Plainfield IL, 2/26/86
It’s time, once again, to return to the Curbside Classics of the past, in 1980s and 1990s Illinois. How about a nice opera-windowed Continental?
Roscoe IL, 12/11/85
This photo was taken from a distance, but if you look hard you can see a Nova, Fairmont Futura, 1975-76 LeSabre sedan, and another Fairmont. See any SUVs? No? Me either. People drove cars back then.
St. Liberty IL, 1/26/96
Okay, there is an SUV in this photo, but it’s a nice compact S10 Blazer. These rusted really fast in my neck of the woods, and few have survived to the present day. And I’m sure educatordan has an interest in that Gran Fury.
Urbana IL, 12/30/85
There’s a nice Subaru GL, Corolla wagon and ’73 Sedan de Ville in this photo, but that classic diner steals this scene from 1985. I wonder if it’s still there…
Quincy IL, 3/12/86
Let’s close out this week’s trip into the past with this shot from Quincy, with a ’70s-tastic two-tone white and burnt orange Omni, bright red LTD Landau and my favorite B-body, a ’79 Bonneville. Remember these images when you’re sharing the road with all the plain silver Camcords and Expeburbans, they’ll help get you through. See you next Wednesday!
Interesting comment about the S10 Blazer. Up here in Sierra AWDland there are virtually no compact GM pickups & SUVs of this vintage. There are plenty of $ Runners, XJ & ZJ Cherokees a smattering of Explorers around.
There are still more than a few of them around Chicago. IIRC, Michael Jordan had one at the time (they were promoted that way), so of course, they got to be very popular around Chicago.
I believe that building in Plainfield is still there, and it looks like a Ford Bronco nose cone off to the left of the photo.
The building is still there, and you can see quite a few newer cars at it as it is an Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Here is mine. I’ve had it for 10 years. It was a DD for the first few, but now it is relegated to toy status and the occasional dump runs.
Here’s another shot.
The diner from Urbana now resides in Princetown, NY!
Full story here: http://tinyurl.com/7ajejba
I was just coming here to post the same thing. I got to see this diner last summer while visiting friends.
Jimmy “The Lamp” Denunzio often conducted his business out of a non descript unknown Italian restaurant with a red door…..
Hilarious! My thoughts exactly when I saw that first photo. Looks like a very mobbed-up scene.
So wedding quickly approaching and I was keeping an eye on a certain classic car dealer in the Midwest who had a 1988 Plymouth Gran Fury brougham in white with a tan pillowed velour interior, clean and rust free. I watched it on his website SINCE CURBSIDE CLASSIC OPENED not having the $2500 he was asking to spare. I was seriously considering making a move on it in August (wedding July 21st) and what happened… This year, tax season, he SOLD IT! Dang!
Oh well on to the next object of my lust… perhaps a 1990 B-body Caprice sedan or a 1990-1997 Lincoln Towncar Cartier (or any Panther with factory dual exhaust like god intended V8 powered vehicles to have) or loose my mind and buy a mid 1980s XJ sedan either with or without the SBC installed. Sigh… Of course if I can get dad to part with his 1967 Mustang then I’ll just go buy something new and reliable and get my wrenching/hot rod fix on the ‘Stang.
Dan, if you go for the Jag, and if it’s a small-block Chevy conversion, I’d suspect that you should check if it’s a John’s Cars conversion.
http://www.brokenkitty.com/
I looked at an XJC coupe with Chevy power, but the conversion wasn’t done right, no instruments working etc.
Dan, if you buy a pre-91 Caprice, make sure it doesn’t have the 307 Olds engine as my ’89 did. The 8th digit in the VIN is “Y”. I ended up ripping that 307 out for a 350TPI.
My current ’91 has a Chevy 305 and gets down the highway nicely with 20+ MPG on a trip.
I have heard that ONLY the station wagons kept the quadrajet 307 for 89, all the SBC got fuel injection that year. Actually I’d love a 350 powered 93 model, right before they dropped the LT1 in there. Those models are unloved and not comanding a premium like the 94-96 models.
I suspect that the blue Gran Fury is a cop car…look at the way that big black rear tire sticks out of the wheel well. Too bad it’s missing the hole hubcap.
That Roscoe, Illinois photo…can you say “edge of town”?
See You Next Wednesday!
You caught me – yes, I’m a big Blues Brothers fan!
If Illinois had an official state movie…..what else?
In fact I nominate The Blues Brothers as the official Curbside Classic Film.
I would put it on the “Recommended” list, but not the official movie.
Animal House has a ton of curbside classics in it too.
Gone In 60 Seconds (the original) is undoubtedly the big CC winner.
Holy moly no kidding!
http://www.imcdb.org/movie_71571-Gone-in-60-Seconds.html
I’ll have to watch that again.
“Used Cars” is another strong candidate.
Classic opening scene of the Cadillac (?) wallowing hideously over the heaves in the road – good example of why people have a low opinion of American car handling. The yawing or lateral movement is atrocious.
You do know that 1973 Fleetwood Brougham was doing about 90mph when they were filming that scene, so yeah, big heavy car and pretty high speeds on a bumpy road, thats what you get.
Once again you have managed to find the most depressing pics ever. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Minnesota.
Aside from the cars, of course, what I love about these photos are the, er, non-architect-designed remodeling jobs on the buildings. Looking forward to the next batch.