Today, we’ll be looking at some of the interesting cars in and around my hometown.
Wait, cool car! I have to photograph you!
My automotive writing experience thus far as made me feel a little bit like Patrick Star from Spongebob. In that, when I drive past an interesting car, I have the sudden urge to slam on the brakes, flip a u-turn, and drive straight through a Wendy’s in pursuit of it. When I finally get my picture, I find myself wondering what exactly I’m going to write about. The vehicle has either been a CC before or I don’t think it needs a whole article to itself. With that being said, I felt the urge to clear out my phone’s memory banks, and do a little variety show.
First up is a 1996-2000 Volvo wagon. This picture was taken in the parking lot of my local Wal-Mart, and whoever it is must have just bought it judging from the temporary tag. The interior was in good shape and it’s the first time I’ve seen a Volvo in this green color.
I only had a moment at a stoplight to take this picture of a rather nice Volvo 240. For some reason, these Swedish bricks are becoming popular with enthusiasts around my age.
This tough customer is a late-model El Camino seen outside my local auto parts store. It’s looked to have been rode hard, but I’m glad someone is willing to keep it on the road.
I found this beautiful third gen Bronco while walking back to my car from a trip to the home improvement store.
This second gen Firebird (whose hood decal is at the top of this piece) was also found in that same parking lot. Hopefully they aren’t picking up anything big…
This Mercury Cougar and I have a bit of history. It’s been parked in the same spot for six years now, and I’ve never seen it move. I drive past it on the way to the bank and have wanted to take a picture for so long, but thought I might get yelled at because it’s parked right in someone’s driveway. Just this week, I mustered up my courage, and got the picture you see above. It’s not in as good a shape as it looked from afar.
This heavily customized drag car Camaro was seen just down the road from my house. The owner got surly when I stopped to take a few pictures, asking none too nicely that I not show his licence plate when writing my article. Consider that promise kept whoever-you-were!
Lastly is a cute little MGB that I caught rolling past the grocery store just as I went in. I had to burst out and snap a photo before it got away.
Also an update from Operation ToastCat. I just sold my first round of pallets for a cool twenty bucks bringing my total ’58 Plymouth savings fund to $200. Not bad for a couple weeks saving!
It was drizzzling when I was at Home Depot yesterday, and I was running late and had to get home, so didn’t take any pictures, but it was a CC bonanza. And just like your Firebird, between a Suzuki Verona, a FWD Riviera and a Camaro, not all were your typical home improvement store haulers.
I like the Maxima (?) with the yellow steelie spare, in the background behind the drag Camaro.
That’s a Lexus GS. Modern cars all look the same next to old cars though 😀
And for all these years you’ve been telling us that you can’t tell modern cars apart ’cause they all look exactly the same and now we find out you actually CAN tell them apart! Dman was just testing you, btw. 🙂
I have a bunch of these one-off shots littering my hard drive and must do something like this one of these times.
It’s not exactly Newberry medal work, but it seemed a shame to just delete them until I came across a car that inspired a more robust piece.
The Cougar may not look great up close but to my rust belt eyes it looks perfect! I come across the occasional highly tempting 67-68 project relatively frequently perusing the Chicago craigslist, and I’ll show you what not as great shape from afar really is! 🙁
The screaming chicken hood decal (and I say that endearingly) on a regular Firebird never quite works, there really needs to be a shaker between the wings to pull it off and it sours the car. I’m kind of the mind of go full on Trans Am clone or don’t, it’s up to the owner of course but it’s just a peeve of mine. While I’m at critiquing personal taste though, if you’re going to get surly about people taking pictures of your car, maybe a bright red pro stock style Camaro was the wrong choice for you!
“If you’re going to get surly about people taking pictures of your car, maybe a bright red pro stock style Camaro was the wrong choice for you!”
My thought exactly!
It always seemed kind of weird that Pontiac offered the screaming chicken on any Firebird. But, then, anything for a buck, right?
And, yeah, a sixties’ Camaro pro-stock drag car (in bright red, no less) is not the thing to drive on the street if you don’t want attention. I mean, look at the size of those rear tires! Do they really make street-legal drag slicks that large? Who the hell would drive something like that on the street with any kind of regularity?
That green was extremely common on British market Volvos. They occupy a different market niche there and I guess having a car that colour seemed appropriate to the comfortably off conservative buyer. It would match the creeper on their house, and their imposing hedge.
US market Volvos seemed to be exclusively dark gray (or darke grey in Canada). At least the wagons. Makes me wonder where they sold all the bright yellow T5 models.
Many of them stayed close to the ancestral home.
T-Gul, “T-yellow”, is the most reputable lighter fluid brand in Sweden and it became the nickname for the model that made Volvo hotter in the mid nineties.
LOL Jonas. Plenty yellow ones in the UK too, but weren’t those 850 T5s? I don’t recall V70s in that yellow.
We had plenty of white, yellow and blue ones too 😉
The brand new Volvo I purchased in 1967 was British Racing Green.
Based on the grille, that El Camino is a 1980.
To be really specific, only the ’80 and ’81 models used a a full width grille with two square headlights, and only the ’80 model year had vertical bars in the grille opening. From ’82 on, all years came with 4 square headlights and a common grille, so identifying the later models is a bigger challenge.
Also, from 1978 to 1987 the front end cap on the Chevies is plug and play, so you never know for sure. Still, the paint match and overall patina indicate this car has the factory parts.
The Volvo is a ‘98, since it is badged “V70” but has a Volvo badge filler plate on the fender where a turn signal repeater would be on the ‘99-‘00.
RIP Spongebob’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg.
The 240 is a good choice because all the things people bought them for originally are still applicable. Well built, reliable, stupidly long lived etc. A 30 year old car with 200k on the clock you can still confidently use every day with none of the ecu problems of moderns.
So, if my garage currently includes a near-identical 850 wagon (in that color!) AND a near-identical 240 sedan (in that color!) to the very first two “oddities,” hmmmm…