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Welcome to Down On The Street , where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. I've been thinking about the Imperial quite a bit lately, since there's a very clean hardtop '71 Imperial Le Baron now sitting in my driveway. We'll get the story on that car a little later, but for today I've got some photographs of a vast, angular '64 Imperial Crown four-door hardtop that I found parked right around the corner from the 1942 Pontiac Torpedo . First of all, when we're talking about an Imperial, we need to reiterate this important Imperial fact, lest we enrage the purists: this is not a Chrysler Imperial; Imperial was its own marque during the 1955-75 period, so referring to such a car as a "Chrysler Imperial" is like calling an Eldorado a "General Motors Cadillac." No wonder these things were outlawed at most demolition derbies! Everything seems to be cast out of great slabs of solid...
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Welcome to Down On The Street , where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. DOTS Truck Monday is with us once again, and today we're going to check out a vehicle that qualifies as both truck and car: a '64 Ford Falcon with truck bed, aka Ranchero! Then, because polls lessen the sting of Simon Legree's workplace lash- which always seems to fall on one's back with particular malice on a Monday- we'll all vote on our favorite street-parked Alameda Ranchero. I found this customized Ranchero parked in front of Mel's Bowl, just after sunset on a Friday. That's right- the owner is rolling on shomer Shabbas! Then there's the additional blasphemy of a Maverick emblem on the tailgate; normally we aren't purists about such things, but Maverick? Still, this Ranchero is in good shape and the custom touches are fairly subdued for the most part. A 289 4-speed Ranchero! Of course, it might actually have...
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Welcome to Project Car Hell , where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time we stepped into the garage in which the gentleman with the pitchfork conducts his business, the choice had to be made between two 1973 PCH Superpower machines, one Italian and one British. Only one car can win, and this time Italy triumphs, with the $2,500 Pantera beating the Lotus Elite, with 70% of the votes. Today we're going with a topic that's been on everyone's mind lately: what will you drive after the Fianciapocalypse? The vehicular options readers suggested were sound, but, in my opinion, the best way to ride out hard times is to become the unquestioned leader of a powerful religio-militaro-pharmaceutical cult, complete with desert compound and "soldiers" on dune buggies… and for that, you must drive a car whose mere presence shouts "Warlord Prophet approaching!" For that, only vintage British luxury will...
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition , where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot . We love old Cadillacs, of course, and we love them best of all when they're defying the odds and surviving on the street in The Rusty States Of America. Ironclad Lou shot this mean-looking Caddy in Quincy "City of Presidents" Massachusetts. Jump away for more! galleryPost('DOTSBECaddog', 3, '1964 Cadillac Series 62 Down On The Quincy Street'); Greetings, Murilee. I email you from the great commonwealth of Massachusetts. To be more specific, Quincy. Just south of Boston, and home to two of the first six Presidents of the United States, hence the nickname. I have come across a very DOTS-worthy vehicle on the streets of my fair city. I'm guessing, but it appears to be an early sixties example of a Cadillac Series 6200. The fact that the rust and potholes around here haven't sent it to the crusher already...
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Welcome to Project Car Hell , where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! In our last plunge into the Lake Of Fire, we saw the Alpine A310 stomp the Matra Murena like Napoleon pulverizing the Russians in the Battle of Austerlitz, with a decisive 70-30 split in the poll. Today we're going to go from PCH Édition Débâcle to something a little closer to home: Lowrider Project Hell! First, let's have the anthem! Before you go lining up your airbrush artist and gold-plating shop, you need to get a starting point. Since we're going old-school traditional here, the obvious choice would have to be the '64 Chevy Impala coupe. Now, you could find yourself a nice original '64, but have you priced them lately? You won't be able to afford that huge mural depicting La Noche Triste across the hood if you blow your entire roll on Day One, and it's simply unacceptable to get a four-door or even a Biscayne. We've got...
