Chronicling the cars you see on the street sure does a lot to make you appreciate them, both in terms of quantity and variety, if not always quality! Today’s edition of RustyButTrusty on the Street covers three cars that, in spite of not being orphans, are rare sights indeed. Our first car is perhaps the rarest version of GM’s X-body platform, the Buick Apollo 2-door coupe, only built from 1973-74. In 1975, this was renamed the Skylark, and lost a lot of appeal for it, because what’s cooler than a car named after a Roman god, and sharing its name with a sports car (awesome) and a rocket (double awesome!!)? Unfortunately, it’s beige and not the rare spoilers-and-stripes GSX version. Either way, the slight styling variations on this badge-engineered special are enough to make you do a double-take.
Archive for the ‘RustyButTrusty on the Street’ Category
RustyButTrusty On The Street – Buick (yes, Buick), Honda, Chevrolet
October 19, 2013RustyButTrusty On The Street – Oakland VW Edition
October 18, 2013The streets of Oakland and Berkeley share the same variety of obscure cars found in San Francisco, if not more so. The mixture of college professors and students, immigrants from all over the world, and people of diverse political leanings mean you can sell a few of anything there. And that’s how you can see, say, a Lotus Europa, first-generation Mazda 626 coupe, and Subaru DL liftback coupe on the way in to work. While VWs are still relatively mainstream cars, the attrition rate of disposable cars means that many have disappeared from the road. And that brings us to today’s cars.
Rusty But Trusty On The Field – All Italian Show
October 17, 2013Every year, there’s a fun, laid-back show for owners of Italian cars in the area surrounding Alameda, CA, just south of Oakland, to park their cars on the field and enjoy each other’s company. Each year brings the usual gaggle of Fiat and Alfa spiders, along with various Alfa sedans and some more unusual cars, like an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Cabriolet, two DeTomaso Mangustas, and even a Fiat 131 sedan. The one thing that’s always surprising is the number of nicer Alfas parked outside the show field. You often overhear people saying they didn’t have the time to wash the car, or that it really needs some paint, but c’mon, people, this is not Pebble Beach! And if someone has a problem with you driving in in your spider that you haven’t washed since March, they can go to a car show that costs $250 instead of $5. Our first example of people who agree with this perspective is below – a red Fiat X1/9 that looks well-used, well-loved, and ready to keep going.


