Posts Tagged ‘on the street’

RustyButTrusty on the Street – Pontiac and BMW 3-fer

February 24, 2014

As San Francisco is an interesting place for spotting unusual (or at least old) cars, so are Oakland and Berkeley. And for people who live where interesting cars are a not-too-uncommon sight among the hoardes of Priuses, Accords and F150s, you owe it to yourself to not forget to appreciate where you are. Our first car is a 1973 Pontiac Catalina coupe. Wait, you say, Pontiac? Sure, they’re an orphan brand now, but there are loads of those still on the streets! Well, with attrition, some of the less-popular versions of the General’s platforms have become as rare as cars that had much-lower sales numbers when new. Who knows what engine this car has in it – anything from the 350 to the 455, with a less-than-impressive horsepower range of 150 (boohoohoo) to 250 (meh).

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RustyButTrusty on the Street – Jeep, Saab, Eagle, BMW

January 7, 2014

Still chronicling the diverse assortment of cars found on the streets of western states, and there’s a lot of material out there. If you were born in the 1970s or later, you probably remember these as fuel-gulping dinosaurs with antiquated styling and wood trim out of the 1970s. But when they were introduced, Jeep Wagoneers were a very early SUV in the modern idiom, equipped with power steering, automatic transmission, and an overhead cam six, several years before Range Rover and nearly two decades ahead of the Ford Explorer. This particular car is one of the last of its kind, and apparently the owner was not interested in the many more modern options available on the market, even before the Exploder showed up.

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RustyButTrusty on the Street – Morris, Datsun, Chrysler, Porsche

January 6, 2014

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!

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