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We saw another Dart in our "Down On The Street" series just last week , but when have we seen a Dart wagon parked curbside in Alameda? I shot these photographs during a rainstorm over the winter; I'd planned on reshooting the car in brighter light, but I think the car looks more like a tough Detroit survivor- which it most certainly is- in the gloomy lighting and raindrop-blurring of these photos. More about this Mopar kiddie-hauler after the jump. It's had a restrained rat-rod-ization, which I think always looks pretty good on a station wagon. Of course, the '64 Dart also looks pretty good dressed in unadorned beaterhood . Painting stripes on the roof is a nice touch. I haven't heard this wagon run, so I can't vouch for the presence of the lumpy-cammed V8 the paint job deserves. The standard powerplant in '64 was the 170-cube Slant Six. This car is an official Radiator Hoes vehicle! The Hoes have a strong Alameda presence, so count on seeing some more...
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The Mazda 1500 wagon combined parts-obtainment impossibility with nobody's-ever-seen-one obscurity to beat the right-hand-drive '75 Nissan Fairlady in Friday's Choose Your Eternity poll . We weren't sure how well a non-rotary Mazda would fare in such a matchup, but the win was by a decisive 60/40 split. Today we're heading to Detroit, which always presents certain challenges for this series; how do you find a Detroit Big Three machine that's hell enough? So much standardization of components and so many junked examples surviving- the coolness part is there, but where's the hopelessness? However, let's say you want to restore a 40-year-old police car, complete with the correct engine, vintage cop gear, decals, the works... ahhh, now we're talking! You see some nice mid-60s big Fords , and you can find totally trashed parts cars , but when's the last time you saw a '65 Ford Police Interceptor that actually started life as a police car? You know...
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We're going to stay in Orange County a while longer, heading from Costa Mesa to neighboring Huntington Beach. We'd mention that Huntington Beach is the official Surf City USA, only we'd probably get howls of outrage from Santa Cruz ; in any case, HB's climate is great for preserving old cars. ß®@ƒƒ spotted this unsafe-at-any-speed '61 '64 in very nice shape- though not so sure those are the best-looking Corvair wheels we've ever seen- parked with the top down to facilitate photography. Do that jump thing to hear what ß®@ƒƒ has to say about his experience. galleryPost('DOTSBEHBCorvair', 8, '1964 Corvair Down On The Huntington Beach Street'); Saw this on the way home from the gym yesterday... which is pretty remarkable. Not the car, the fact that I went to the gym for the first time in 3 months and didn't pass out on the treadmill. Thanks, ß®@ƒƒ! Now let's listen to a catchy little tune from our favorite HB band:
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Remember that Rambler engine block that was so much fun to identify last week? That wasn't the only shot I got of the Crusher-bound '64 Rambler American; in fact, that wrecking yard currently has two Ramblers (in the Ford section). This one still has plenty of good pieces (well, it had them last week, when I took these photos), so let's hope that more than just the cylinder head gets rescued for use in surviving cars. galleryPost('DOTJ64Rambler', 12, '1964 Rambler American 330 Down On The Junkyard');
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galleryPost('StudeDaytonaVR', 9, '1964 Studebaker Daytona Still Races'); Last time we heard from Vintage Racer , he was performing duct-tape heroics to keep his Datsun 510 on the weather-challenged race track. Since then, he's been sending more of his excellent photographic work our way, and today we're going to look at one of the coolest musclecars ever built, rivaling even the mighty '69 SC/Rambler. Yes, this here is a '64 Studebaker Daytona vintage race car! Make the jump to read Vintage Racer's description, and get ready for more of his photos later in the week! Evidently, in 1964 Studebaker built 465 of these - with 283 Chevy engines. So after building a Trans Am Camaro, this gentleman was looking for a new project. Something different to road race - a Chevelle, maybe a Nova. He found out there were FIA homlogation papers for a Studebaker, and this is what he built. A beautiful car, it ran pretty well and sounded great. He'll be back out with...
