Rusty But Trusty

If you have previous experience living in a colder climate, and you’re an old-car geek, one of the first things you’ll notice is the profusion of older cars in use on California roads, even in the depths of winter. In one weekend, you can see a mid-1950s Ford cruising on Highway 280, BMW 2002s on San Francisco city streets, and a billet-free modified Studebaker hotrod. While those cars escaped the RustyButTrusty camera lens, several others were not quite as slippery. Here’s a sampling of what was on the roads, starting with a Morris Minor delivery van with some modifications, including Chevrolet Vega wheels, a visor, and custom paint, perhaps with something interesting under the hood. Fiat twincams were a popular conversion – fancy that on a back road!

Next up are the rays of heaven shining down upon this mid-1970s Datsun 260Z. Looking nice in pale blue with contrasting gray Minilite-style wheels, this car has been featured on other sites and may have been a feature on BringATrailer a few years back. It seems to be in regular use, and lives near a similarly nice 1974 BMW 2002tii – perhaps an owner who wanted two 1970s icons for himself.

Not quite so popular, even with the meter maids, is this ticketed Chrysler Omni. Yes, it’s not a GLH, and most of you probably don’t dream of the experience of driving one. But it is rare to see on the streets, much less in such good condition. Thank you, Omni owner, for selflessly sacrificing yourself in the name of automotive diversity on our streets, and interrupting the Prius parade.

Last, but by far not least, is this awesomely ratty Porsche 914. A frequent sight in the Bay Area car scene, it’s powered by a relatively modern Subaru flat four. Unfortunately, rust you can’t see here means the end is nigh, and the naughty bits are going to be transferred to another shell that’s in better shape.

The holiday season usually gives a small bounty of cars out to enjoy unseasonably dry weather, so there will be more to come!

Tags: 260z, 914, datsun, dodge, minor, morris, omni, on the street, porsche

This entry was posted on January 6, 2014 at 12:57 pm and is filed under RustyButTrusty on the Street. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.