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!
Posts Tagged ‘morris’
RustyButTrusty on the Street – Morris, Datsun, Chrysler, Porsche
January 6, 2014Never Seen Before – 1959 Morris J2 Pickup
September 13, 2013So you’re looking around for a parts hauler. VW Caddy pickups and Type 2 DoKas, Chevrolet Corvair Rampsides, and Dodge D100 pickups are all too common for you. Have we found the car for you here at RustyButTrusty: this 1959 Morris J2 pickup, located in Eugene, OR with bidding around $1800 and the reserve not yet met!
The Heartbeat of…. England? 1975 Austin Marina Coupe
February 19, 2010Well, here’s something you don’t see every day – an Austin Marina. I’ve been to a fair amount of oddball car shows, plus I live in California, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one of these, on the road or off. To many people in England, this would be a good indicator that I’m lucky enough to go out and buy a lottery ticket, but having never been exposed to one, I’d like to find out why. Check out this ad from Unique Cars and Parts, which is apparently convincing the 1975 version of me to consider something other than the Hillman-based Plymouth Cricket at the dealer lot across the street.
Here’s the text (technical #$@%$ is keeping me from pasting the video into this post):
“Life, performance – they depend on your heart – same goes for a car! It’s power, it’s efficiency depend on its heart.
That’s why we’ve taken the heart of the MGB sports car and put it into the Austin Marina, where it yields economy at a beat of over 20 miles per gallon, based on government tests.
The Marina, the family car, with the heart of the MGB sports car.”
Wow, over 20mpg!! During a fuel crisis. In a 4-cylinder compact sedan. I think I know what part of the problem is!