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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. The "fuselage" early-70s Chrysler is pretty well represented in this series, with this '71 Newport and this '71 Newport Royal , but seeing yesterday's '70 Newport Royal ad made me decide to break out the photos of today's vast two-door luxury machine. The 1970-71 Chrysler C-body is actually one of my favorite Detroit body styles of all time (with the 1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst being the ultimate ), and I've often considered leaving a "How much do you want?" note on today's DOTS car. How many acres is that hood? The standard engine for the '70 Newport was a 383 with 290 horsepower, but the Chrysler dealer could get you a 350-horse 440. Get the 300 Hurst and you got 370 horsepower from your 440. Sadly, a 4-speed manual transmission was not available from the factory. There's the usual rust you see...
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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 yesterday's matchup, we saw the rear-wheel-drive hot-rod Corolla beat the front-wheel-drive hot-rod Corolla in the Choose Your Eternity poll . And that's great, only we got a bunch of static from readers who thought those two cars weren't punitive enough. Fine, we'll remedy that situation ASAP, with a couple of weapons-grade Hell Projects for you. The initial cost won't be all that high, but you'll have the chance to repent at leisure with either half of this PCH Superpower matchup! Ahhh, the Triumph Stag. It may well be the king of British Hell Projects, combining British Leyland build quality, Prince Of Darkness electricals , and a half-baked SOHC V8 engine that was flaky even by Triumph's incredibly generous standards. Shockingly, the last one we saw in the Hell Garage was beaten by a Porsche , so today we're giving the...
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newVideoPlayer("/71_Chrysler_Royal_476.flv", 506, 423,""); The Newport Royal was priced a couple hundred bucks lower than the regular Newport; it came with less gingerbread and a 360 instead of the 383 engine, but was otherwise the same car. See, that's to get you hooked on Chryslers; the guy who buys the Royal now will go on to buy a Corboba a few years later, and by now he's in a Cirrus. Just like eating peanuts!
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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. It had to happen, sooner or later; somewhere on the island, a Cordoba was waiting- soft Corinthian leather and all- for my camera. Now that day has arrived, with this '78 located in the 1950s-vintage part of the island landfilled into the Bay. Generally, houses in such neighborhoods have garages, which means the DOTS pickings are much slimmer than those in the neighborhoods full of houses built during the 1880-1910 period, but this Chrysler still lives outside after 30 years. First, we must watch the Ricardo Montalban ad that started it all. In Cordoba, I have what I need! Plastic "gold" Cordoba medallions may be found all over this fine personal luxury automobile. Weighing in at a portly 4,021 pounds and motivated by a thirsty 318 or 360, the Cordoba wasn't quite the ideal machine for a time of fuel-price insecurity. By '78...
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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. In all this time, we've had just one Volvo 140 in this series (though this Volvo 164 is pretty much the same car). Given that the East Bay has been a Volvo epicenter for many decades now, what's up with that? Today we're going to add another, this one a sporty coupe with a lot of travel to its credit. Back in '71, you could buy a new Volvo 142S for $3,020. With the base '71 Chevy Nova 2-door priced at $2,176 and the Datsun 510 coupe going for just $1,990, the purchase of a new 142 showed that you were a sensible car buyer, willing to pay a premium for safety, European build quality, and longevity… although- now that we think about it- the Datsun 510 sure was a helluva deal! Judging by the old Navy base parking stickers and the not-often-seen-on-Bay-Area-Volvos George Bush decal, it's a safe bet that this car is owned by a current...
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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 . Of all the vehicles you expect to see parked on the street in Copenhagen, a late-70s IHC Scout II is probably way down near the bottom of the list. Yet Kim of Copenhagen has spotted this '78 or '79 Scout II on Oehlenschlægergade Street. As an added bonus, we get one of the meanest-looking Saab 96 survivors in the world. Jump away to see all the photos and read Kim's description. galleryPost('DOTSBECopenhagenIHCSaab', 3, 'Scout And Saab Down On The Copenhagen Street'); Econoboxes like Seats and Ladas rule my in-the-process-of-being-gentrified Copenhagen neighbourhood of Vesterbro, but a few interesting cars live here too. Like the International on the attached picture. Please note a few days' worth of parking tickets on the windshield. The CH sticker on the back is for Switzerland, but the license plates are...
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Apparently shot by Chrysler marketers in the same rock quarry as the Hang 10 Dodge Dart , this photograph of a model in kicky bellbottoms posed next to a 1974 Dodge Sportsman van creates more questions than it answers: Why is she dressed like a Disco Office Cowgirl Quaalude Dealer? Is she going to load a bunch of gravel into that van? If so, why bring the passenger van with windows and upholstery? Will the Malaise 318 deliver enough power to get the van out of the quarry?
