Mount Tabor is the name of a volcanic cinder cone (dark one in center), the city park on the volcano, and the neighborhood of Southeast Portland that surrounds it, all in the U.S. state of Oregon. The name refers to Mount Tabor, Israel. It was named by Plympton Kelly, son of Oregon City pioneer resident Clinton Kelly.
Even though I have spent much of the past year in Portland less than a mile from the iconic upwelling, it was only last week that I finally took the plunge upwards. From my bunker on 89th Ave, I headed north, the sounds of cherry bombs and bottle rockets still dancing in my head. The main roads are to be avoided on foot due to noise and pollution, so my route was a bit indirect, yet quiet and photogenic. For a start, less than four blocks on was this colorful scene:
My keen sense of decal awareness tells me the car is a Ford of some persuasion. About the truck I have no idea, which is where you, the CCCollective, come in. Cash prizes are awarded for correctly ID’ing a vehicle first. However, since I really AM clueless in this department, greater minds than I will have to do the awarding.
*phone rings, followed by thirty seconds of heated back-and-forth*
My editor has informed me that there is no cash in the budget to be awarded, so you’ll have to make due with the profligate praise heaped on by fellow cohorts in the (hopefully) blooming comments section. Moving on!
The Mount Tabor neighborhood lies between SE 49th Ave. (SE 50th Ave. south of SE Hawthorne Blvd.) on the west and SE 76th Ave. on the east, and between E Burnside St. on the north and SE Division St. on the south.
Turns out I’m not even in the correct neighborhood yet, let alone near the mount itself. As I round the next bend onto Lincoln St. I see this:
This pleasant little hamlet was undergoing a renovation. Some intrepid worker had seemingly run out of surfaces upon which to lean spare plywood, and had gotten desperate.
Rounding the corner onto 88th and continuing northward over to 86th brought the next gem into view:
This pleasant little rolling hamlet is itself undergoing some renovations, but at least this time the lumber is structural. I’m reminded of my teens and the small church my family attended in the coast range. The local trucking bigwig was a regular attendee. There was a talk one day about the sheer volume of deer his fleet of truckers were hitting, and how it was economically viable to use large wooden bumpers in lieu of steel. One wonders what this van encountered…
I was just veering left onto Main St. when a land-whale further down 86th caught my eye:
The renovations continue! I was a bit leery of shooting pictures with the (apparent) owner hovering about, but was able to catch him behind the rather copious coverage of the hood. The battery nearby indicates possible trouble, yet the current tags indicate a daily driver. Or perhaps seasonal, as the sun had just begun appearing after this long, long winter. The blue Oregon plates hint at an original owner car, or one that has been in the family since new.
I turn west onto Yamhill St. and approach 82nd a.k.a. the Cascade Highway. Before I close the two block gap I spot this:
A Futura of the Pasta? More blue plates, but the tags are long expired. The poor bird sits in its nest when it could be flying the beautiful blue Oregon skies. The redneck weatherproofing on the camper seems ominous in this scenario.
A few blocks on yet STILL not in the Tabor-hood, a much nicer CC comes into view:
Even a layman such as I recognize this iconic shape as a T-bird. The house and yard were equally as clean and bright.
At long last, 76th Ave!
The Mt. Tabor neighborhood numbers 10,037, and is quite affluent. Much more so than the earlier areas I was perusing, yet I’m not finding any interesting vehicles. The trend in this district is obvious: Outbacks and Priuses dominate, with a few rebel Insights and hybrid Lexuses for good measure. *yawn* I pocket the camera and approach the end of the road where the north entrance to the park is. Fortunately, at the base of the mount parked next to the trail head was wonderful tour finish:
Unlike the T-Bird, this car strikes no bells of recognition. CCC?
So there you have it. Turns out the best part of the Mt. Tabor neighborhood is in the Montavilla neighborhood instead. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour and, if so, comment below and I’ll drum up some more. That said, I must end this piece with the hood I enjoyed most of all:
’58 Ford
Ford F-100
’63 Corvair Monza
Ford Econoline
’65 Mercury
’61 Falcon Futura
’65 Thunderbird
’65 Studebaker Lark
Pretty good list. And 1st, too. As someone down below mentioned I’m pretty sure that’s ’66 Studebaker. The script on the front fender says “Cruiser” and the ’65 front end had a trapezoid front grill. The T-Bird could be a ’64. The chrome piece on the C piller doesn’t match the ’65 pic I have. The van is a Falcon based unit, I think. Did they call them Econolines back then? I don’t know.
