I have posted two previous collections of neighborhood outtakes, here and here, but today’s post is just a few pictures, taken on Christmas Eve within a one block stretch close to my house, hence the “Part 2.5” title.
And, as you’ll see, they are all Ford Motor Company products, hence the Dearborn reference. First a Topaz, new to the neighborhood and very clean and straight for a 30 year old car. According to California’s smog check data site, it’s a 1990 and has always passed its smog test. I was surprised to see all four wheel covers present and in excellent condition. Postscript: shortly after the New Year, I saw the Topaz being loaded up on a flatbed tow truck (a RAM, not a Ford, for what it’s worth) and haven’t seen it since.
A few yards further up the street was this Crown Vic, a curbside regular on this block. Nothing really special, obviously an ex-police car but definitely a daily driver. According to the smog check site, this one is an ’08, and described as a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, so it’s definitely the real thing. Postscript #2: while waiting for the traffic light to turn green at the top of this hill, I saw another Crown Vic drive by, but was too slow on the draw to get a picture. It was an active duty patrol car from our local PD … I wonder how much longer they will ply the streets here in black and white livery before they get auctioned off.
Finally, just up the hill, a longtime neighborhood resident, at least longer than me. Although I’ve never seen it driving, it moves regularly (or is moved) and always has clean windows. It acquired new tires a few years back, and like the Topaz, it too has all four hubcaps in place and in good shape.
Nice finds and that house in the last photo is a real beaut!
A crown Victorian, you could almost say. 🙂
An interesting variety. Like you, a Topaz has not been seen by me in – I have no idea. The CVs (mostly ex cop cars) are cruising the poorer sections of town, good sturdy cars for getting where you’ve got to go.
I am not good with year ID on these trucks from the side. 65-66 based on that emblem? I’ll bet PN can nail it.
‘65 was the first year for Twin I Beam, so that’s a good guess. Stay tuned for another interesting Ford pickup find, on which I did consult with Paul before posting.
The emblem seen on the truck is the 66 style. The emblem shown below is my NOS 65 style.
Sorry to see the Topaz depart *not* under its own power. I can fantasize that it is going to a devoted owner somewhere else, but I figure something broke and owner “did the math” and decided not to spend the money. Ah, but it does look to be in solid shape for its age!
Truck: the commentary makes me wonder how endangered the term “hubcap” (whether one word or two) is. New cars/trucks today seem to have the cast wheels, except for the budget line, where it’s black steelies and a full-size plastic wheel cover. I can’t think of anything that comes from the factory with the small “hub caps” any more, but suppose the CC Collective Wisdom can name plenty without hesitation.
Thanks, DMAN, for delighting a Ford Guy today. I still see those Crown Vics often, and would like to think—even here in the Salt Belt—that they’ll be around a while longer. Some nice examples still show up on Craigslist (search for “grandfather” to zero in on them), and I do get tempted….
I like the tip to search “grandfather” on Craigslist car ads. I tried that here in Northern Virginia and came up with just one — a Cadillac Brougham. Interestingly, I tried it in two other markets (Philadelphia and Tampa… very different localities) and the results were mostly pickups.
Neat experiment… and if I had more time I’d try that search in a lot more areas to see what kind of pattern emerges.
My mother had an ’88 Tempo bought new for many years (until 2009).
I was watching the local news station one night a long time ago and they had for some reason zoomed in on the hubcap of a car that looked very familiar to me…as they zoomed out I could see my mother driving the car in a parking lot. The state was having a free emissions testing event and my Mother was concerned that her aging Tempo wouldn’t pass the upcoming required tests, so she took it there to have them check it out. Funny what you remember about cars.
Well, the Tempo was never a great car, but it soldiered on for many years doing its faithful duty. I even borrowed it more than once when I was working on my own car as a parts runner or just a ride around town (as my Mother was retired she didn’t need it for daily duty often). When my sister moved in with my Parents, she was going to share the car with my Mother and I fixed up several nagging issues (like the remote fuel door release not working, power locks on one side stopped, etc.). I’m embarrased by its demise, which was partly due to a blown AC compressor I didn’t want to deal with (we live in the sunbelt, and AC is kind of a requirement for most of the year) combined with a local version of the “cash for clunkers” program. As the Tempo got decent fuel mileage compared to the Focus that replaced it, it didn’t qualify for the National program, but the state was phasing in emissions testing where they kind of assumed that a car as old as the Tempo was probably belching smoke (which it wasn’t) and they wanted to just get it off the road, so they gave us enough of an incentive on the Focus to make getting rid of the Tempo attractive.
My nephew now drives the Focus, my Mother has taken over my late Father’s Impala, we have more cars then ever (one per person) but no “extra” cars like my Mother’s Tempo…kind of miss it, even though it wasn’t much of a car, sometimes any car as long as it’s available is great.
I have little love for the Tempo/Topaz despite very little experience with them, just never struck any kind of chord with me and that’s a rare thing indeed. That CA smog check database is a wonderful feature indeed.
The CV on the other hand is something that has always interested me, never an owner but sorely tempted several times. They are still around here as well and the local PD has one or two still in service as well. A wagon version would have been even more interesting.
The truck’s a typical CA patina-mobile, there must be one (whether Ford, GM or Mopar in every neighborhood that is older than the trucks themselves. Always there, rarely noticed, but missed when gone.
An old CV is really cool but my experience is that cop cars get the bark beaten off them horribly. Then they get sold on to guys will greasy hair and acne. The point being it can take a ton of money to get one on the road in a safe state.
I was thinking civilian CV, not PI. An ex-police car is only slightly higher on my list of desirable things than any of Ed’s big yellow NYC Taxis but that still leaves it extremely low to the point of looking into local bus schedules.
While there are some agencies that don’t take care of the cars and/or keep them until they are truly worn out, many take good care of their cars and sell them long before the end of their economic life.
The cars from a 1-man, 1-car agency are usually much better kept than an agency that hot seats them 2 or 3 shifts per day.
The richer the area in general the better the cars are kept and the sooner they are retired.
Still a fair amount of them in the Concord PD. See at least one a day somewhere on the town roads.