’s tasteful rebadging of an International truck with Cat (Caterpillar) logos. But in fact it’s an actual Caterpillar CT660 truck, the product of a brief joint venture between Cat and Navistar, called NC2 Global. Started up in 2009, it lasted just a few years.
There are a handful of Toyota 40 series Land Cruisers getting driven around town, and this nice red one hauling a modern Santa Cruz (brand) mountain bike was parked outside a local coffee shop. All of the 40’s sold in the US were FJ40’s, powered by gasoline inline six engines, though other countries got BJ40’s with diesel power. A lot of FJ40’s here have received small-block Chevy transplants, but judging from the single tailpipe this could very well still have a Toyota six under the hood.
Here’s a car which is a rarer sight here than a 40 series Land Cruiser, a bustleback Seville. This one shares its driveway with a late model AMG Mercedes SUV. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at my current stage of life I prefer the Cadillac to the Mercedes. I’ve never seen this one under power but it’s not always in the driveway and other times it’s parked over to the left, making room for the Benz, so presumably its mechanical condition matches its cosmetics.
I’ll wrap up with another FJ40 [correction, BJ, or at least diesel-badged], paired with its polar opposite in the Costco parking lot. Thanks for joining me on an automotive tour of my hometown.
Ah, the Honda scooters that introduced Lou Reed to a new generation of young teens. I liked the scooters then and now and Lou has become pretty much immortal.
There are at least a couple of Codas in Colorado, one I used to see every now and again in freeway commute traffic just north of Denver and a local EV reviewer has added one of the “continuation models” to his channel’s fleet of EV history. Impressive that you have one still doing duty in a local driveway! If it fills the user’s need, then good on them.
I will admit the Cadillac in its current state is a very impressive find. One wonders if it was acquired that way recently or if it’s a pampered example from new by this owner. It doesn’t really seem to fit in to your community but I’ll admire its apparent excellent condition. Blue plates would be more appropriate (and original) to it but seems like every state now either has or is getting a black plate (ours with white lettering on black background seem to be exceedingly popular for some reason).
According to Wikipedia the Coda was only sold in California (all 117 of them) but I suppose it could be wrong. Or maybe they migrated east to escape our high electric rates.
Not being a teen in the Eighties, though a tad young for Velvet Underground in the Sixties, so I’m more in the Transformer generation and I had no idea what you meant by the Lou Reed scooter reference. But I looked it up. Thanks for the bit of knowledge.
I swear the Velvet Underground is vastly more popular today than when they made their records (’66-’70)
The Velvet Underground is one of those bands where they were never terribly popular, but I’ve heard it said that every person that did listen to them started their own band. An exaggeration I’m sure, but it does point to their influence spreading far beyond their actual listeners.
You are most likely correct about the original sale, we get various CA only EV models brought in on the used market as there were fairly generous state incentives to do so for some time. There’s a few older RAV4 EVs around as well for example.
Those Lou Reed ads seemed to be everywhere (MTV?) when I was in high school, I suppose my cohort was absolutely the target market (and a number of kids at school got new Honda scooters), Lou Reed was an interesting choice at the time, but it worked, at least for me. Devo was another artist in some of the scooter ads…
What a wide variety of interesting vehicles! How long did it take to collect? My favorite is the Chevy pickup, it speaks to me. Second place goes to the Triumph spitfire.
I didn’t check all the photo dates but I think these are just from the past year. If I had waited a few days I could have included a nice one that I saw just this morning, a 1956 Ford, two tone white and green with a rumbly V8 and intact original Crown Victoria and Fordomatic badging as well as the CV’s B pillar embellishment, all lightly patina-ed.
Some great finds here! I’ve never heard of a Coda – I guess they weren’t sold anywhere around here, and during that period I wasn’t too focused on new cars.
The Caterpillar trucks are something I’ve seen occasionally, and have wondered about, but never intensely enough to look it up.
I agree with you that the retro Thunderbirds have aged pretty well. I wasn’t a fan of these when new, but they bother me a lot less now than when new.
The MV-1 is a vehicle I see often because our local school district still runs some of these for transportation of disabled students – students who need to be picked up individually at their homes. The local paratransit service used to use these too, but I think they’ve largely been replaced by bigger vans now.
And as an enthusiast of comparison shots, I love your closing picture.
Excellent eclectic collection of finds. I’m impressed to still see Codas being driven, given the massive issues many of the buyers had with them when they were new.
Nice T; there’s an early T touring car that regularly putters around Port Orford; I’ve written it up somewhere.
Cute Spitfire but not a fan of the wheel covers.
The Seville is impressive; I’ve come to appreciate seeing them, although that’s taken a while.