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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! Italy held on to its PCH Superpower crown in our last Choose Your Eternity poll, with the Alfa Romeo Duetto taking a 53-47 victory over the British contestant. After admiring the lovely surfboard-friendly Hang Ten Dodge Dart in yesterday's Moment of Zen , we had no choice today but to pit a basket case totally restorable Hang Ten against an equally awesome Malaise Era Special Edition AMC, complete with tape stripes and low-performance engine. The Hang 10 Dodge Dart didn't come with a surfboard, but it did feature a rear seat that folded down, enabling Slant-Six-powered hodaddies to avoid that unsightly board-out-the-window look. You got cool Hang 10 graphics and a bunch of other special stuff to make you forget that the base Slant Six only made 95 horsepower and the 318 V8 just 145. We all want a Hang 10, of course, but where can you find one these...
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newVideoPlayer("/LMAD_Bricklin2_494.flv", 506, 423,""); Malcolm Bricklin probably seethed at the description of the Canadian-made Bricklin SV-1 as "America's latest sports car," but the audience for this mid-70s episode of Let's Make A Deal had nothing but oohs and aahs for Monty's announcement of the Cleveland-powered Safety Vehicle One. Thanks to LTDScott for the tip!
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Many years ago, I bought a bunch of used glass 35mm slide mounts at a photography-gear store. Some of them came with transparencies used by Malaise Era Chrysler dealerships, including this classic shot of the 1974 Hang Ten Edition Dodge Dart. See, 1974 was a great car year!
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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. Today we're going to check out one of my all-time favorite Japanese cars, the one that started the whole hot-rodded Japanese machinery thing here in the US of A: Datsun 510! Sometimes I get asked whether irate car owners come running after me with a shotgun when they see me shooting their cars, but my experience with this Datsun was more typical; the owner came out to see what was going on, was glad that someone appreciated his car, and opened the hood and trunk so I could get better photos. It's funny that the car known as the "Poor Man's BMW 2002" is now worth more than a 2002. In 1971, you could buy a brand-new 2002 for $3,275… or a Datsun 510 for $1,990. Both cars had IRS, disc brakes, etc., but the BMW had the power edge, with 114 horses versus 96. With the money the Datsun buyer saved, however, another 50 horsepower could...
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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 simultaneously crushed and seared our fingers in the red-hot vise of the Hell Garage, the Shelby-ized Dodge Omni beat hell out of the Shelby-ized Dodge Shadow in the poll. Today, with the New England 24 Hours of LeMons race coming up in just a few days, we're thinking about the kind of car it takes to win the most prestigious trophy of the event. No, that's not the one that goes to the so-called "overall winner" (although a team does get some heavy-duty bragging rights by taking that honor ). We're talking about the coveted Index Of Effluency trophy, the one given to the team that achieves beyond all reasonable expectation in a seemingly hopeless "race car." You contend for the IOE by showing up in a looks-fast-on-paper car that everyone knows is going to blow up for sure (e.g., Maserati Biturbo, Merkur XR4Ti,...
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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. Alameda has a fair number of International Harvester vehicles (we had a Favorite DOTS IHC poll with the last one , and the 1948 KB-2 pickup won), most of which seem to get regular driving time. Today we're going to check out a no-frills truck that's eager for the collapse of civilization, at which point it will become more valuable than all the Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis in the state put together. Most of the time, when I see a jacked-up 4x4 with big mud-slingin' tires in a context as distinctly urban as this, it strikes me as a silly vehicle. Not so with an International Harvester! This Scout might not be a '72, but the grille is a '72. No doubt some parts have been swapped here or there, so there's no telling at a glance. If it is a '72, the available engines were a (non-AMC) 304 V8 and a 196-cube four-cylinder. Base...
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newVideoPlayer("/Trans_Am_AMC_476.flv", 506, 423,""); Sure, there were plenty of Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers- not to mention a few furrin jobs in the 2-liter class- roaring around the track in the Historic 1966-74 Trans Am Cars event yesterday, but: red-white-and-blue Javelins and AMXs! The sound of 40 V8s WFO on the track overwhelmed my poor camera's sound-recording abilities, but I did get a usable video of this Javelin warming up. Make the jump for many Trans Am photos. galleryPost('MH08TransAm', 6, 'Historic Trans Am Cars In Monterey');
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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. Strange as it seems, we've only seen one Alameda Monte Carlo so far, and that was a first-year-ever 1970. What about the big Malaise Era Montes, the ones that came close to breaking the two-ton barrier? Welcome to 1977! The 1970 Monte Carlo weighed 3,460 pounds, which was on the porcine side... but compare that to the 1977's 3,852 pounds! Naturally, engine power was one of those best-not-mentioned subjects, with a 170-horse 350 being the best The General could do for you. Yes, that's the '72 Mercury Monterey in the background, though they're not owned by the same person. I spoke to the Monte's owner; he's had the car since it was new and still drives it regularly. Unfortunately, he had the vinyl top redone a while back and the job wasn't done very well. Now the car has an especially bad case of GM Rear Window Rust....
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