Carspotting 2016

11 comments on Carspotting 2016
3 minutes

I take photographs of old parked cars when I come upon them. Normally, I write about them over at Curbside Classic, the old-parked-car blog. But this year I’ve not made time to write over there as much as usual. So for those of you who read both there and here: you’ll see some cars today that I’ll write about over there eventually!

However, the harvest was not ripe this year. Here are the handful of cars at least 20 years old that I found.

1973-pontiac-grand-ville-convertible

1973 Pontiac Grand Ville convertible. Margaret and I capped our wedding weekend with dinner on Main Street in Zionsville. Walking back to our car, we came upon this long, low convertible. It appears to be a survivor — that is, original and unrestored. Just how I like ’em! More on Curbside Classic here.

1975-lincoln-continental-mark-iv

1975 Continental Mark IV. This was parked at church one Sunday morning. It belongs to one of our neighbors, who we let park in our lot since on-street parking is hard to come by in this neighborhood.

1979-chevrolet-corvette

1979 Chevrolet Corvette. Margaret and I found this on 56th St. just off Broadway in New York City. This is the reddest Corvette I’ve ever seen! More on Curbside Classic here.

1984-88-nissan-maxima

1984-88 Nissan Maxima. I don’t know a whole lot about these, except that a college buddy’s dad had one. At the time, I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t have spent the same bigger bucks on a Buick. Oh, how naive I was.

1986-90-dodge-ramcharger

1986-90 Dodge Ramcharger. I’ve always thought these looked great. When I wrote about it for Curbside Classic, some commenters decried the skinty tires. As if all trucks need to be jacked up and on giant knobby tires. I think this thing looks just right.

1990-honda-civic-crx-si

1990 Honda Civic CRX Si. Somebody I work with owns this. I don’t know who, mind you, but it showed up in the lot at work a couple months ago and is there every day. It’s a survivor, and it’s refreshing to see one of these in original condition. I hope this guy keeps it this way forever.

1993-96-lincoln-mark-viii

1993-96 Lincoln Mark VIII. I always thought these were good looking. But this one had peeling paint everywhere. A shame. More on Curbside Classic here.

1996-ford-escort-lx-sport

1996 Ford Escort LX Sport. I’m pretty sure Ford offered the trunkback version of this car only this year. My dad had the hatchback version, in this color I’m pretty sure, and it’s the car he owned the longest. That thing was hard to kill.

1997-bmw-m3

1997 BMW M3. This car belongs to one of the partners at the company where I work. We went to lunch one day and he let me drive it. I’ve always wanted to drive one of these! We didn’t go far, and I was not about to sink my foot into the floorboards in my big boss’s car, so I didn’t find out what this M3 was made of. But just rowing it through its gears put a smile on my face. And ok, it’s only 19 years old. But it’s my blog and I want to include it!


Comments

11 responses to “Carspotting 2016”

  1. Jason Shafer Avatar
    Jason Shafer

    Quite a nice assortment you’ve captured. Here’s to wishing 2017 to be more fruitful in your automotive harvests!

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks! Can I admit that there are cars now that I don’t stop to photograph, that I would have a few years ago? I’m becoming an old-parked-car snob!

  2. conspicari Avatar

    Great selection, I like that Dodge Ramcharger too.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      It’s a winner. Don’t know that I want to own one but it was surely nice to see this one.

  3. dan james Avatar

    Jim, I always wanted one of those Honda CRXs… I had a later version, a ’92 CRX Del Sol which was fantastic, but I still hankered after one of these earlier teardrop models. The 1.6 Vti engines were/are incredible – very rapid and yet capable of around 50 miles per gallon driven sensibly… And it had a James Bond like electric roof…

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Buddy of mine had the first-gen CRX, the HF version, and it was a hoot to drive even at just 60 hp.

      1. dan james Avatar

        My CRX Del Sol SiR was a Japanese import, so slightly higher spec’d than the domestic version I believe. The power was 168bhp, which I think at the time (and for some time after) might have been a record for a non-turbo 1600cc engine. Insane little things…

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          Wow, a 168-HP Del Sol! I’ll bet it had a lot of scoot.

  4. Dan Cluley Avatar
    Dan Cluley

    I’m not usually that into Pontiacs, but that ’73 just looks like a sweet ride.

    My best find of the year has to be the 1924 Model T in the Meijer parking lot last summer.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I followed a Model T down 56th St near my home once this year! Wish I had time to follow it until it parked, and photograph it thoroughly.

  5. […] via Carspotting 2016 — Down the Road […]

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