Subaru Brat

 

From Reid Cunningham, in Philadelphia. " I think of old Subarus as haunting Colorado or Northern New England, but this one was was at repair garage in the City of Brotherly Love.  It doesn't look too far gone and it wasn't complete buried in back so there is open for a rejuvenation.   I was disappointed that it was missing the jump seats in the bed.  They made the Brat trucklet a bit less useful for hauling but really added to the apparent fun factor. This also continues my theme pf stumbling across interesting vehicles at night. With the recent time change that will hopefully improve."
AL: Here's 1968 Subaru 360. They were first imported to the US in 1965 but very few people noticed.

Dodge Ramcharger, Colorado

 

This from Markus Anstadt in Denver

We posted a Ramcharger from NJ a while back. And another in NH.  Our favorite Dodge of all is this 1973 Power Wagon  which is, weirdly, from Cambridge, which is way more a Tesla-town than a trucktown.

Austin-Healey on the road...

 

From Michael Moore, in Northern California: A couple of vintange racers heading up 780 in the springtime sun…

AL: here's a 1966 Mk III Austin-Healey we posted from China, Maine. And another A-H from Deer Isle, Maine.

Various Volkswagens

 

Rye, NH. Last summer. Basha Burwell photo.

Porsche 356, East Bay, California

 

Did you catch yesterday's 356, judged by Jonathan Welsh to be @1961? This one is from Michael Moore, in California. AL is unsure when dating a 356...so we'll say 1961-65 for this unit, and look forward to being better informed. 

1961 Porsche 356B, New Jersey.

 

From Jonathan Welsh: "I had seen this gem scooting around town for weeks before catching it while parked. Looks like a 1961, give or take a year. I have always loved the shape of these old Porsches. Once again, Ben was driving when I requested this unscheduled stop. He will be so happy to drive alone when he gets his license." 

AL: we have posted many a Porsche, including this 1600 in Banff.

Series Land Rover, Boston Seaport

 

Surf's up. Basha Burwell photograph. Last Land Rover we posted was on Deer Isle.

1966 Thunderbird, New Hampshire

 

from Reid Cunningham : This was at a repair place in Exeter; there was a box with a new part on the seat. I found it interesting that it had a regular NH plate and not an antique vehicle registration. So, likely a real summer driver. It's good to see interesting cars being enjoyed as intended instead of being show pieces and trailer queens.

AL: we posted a 1966 Thunderbird at Motorland in Arundel Maine a while back;  more Bird links in that post.

1961 Colorado Comet

 Mercury Comet. Spotted in the Springs a while back. One of those that have stood the test of time. Maybe did a long spell as Grandma's car.

 

The Subaru Outback (and Walt Whitman)

Al has always liked wagons; don't know why we have never given the Outback its due.  Maybe because they are so common, at least here in New England.  25 years ago the Subarau Outback was already the unofficial State Car of Maine, and they have only become more ubiquitous. Being common shouldn't be a drag on the market: some of the most beloved and prized vintage cars and trucks were the most common basic transportation--or job tool--of their day. The Chevy 3100 pickup, for example, or pretty much any station wagon from the 1960s. The Outback been around since 1995. All the cars in this post were less than a 2-minute walk from our apartment  in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When you walk around Cambridge, there is pretty much always at least one Outback in sight.

We have posted on a 1968 Subaru. We sounded disapproving when we posted on the Outback Wilderness edition--of the fantasy being sold, the dream of crashing through wilderness with your family packed aboard a muscular station wagon...what is that about, America? As the land is evermore tamed and built and paved,  those Super Bowl ads showing brawny beefcake trucks forging streams and smashing up and down trails seem...wait a minute, what did Walt Whitman say...    

    “I say we had better look our nation searchingly in the face, like a physician diagnosing some deep disease.” -Democratic Vistas

 

Drive-in theaters, and youth

Reid Cunningham on drive-in theaters, and youth:

When I was in high school, in Connecticut in the early 80's, the golden age of the drive-in movie theater had passed. But my blue-collar hometown still one.


The Portland Drive-In was the high school hang out spot. Long before cell phones, it was the place where there was a good chance you would find your friends on a Friday or Saturday night after a game, or after work. There were double features every weekend, running one of the movies first on Friday, the other first on Saturday, so you might go both nights to manage to see both movies in between talking with friends, and teenage comings-and-goings. As long as you were reasonably behaved, you could drink beer underage and hangout without risk of attention from the local police.


We all drove rusty hand-me-down cars, or old beaters we bought and kept running on shoestring budgets from minimum wage jobs. I drove a 1942 Ford pickup that was for sale on the side of the road for $450. It was patched together, and very slow, with a flathead 6 and low gearing, but reliable. Started in all but the coldest weather. A Jeep rear seat was bolted in the bed behind the cab facing backwards, perfect for watching movies. And there was the tailgate, for additional friends, and even the roof.


Admission was per person, so there was an incentive to occasionally stuff people in the trunk. The trick was to let people out when the owner wasn't patrolling. A few towns over, in Berlin, there was a bigger drive in. They ran triple features and charged per car. We would caravan over, ditching all but one car in the local department store parking lot and cram everyone into someone's mom's station wagon. In the summer with long days the last movie didn't end before 1:00 AM. We would head to the all-night diner for French fries before rolling home at 2 or 3 AM. No restrictions on teenage drivers...and our parents that were too busy, or tired, to worry much where we were.


Both drive-ins closed while I was in college.The Berlin drive-in became a strip mall. The Portland Drive-in survived longer than most because it sat in a flood plain of the Connecticut River, surrounded by tobacco fields that were enriched by the annual deluge. It was eventually sold, fill was brought in to raise the grade above average flooding, and it became a boat storage yard for a marina down the road, which it still is, 40 years later.

AL: John Brinckerhoff Jackson had interesting things to say about drive-ins and other neglected (and sometimes forgotten, or barely noticed) pieces of the American landscape. See out post on The Crapola Sublime.

1967 Ford COE

 

Now, who wouldn't want their own private firetruck? This one retired from the Cape to Cambridge. We posted a '55 Ford COE and thought it a beautiful kind of ugly.

1947 Dodge COE

                                                        

I think this model as called the Gnarl.Spotted in Colorado Springs,a while back.