’58 Ford Custom 300 2-door sedan, to be specific. The pickup is a 1950 – 1953 International, probably an L-100. The plates on the 1965 Mercury are definitely its original ones from when it was new. That Studebaker Lark is definitely the rarest of the oldies encountered, and in very nice shape too.
On the Stude, I believe that the single headlights mark it as a 66, the very last year for the Canadian Studebakers (or of any kind, for that matter). Also, the Lark name was gone by 64, so possibly a Commander. Not sure if they were still making Cruisers.
@psfm Right on the International pickup – a 50-53 half-ton. I don’t remember the designation. The Studebaker is a 1966 Cruiser (neither a Lark, nor a Commander).
And, Catbert, the T-Bird is a ’64 The Falcon a ’63.
I must be older than everyone else here!
The T-Bird is a 1966, the ’65 had a fake chrome scoop on the front fender, and the 1964 had different wheelcovers and ‘Thunderbird’ script on the front fender, not the back fender. My grandmother had a 1965 convertible, navy blue with white interior, bought new at Bob Neal Ford in Rock Island.
The Studebaker (no longer officially a Lark) is a 1966. A very, very rare bird…only 8935 of those things were made before Studebaker officially became something other than a car company.
You can tell by the headlights. The earlier models had quad headlights (entry-level series had dual lights in 1964, I believe) but in the last, too-late style freshening (very successful, IMO) the car reverted to dual lights.
The grey Pickup is an AL110 International next to a 58 gold flash Ford, Chevy Corvair, Ford Econoline,Ford Mercury, FalconXL T bird, Studebaker is a Cruiser. That was a very productive walk I have discovered ,many old gems in my neighbourhood but everything is up a driveway not on the curb you need kosher registration plates in the wild Ive test flown my brakeless windowless Hillman but it aint cheap if you get catched.
Ah, the place of my birth near the foot of Mt. Tabor. The pickup would be an L110 most likely.
Right on the International pickup. Don’t know the year; but it’s circa 1950
Mine was a 51 with 3 speed knuckle smash shifterAussie assy RHD conversion was factory but rough the three on tree shifter had the 1/4 glass in it path Ive hardly seen another a 3 tonner in Tassie and a few ARs Theres a AR 5 ton doing septic tanks in the Huon Valley still working when I left,Lots of old gear still in tassie.
The Studebaker has single headlights, which I believe makes it a 1966, the last year for
the Canadian Studebakers. It looks to be in extremely good condition.
Reminds me I am intending to do the same sort of “walking tour” for my adopted hometown of Gallup, NM.
The T-Bird is definitely a ’66, as is the Stude.
’66 Thunderbirds have the revised nose with the thinner bumper. The tailights are also integrated across the rear as a single strip, but you can’t see that from the side view.
Msquare, you beat me to it on the Thunderbird. Serves me right for not reading all the way down…
That’s now the second 1953 International truck I know about in town. I wonder what’s going to happen to the Portland fleet of IH products now that Ernie is retired. Bisio Motors was a wonder, 57 years of International trucks and parts in the same location, run by the same person. Wish I had taken pictures of the place, it’s a definite classic with its own curbside!
I rebuilt my AL110 nearlt 30 years ago and couldnt get parts got the last set of bigend shells in NZ and used Chev rings with an extra comp ring pistons were welded up then new grooves turned the head was planed to true it then stellited the exhaust valves reused the headgasket and just cut new gaskets everywhere .That engine was good ran real well had cast headers from memory but it pulled like a train There were some very clever guys where I worked there wasnt much that couldnt be revived,Overhauling steam turbines all day makes International engines look easy
Studebakers were used as highway patrol cars in OZ seen some like this with Chev SB rare though the ex police cars are collectable the last model was a good car in its day
Wow, much more varied than my neighborhood! I’ll take the Falcon with the Hamilton-built Stude a close 2nd (of course).
I’m quite over the whole flat black / red wheels thing, that 58 Ford needs teal or salmon/white paint.
Yeah, DougD, I agree – my old L110 was faded red with a faded blue tailgate and rear fender. I think the yellow color on those was the best – think Caterpillar and you’ve got the shade about correct. That was a slow truck, but it would go up hills in high gear that guys with old Dodges or Chevys had to shift down. Oil changes were expensive though – it had a ten-quart oil capacity.
My own image of the Custom 300 2-door sedan is in black on black, like the 352-powered one my old man refused to buy when it was a year old. (He was probably, and correctly, apprehensive about the subsequent depredations to his underground gasoline tank.)
Thanks for taking us on your walk, Mike.
I somehow KNEW you nerds *cough* would ID all these things. Reading the commentariat is as fun as finding the cars and writing about them, and I plan on doing some more soon. Thank you all!