Were those Triumph 2000 wheel covers standard on US market Spitfires?
Honda built the most-produced motor vehicle in the world, the Super Cub. You can still buy one (or any of the many knockoffs) today. Compared to the Super Cub, the Elite series of scooters looked like they came from another planet. Some versions even had a pop-up headlight! On a scooter! And liquid cooling! When Honda was flush with money, they did some amazing things, even on the least-expensive vehicles they sold.
’68 or ’69 Spit, my favorite version of the various series. A smooth and sexy-sounding TR six transplant makes for a really sporty car, and they can be made to handle well quite easily to boot.
The Standard Catalog says electric starters became optional on open Fords in mid-1919. Based on the same source, I think you’re right about the styling dating the car to June 1923 or later.
Thanks, I somehow thought that the e-start didn’t come along until the Model A.
An intriguing collection!
Because of the CAT/International dump truck, I just visited International’s company website. I learned a new term there, ‘Severe’. As in severe duty, I never read that anywhere before. You’ll find the truck maker’s current construction-site-worthy models there.
I’ve learned so much from you about European trucks, I’m glad I could indirectly return the favor, even if in a small way. In addition to severe duty, another US term is “vocational”. According to Webster’s it refers to skills or trades, but in the domestic truck world it seems to refer to Class 5/6/7 and sometimes Class 8 trucks used for garbage collection, concrete, road work etc. Probably some overlap with severe duty.
Yeah, Mack has something similar, I don’t think the trucks can even drive on the roads with a full load in most US states. I remember seeing the billboards for them when I still lived in PA – always off-road.
I had a gf in Santa Cruz a few decades ago so visited every chance I got. Beautiful place, especially the UCSC campus. I don’t recall seeing any interesting cars, though that wasn’t on my mind.
The service (foot) brakes on the ‘T’ Model Fords are _inside_ the transmission .
The drums you see on the rear wheels are park brakes only .
Nice looking 40 series Toyotas, they certainly got their money’s worth out of the old Chevrolet Divison’s 235 CID engine they bought in 1963 .
-Nate
On the subject of 40 series Toyotas. That last one in a BJ40 or 42 and likely not an FJ. The diesel badge in the grill gives it away. There were some super finds in that collection.
Good eyes. I just ‘assumed” it was an FJ because that’s what we see here 99% of the time, unless it’s a RHD JDM import … or has BC plates.
On the subject of 40 series Toyotas. That last one is a BJ40 or 42 and likely not an FJ. The diesel badge in the grill gives it away. There were some super finds in that collection.
Your streets have a more interesting population than mine. This sometimes changes during the Gambler 500 when odd moddified stuff pops up, like the Honda Del Sol with a Rupp minibike on the rear deck
Per Google electric starting was on option on the Model T starting in 1919 so your specimen may have had a factory starter.
Turn the trembler coils on and a T just starts if the engine is warm, no starter required, those rebodied Mazda 323 cabriolets by Ford are really rare here I prefer the Spitfire or Mitsu GTO,
I drove CAT trucks as prime movers towing quad trailers to Landfill, C15 engines with 18sp Roadrangers, usual cramped cab American truck exactly like the Navistar Eagle I]d driven many years ago, the joint venture was obvious but being a 6 wheeler I liked it, reasonable ride and the shifter sprouts direct out of the transmission,
Old Landcruisers are becoming scarce now rut has taken them out, the worst I saw here were the ex JDM versions, maybe the sea voyage didnt help, I’d take the Landcruiser before the Elon rubbish skip any day, make mine the 4.2 disel.
What an an amazing collection. I am particularly interested by the Bricklin. I have only seen one in the wild, a junker sitting next to a house. The quality of the fiberglass was laughable, although to be fair, it had been outside a long time. The whole saga of the Bricklin is really interesting. Canadian taxpayers got fleeced.
We visited Santa Cruz on Sunday, and still love it. I didn’t spend much time cruising looking for interesting cars, so the only notable car I saw was a (’97?) vintage Chrysler Concorde on the drive back over highway 17. It was white, and between the color and its proportions, with the low cowl and lots of window glass, it really stood out in traffic. It’s been many, many years since I last saw a first generation LH car.
I thought the bustle back Seville was ugly as sin for a good 20 years or so, but now I actually find it quite attractive. Same goes for the Bricklin. Funny how that goes.
I like that mid-’60s Chevrolet pickup near the top. Those rear bumpers engraved with the dealership name are pretty cool. Around here, I remember some old trucks with the name “Vern Sims Ford Ranch.”
That’s a twin to a Ford Escape – Mercury Mariner. I’ve only seen one, as they were not sold in Canada.