Ghost Rider on the Plains

From Alex Emond: "I just had enough time to grab my camera for this one take on the mystery truck . I was at a crossroads a few kilometers south of Cadillac, Saskatchewan " when I heard that rumblin' sound " It must be a fairly local truck so I'll probably run across it again. The fact that the picture showed up on the camera proves that It wasn't a mirage or a dream. Killer Truck."

AL: could that have been a Dodge 6x6 military truck originaly?

Ford C-600 New Hampshire

From Reid Cunningham: "They made these for so long I can never guess the year. The faded lettering says this was once a fire truck. Claremont, NH"

AL: here's a C-600 COE we saw in Kansas a while back. And a radicalized version in Banff. And another Ford COE in Colorado Springs

 

1958 Chevrolet Bel Air

Primped for a film shoot in Harvard Square. Bel Air probably wouldn't have been a hack, right? More likely a Del Ray, like this on in Colorado Springs. Here's a '58 Brookwood wagon we saw in New Mexico a while back. Puis une Biscayne à Québec.

1924 Buick Touring Car

Derek Van Bever spotted the Gatsby-era machine in Blue Hill, Maine.

 

1958 Dodge Custom Royal

Picture car on a film shoot in Harvard Square.

 

1955 Chevrolet Swift Current

One more from Alex Emond in Swift Current "... this time it's a 55 Chevy . A Heavy Chevy . Nothing halfway about it ... a thoroughly professional build . I wish I could hear it start up and see it in motion . It struck me as kind of funny ... it was in a church parking lot . Maybe it belongs to the "Rev" . Doing a burnout near the gates of hell. Revving it up. " 

 

1955 Ford F-600

Reid Cunningham: "Claremont, NH. I was surprised to see a dump truck with the fancier custom cab. Given the antique plates and that it wasn't there a few weeks ago when I was last passing, it is probably a driver."

 

October booklist

Books and stories read (or heard) in October:

In Hoffa's Shadow. Jack Goldsmith

Sea Power Admiral James Stavridis

The Blunderer Patricia Highsmith

Other Men's Daughters Richard Stern

Lincoln on the Verge. Ted Widmer

The Light of Day. Eric Ambler

Short-short stories podcast:

In Nature. Cameron Quincy Todd

The North Babak Lakhgomi

Less Than Five Miles From Home Christen Enos

Flood Keenan Walsh

1972 Pontiac Grand Prix

A survivor, hanging out at  Cambridge MA garage. One of the personal luxury cars pioneered by the Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

 

1966 Ford Custom 500 sleeper

At AL, we like sleepers: plainjanes with some get-up-and-go. The Ford here was on the block at BaT. Power's from a replacement 427ci side-oiler V8 featuring a dual carburetor setup and medium-rise cylinder heads.  Here's a '67 Ford Custom 500 in PA, with dual exhausts... and how about this 1964 Chevy Biscayne 409 we spotted in Colorado Springs a while back?  Or this 63 Ford Galaxie 500 in Maine.

 

Massachusetts Work Trucks

AL likes trucks that mean business. Like this Ford F-350 with a Knapheide utility bed.

We've posted on s Boston tradition of old-fashioned lettering (looks like a circus font) and pin striping on trucks.See our post on Boston Truck Language.  It's certainly, but not exclusively, a Boston Irish thing, as in the GMC 2500 below.

1974 International Scout II Rallye

From Jonathan Welsh:
"International Scouts are my favorites among vintage sport-utilities, especially when decorated with graphics that scream "1970s." This Rallye version showed up in Montclair, N.J., but appears to have spent time on Nantucket based on the oversand vehicle permits and beach passes. Decades ago my best friend's family drove a '78 Jeep Wagoneer, its rear window edged with several years worth of oversand permits from Martha's Vineyard. He explained that those things were status symbols. Today the old truck probably generates more envy. How it must stand out on the ferry, surrounded by the latest luxury crossovers. Here's a piece I wrote a few years back about collectible SUVs. Good for a chuckle, perhaps. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/vintage-suvs-the-new-status-symbol-1479401867

AL: here's a Scout II in Maine a while back. Another in Miami. A wedding Scout in Colorado.