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We've seen an Olds Delta 88 that uses a handicapped placard to park in San Francisco 's crowded South of Market neighborhood, and now reader TK has shot this F-85 a mile or so away in SF's even more parking-challenged Chinatown. This Olds is such a regular that it's visible in Google Street View! Make the jump to read TK's description. galleryPost('DOTSBEChinatownOlds', 9, 'Olds F85 Daily Driver Down On The SF Street'); I've seen this Oldsmobile Cutlass F85 in San Francisco Chinatown. Sitting around in front of corner of a tourist filled street in front of a shop called Chinatown Bizaar (Sacrmento/Grant). It's almost always in the same spot or within a block or two. Black CA plates, moo cow seat covers and the infamous blue handicap plaque. It can also be seen on google maps street view at the exact same spot. BTW I was one of the tourists. Didn't have a lot of time to take the pictures as my group was leaving. There were too many people on...
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Was it fair to pit a stock Mercury Lynx against a Chevette diesel-powered RX-7 in yesterday's Diesel Dilemma Edition Choose Your Eternity poll? Probably not, as the diesel Mazda pounded the daylights out of the badge-engineered Escort. Today we're going to move away from cars that you might consider using as everyday transportation and head into the realm of cars that stick their voracious snouts into your wallet every time they detect the proximity of a race track. That's right, it's Vintage Racing Hell today! Naturally, we'll need to go with PCH Superpowers Britain and Italy for this one, and the decade of the 1960s seems about right to sucker you into believing that these cars aren't so old that parts obtainment will be impossible. Hey, what's 40 or 50 years, right? You want to get into some serious GT Touring action at the next vintage racing event in your area? Good thinking! Of course, you'll need to roll up in some Italian steel, and said steel needs...
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I enjoy the nice, shiny, well-preserved cars in this series, of course, but I really love me some beaters! Cars that haven't been coddled for one minute of their decades-long lives! This Cyclone is one of my all-time favorite Alameda cars; an original 289/4-speed machine, it's been roaring around the island for at least the last 15 years and probably longer. It sounds good, looks mean, and lives on a busy street. Sure, it's slowly rusting away, but it's got decades to go before the slow-motion California-style rust finally brings it down. I've talked to the owner of this car a few times (we were neighbors for a couple years in the late 1990s) and he's extremely proud of his wheels. As I recall, he's either the original owner or the second owner, and he has plans to get the body and paint done... someday. There's some rust-through on the hood, but you figure it took 44 years to get this bad... plenty of time to fix the body! The Cyclone name was later applied...
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After I was caught in a camera-challenged condition when spotting the '70 Fiat 500 near my office in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood and was forced to use the 640x480 so-called camera in my cellphone, I resolved to start carrying a real camera at all times. Naturally, I totally spaced on the camera thing when I caught sight of this 21-window Transporter while out for some Bánh mì on my lunch break last week, and once again we all get to look at blurry, wide-angle cellphone shots. These things didn't fare too well around here, because the sun and smog tend to eat up the seals around all those windows, which lets rust gain a toehold it generally never relinquishes. But here's a very original black-plate example that (if the window stickers are to be believed) has been damn near everywhere. galleryPost('DOTSBESFTransporter', 6, '21 Window Type 2 In San Francisco');
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A few weeks back, we saw a reasonably complete looking 1964 Volvo Amazon in an East Bay wrecking yard , and the outpouring of grief- particularly from European readers- was heart-rending. How could such a nice Amazon be treated like some dime-a-dozen Excel or Taurus? How? Well, nobody saved the whole car, but a Jalopnik reader emailed me for the location of the yard and then proceeded to drive five hours each way in the hope that his recently wrecked Amazon might get some front body parts. Make the jump to read his story: galleryPost('AmazonResurrection', 4, 'Junked 1964 Amazon Donates Parts For Wreck Victim'); Thanks again for disclosing the location. I wasn't able to make the trip until Tuesday the 25th of March. I was taking a big risk making a 236 mile drive, but it paid off. Luckily, it was there waiting for me. They were clearing out the 2 rows next to it. The forklift driver told me he was taking it to be crushed the next day. What luck, and it even had almost...
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