1982 Chevrolet C20

 

From Don Culbertson in West Texas: "My father is 94 years old. not only did we take his keys, I took the truck.  1982 ,with a V8. It’s spent it’s entire life on a ranch."

Crown Vic : Martin Gotfrit

Crown Vic

After 75 years at the wheel,
Phil's driving days are almost done, and my finish line is closer too.
A lifetime ago
when I rode up front with him,
I dreamed
we were detectives
roaring to a scene
in a Crown Vic.

They were big cars those ghosts:
but we could spot them
by their antennas and hidden lights. Sometimes though, they were cabs - filled with old smoke and always
a quiet radio murmuring from the dash.
All warm and welcoming in the night, they'd fit six easy as we slid in from the cold.
My friend Chris said "only ever own what you could move in a cab"
but he was talking Crown Vic -
it's a different story these days.

Getting old is realizing
Most folks won't know a Crown Vic And riding shotgun with Phil
now spins different scenes.
My car, with its spaceship display from another century,
isn't rushing to adventure.
I just want it to get me home
so I can dream.

                                                    -Martin Gotfrit

AL: Was dismayed that a search of the AL archive turns up 0 Crown Victorias. Apart from being the last standard-issue, ubiquitous, American-made, rear-wheel-drive NYC taxi, they were the favorite floatmobile for a generation. The  driving experience?  A living room on wheels. Your parents' living room.  The closest we have come to profiling a Crown Vic is this 1977 Ford Custom 500 spotted on the ferry wharf at Tadoussac. If you see any Crown Vics, please do send 'em along, with field notes.

Please see also Love Cars, and Father's Son : PB's essays on fathers and cars. 

1967 Chevrolet Corvair in the Rain

 

Michael Moore spotted the car in the Bay Area.  We caught a Fitch-modified Corvair Sprint for sale in Maine, a while ago. Then there's the Corvair in Ralph Nader's Museum of American Tort Law.

1967 Plymouth Barracuda convertible

The photographer Jill Goldman caught the Barracuda in Capitola, Calif. We caught an earlier Barracuda while ago at Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia

 

D.C. Transit bus

Saw these a while back at Motorland. in Arundel, Maine

International B-100, Vancouver

 

This one is from a while back: a one-owner Saskatchewan truck that was (briefly) for sale in Vancouver.

Beannacht and best wishes!

 

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Autoliterati and especially to the wonderful gang of contributors who, from all points of the compass, have broadened our scope and opened our eyes to all kinds of old metal over the past year. Long may you roll. 

The lobsterboat?  Brooklin, Maine-built. Arno or June (short for Junior) Day. 

1943 Willys Jeep, New York

 

From Jonathan Welsh: "Something about the ancient Jeep parked among modern machinery on Washington Street in December screamed "Greenwich Village." Just another car, right? Passersby didn't seem to notice."

We posted a '66 Kaiser Willys Jeep from West Texas a while back. And an earlier version of the CJ (maybe 1960) from Colorado Springs.

Volkswagen Rabbit/Golf

Originally marketed in North America as the VW Rabbit, these are unsung cars, but they've been around since 1974--way outlived the Beetle, in its original configuration anyway---and I suspect that's because they are great cars. The naming Rabbit? Golf? has been unfortunate but the original profile remains much the same probably because it was and is so form follows function. The best of German design.

1957 Morris Minor 1000 Traveler

Christmas present?  Saw the car last month at Motorland in Arundel, Maine.

 

Not a Kandy Colored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby

I was teaching a semester in Wichita a while back. Did some exploring in the Flint Hills, and lucked upon the Schroer Speed Shop in Strong City, KS. That's a 1941 Plymouth that spent several years upside down in a ditch before it was recovered and vividly retuned. Below, the Ford 352 Special.

And may be time to read that Tom Wolfe book again.

1959 Catalina convertible & our '59 Pontiac Thing.

 

If you've followed Autoliterate, you know about our thing for 1959 Pontiacs, especially Catalinas. This unit in. on the block today at Hemmings. I'd lose the whitewalls and wheel covers, but if you want a summer cruiser, this is about as definitive as you'll find.Here's another we caught in Windo Rock, Arizona a while back..the original Wide Track.  Here's the Canadian version, a Strato Chief, doing duty as a police car a Montréal. A '59 Laurentian wagon. And our Ur-car, the '59 Catalina coupe.

1960 Buick Electra

 

Eva H.D., the writer, caught the Buick in Brooklyn.

For GM, 1960 was a step back from the wild cars of 1959, like this '59 Electra. 1961 Buicks were even more buttoned-up. And the 1961 Buick Skylark was doing its Compact thing.

The Street-Legal Ford GT

 

"...On the 50th anniversary of Ford’s 1966 Le Mans victory, the company came out with an all-new Ford GT racing car, went back to Le Mans, and won again in this car’s class. The company also announced they would be making a street-legal version, in very small numbers. The new GT was technologically leaps and bounds over the 1960s version, and the shape far more aerodynamic. In 2016, Ford announced the first Heritage Edition GT, with a paint scheme exactly like the car that won Le Mans in 1966. Only 27 were built. Other Heritage Editions followed, commemorating legendary Ford GTs from the ’60s..."    from A.J. Baime's piece in the WSJ on the Heritage edition Ford GT. 

And have you seen the movie, Ford vs Ferrari?

The e-crate Blazer, and recreating the Sierra Grande

 

If they can pack an e-crate electric motor into a '76 K-5 Chevrolet Blazer, why not into a '75 GMC Sierra Grande? More at Motor1.com or at silveradosierra.  Seems do-able. But would need to change braking and other systems as well, right? Need to find out more. I want to do it.

Ford E-350 conversion

Looks like someone with ambition is converting this unit to a home on wheels.  My (limited) experience with these van-bus conversions is that the original, with tis raised fiberglas roof and side panels, not to mention door, is noisy, unaerodynamic--lots of whistles and creaks. Looks like some soundproofing is goin on in this unit. The van itself looked to be in good shape, but I wonder how many miles these bus-conversions have on them before they get retired and sold? I'll try to keep an eye on this one, see if the project is still a Project.