I love old cars! Always have, probably always will. I’m excited to see an old car still on the road, doing what it was designed to do. I photograph them when I come upon them parked.

To make this list, the car has to be at least 20 years old. It’s crazy to me that cars from 2001 qualify! But such cars are becoming quite long in the tooth.

I encountered 21 old vehicles parked in 2021. Not bad for a second year in a row when COVID kept me home far more than normal. Here they are.

Old fire truck. I have no idea when this fire truck was made and I lack the energy to research it. I found it parked on South Meridian Street in Indianapolis.

1953 Dodge. I found this parked in Putnamville, Indiana, during my Ride Across Indiana. I’ll bet it doesn’t run, but I included it anyway.

1957 Ford Fairlane 500. I found this gorgeous car parked in someone’s driveway on US 40 during my Ride Across Indiana.

1959 Ford. Good heavens, but are these ugly. I found this in Putnamville, Indiana, near the 1953 Dodge above.

1961 Rambler American. I found this in Putnamville, Indiana, with the 1953 Dodge and the 1959 Ford. Who knows if it actually runs.

1964-66 Ford Thunderbird. I found this while riding my bike across Indiana, on US 40 in either Wayne or Henry Counties.

1969-75 International Harvester Travelall ambulance. Easily my favorite find of the year, I encountered this in the parking lot of the Red Lobster in Richmond, Indiana.

1972 Ford F-100. Spotted on State Road 340 in Cloverland, Indiana, on my Ride Across Indiana. SR 340 is an old alignment of US 40.

1977-84 BMW 633csi. The look of these still make me swoon. Spotted in Carmel just before Thanksgiving.

1982-87 Chevrolet El Camino. This ElCam belongs to a neighbor. He usually parks it in his driveway, but this day it was on the street and easy to photograph.

1984-85 Chevrolet Celebrity. The first time I encountered this nearly pristine survivor was here, at the local car wash. I’ve since seen it on the street exiting my neighborhood, so it’s just a matter of time before I find it parked somewhere on one of my neighborhood walks. This is my second favorite find of the year because of its rarity and condition.

1984-96 Jeep Cherokee. This is usually parked right across the street from where I work in Downtown Indianapolis. It’s the first of four Jeep Cherokees I found this year.

1984-96 Jeep Cherokee Sport. Spotted at my nearby Meijer, this is the second of four Jeep Cherokees I spotted this year.

1985-87 Ford LTD Crown Victoria. Finding a Crown Vic of this era in this condition is a big enough deal — finding it in the rarer two-door version makes it a hat trick. Spotted at my local Meijer.

1986-91 Buick Skylark. Spotted in downtown Zionsville. This might just be the rarest car I found this year. Buick built plenty of these, but most of them ended up as cheap-transportation used cars and then went to The Crusher. Very few of these have got to be left.

1986-91 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia. Spotted on the mean streets of Zionsville, Indiana, this Westie has clearly been very well cared for over the years.

1992-97 Ford F150. Spotted at my local Meijer. These are still plentiful and I don’t usually photograph them when I find them. I just liked the look of this one. I wouldn’t mind owning it.

1993-98 Mercedes-Benz SL500. Another Meijer find. It’s crazy what people drive to the grocery store.

1997-2000 Saturn SC2. I wasn’t a Saturn fanboy but I did like the looks of this coupe. Spotted at Meijer.

1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee Classic. Spotted in downtown Zionsville. I love the excellent condition of this one.

1998-2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport. For a minute, I thought I had found the one above again, until I got home and realized that that one was a Classic and this one is a Sport. Found parked on Mass Ave in Downtown Indianapolis.

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Comments

15 responses to “Carspotting 2021”

  1. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    Nice International Harvester Travelall! The reintroduction of the Ford Bronco, although way over-priced, has elicited fond memories in my crowd of the IH Scout 80 and 800, used to see a lot of them in my area even until the late ’80’s. Had a gal pal in the 70’s that had one with the completely removable hard top. The 50’s/60’s era Travelall’s were used as police ambulances in Milwaukee and I even recognized their out-of-the-ordinary look when we move here from Chicago in the mid-60’s. They had the earlier series more rounded bodies.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Speaking of overpriced, have you noticed that the new Jeep Wagoneer lists for over 70 thousand dollars? What the h?

      1. Andy Umbo Avatar
        Andy Umbo

        Yeah, I can’t believe that, it’s too much! I have someone in my apartment building that’s a salesman for a Chrysler dealer, and he says they’re selling every single one of those 70K pick-up trucks they’ve been getting in, and in a lot of cases, they’ve added a 10K “premium” on them over MSRP, and people are still buying! You’d think people would hold on for half a year or so…

  2. brineb58 Avatar

    My Dad had a turquoise 65 T-bird that I used to drive in the mid-70s … felt like the Batmobile to me!!!

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’ll bet it did!

  3. JP Avatar
    JP

    You have seen far more interesting cars than I have. I still have the hots for one of those old Jeep Cherokees.

    One nit, the 57 Ford is no mere Fairlane, but the line-topping Fairlane 500! That was one of very few years when both names were used at the same time.

    Also, I like the 59 Ford, but will admit you did find a homely one.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thanks – I’ll correct the Fairlane entry! I did have particularly good luck in 2021.

  4. kennethwajda Avatar
    kennethwajda

    Love that T-Bird photo with the flags. So good, Jim! Fun to see all the cars.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      That T-bird shot was on my iPhone and is as much of a crop as I dared without starting to get that watercolor effect phone photos are prone to.

  5. kennethwajda Avatar
    kennethwajda

    And now I want a 633CSi. Wow! A beauty.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’m partial to the car the 633 replaced, the 3.0 CS:

      1971-75 BMW E6 3.0 CS b

  6. Ted+Kappes Avatar

    I still have a 1993 Ford F150. I don’t use it much and I have been getting some push to sell it. However it still feels like about the last pickup to be a real pickup. The ones today look kinda freakish. And it is nice to drive down a country road on a nice day in it.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Fun. Hold onto your truck as long as you can.

  7. Kevin Thomas Avatar
    Kevin Thomas

    I’m fortunate that a local town we like to visit has a monthly classic/cool/exotic car meetup. I’ve seen some cool cars there this year.

    And my daily driver meets your criteria, a 2001 Taurus, though I don’t think anyone would consider it an exciting find 😁😁 it’s paid for though, and still runs pretty well.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      If I came across your car parked, I’d photograph it and it’d show up here!

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