Jalopnik
When I started the Down On The Street series, I'd shot a handful of cars and figured I'd be able to do a few dozen more before running out. Sure, I knew the island city of Alameda, California, had plenty of old cars parked on the street, but with a population of just 70,000 on a mere ten square miles of land, how many could there be? Well, it turns out the answer is: Plenty!
Not only have we reached car number 150, I have sufficient photos stockpiled to keep the series going for quite a while. And now I'll answer some of the questions I keep getting from readers about Down On The Street:
Q: Did you really find all these cars parked on the streets of Alameda?
A: Yes, every one of them. Sometimes we'll post photos of street-parked old/cool cars from other places, but they get the Down On The Street Bonus Edition title.
Q: Why don't you obscure the license plates in the photos?
A: These cars are parked on public property, with plates in plain view, which implies that their owners accept that the plate numbers may be seen by the general public. I've considered blurring the plates anyway, but the photos look unpleasant that way; in any case, since the state of California has anti-stalker laws that make it difficult to trace a car's owner from its plate number, it's extremely unlikely that any badness will befall the cars' owners. I don't give out exact locations, and I don't photograph cars in driveways.
Q: Are all these cars daily drivers? Many of them are. Some of them are cars that were just visiting the island (or getting some fresh air after being in a garage), and some of them rarely move from their spots. I'd say two-thirds of these cars are driven at least a few times per week.
Q: Do car owners ever get upset when they see you photographing their cars?
A: Never. I'm careful not to touch the cars or even get too close when photographing them, which is why interior shots are uncommon in this series. I've had quite a few owners come out to see what's going on; when I explain, they're usually very happy to have someone who's willing to show their car to the world. I've heard plenty of good stories from car owners while shooting DOTS photos. In at least two cases, the cars have been owned by Jalopnik readers.
Q: Why does such a small city have so many old cars parked on the street?
Good question, and one to which I have no authoritative answer. I have some theories, which are:
Weather: Alameda is an island in the San Francisco Bay, and the weather is quite mild. It doesn't snow here, and rain is very rare between April and November. This means rust isn't much of a problem. The sun isn't as harsh as in the Southwest, so upholstery and paint hold up pretty well.
Limited Off-Street Parking: Most of present-day Alameda was completely built up by the early 20th century, and the 1906 earthquake- which devastated much of the region- barely touched the island. This means most of the houses were built before cars were beyond the novelty Horseless Carriage stage, so garages aren't as common as in other cities. Many houses built in the 1910s and 1920s have semi-basement garages intended for tall, narrow cars with high clearance that can deal with a 30-degree grade. The water table is so close to the surface here that digging a deep garage requires some serious sump-pump hardware, lest you find your ride in four feet of water.
Hot Rod Tradition: Alameda has had a vibrant culture of hoons hopping up their cars since the days of the Model T, and so you have the old guys passing on the virus to the younger guys. Some of the car clubs on the island have unbroken lineages dating back to the 1920s. And that leads straight to...
The Island That Time Forgot: Alameda is a weird place, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's essentially a David Lynch movie set in a sunny California climate, among Victorian and Craftsman architecture and a small-town mentality that belies its urban grid street pattern and population density (which, in fact, is higher than San Francisco's). The island is full of old people who never cross a bridge, whose original-owner classics never drive faster than 25 and are used only for short trips to Ole's Waffles or Lee Auto Supply. It's also full of young people who start to feel that an old car just, you know, make the most sense. You never know what this town will do to you; Jim Morrison arrived on the island as a wholesome Navy kid, and by the time he departed for LA he'd become a dopefiend weirdo poet.
OK, let's take a look at the cars! They're arranged in chronological order according to manufacture date, from 1937 to 1988; click on the text below a photo to see that vehicle's complete post.
1937 Cadillac V8
1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Coupe
1945 Ford GPW Jeep
1947 Plymouth
1950 Dodge Pickup
1950 Ford Pickup
1950 Plymouth DeLuxe
1950 Pontiac Chieftan
1953 GMC Pickup
1951 Dodge M43 Ambulance
1952 Dodge
1953 Packard Cavalier
1954 Chevrolet 210
1954 Ford Mainline
1955 Plymouth Savoy
1956 Willys Jeep Station Wagon
1956 Volkswagen Transporter
1957 Cadillac Sedan de Ville
1957 Chevrolet Station Wagon
1957 Chrysler New Yorker
1957 Pontiac Star Chief
1957 Volkswagen Transporter
1959 Morris Minor
1959 Volkswagen Beetle
1960 Cadillac Sixty-Two Coupe
1960 Chevrolet Bel Air
1960 Studebaker Lark
1961 Ford Thunderbird
1961 Rambler American
1961 Morris 850 (Mini)
1962 Chrysler New Yorker
1962 Volkswagen Flatbed Truck
1962 Corvair 95
1961 Plymouth Valiant
1963 Chevrolet Nova
1963 Ford Falcon Futura
1963 GMC Suburban
1963 Volkswagen Transporter
1964 Dodge Dart
1964 Checker Marathon
1964 Oldsmobile Jetstar 88
1964 Volkswagen Beetle
1964 Studebaker Avanti
1965 Chevrolet Impala SS
1965 Chevrolet Impala
1965 Dodge D100
1965 Ford Country Squire
1965 Ford Econoline Pickup
1965 Ford Mustang
1965 GMC Pickup
1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE
1965 Pontiac Bonneville
1965 Rambler American 220
1966 Datsun 411
1966 Lancia Fulvia
1966 Mercedes-Benz 200D
1966 Volkswagen Beetle
1966 Volvo Amazon
1967 Porsche 912
1967 Volkswagen Transporter
1968 Ford Fairlane 500
1968 Ford Mustang
1968 Ford Ranchero
1968 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon
1968 Pontiac GTO
1968 Volvo P1800
1969 AMC Ambassador SST Station Wagon
1969 Cadillac Calais
1969 Chevrolet Chevelle
1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Nomad Station Wagon
1969 Datsun Sports
1969 Dodge Dart GT
1969 Ford Econoline
1969 Lincoln Continental
1969 MG MGC-GT
1969 Volkswagen Beetle
1969 Volvo 144S
1970 Chevrolet Impala
1970 Chevrolet Nova
1970 Ford LTD
1970 Chevrolet Wagon
1970 Puma GT
1970 Volvo 164
1970 Porsche 914
1971 Buick LeSabre
1971 Chrysler Newport
1971 Datsun 240Z
1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1971 GMC 1500
1971 Plymouth Satellite
1971 Plymouth Valiant
1971 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser
1972 Mercury Monterey
1972 Chevrolet El Camino
1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL
1972 Steyr Pinzgauer
1972 BMW 2002tii
1973 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon
1973 Corvette Stingray
1973 BMW 3.0CSi
1973 Capri
1973 Datsun 610
1973 Ford Courier
1973 Mercury Cougar
1973 Plymouth Scamp
1973 Volkswagen Thing
1973 Pontiac Grand Am
1973 Volkswagen Squareback
1974 Ford Torino
1974 Plymouth Satellite
1974 Porsche 911 Targa
1975 Datsun B210
1975 Unimog 404S
1975 Pontiac Grand LeMans
1976 AMC Pacer X
1976 Buick Skyhawk
1976 Ford Mustang
1976 Honda Civic
1977 Chevrolet Camaro
1977 Lincoln Continental
1977 Oldsmobile Wagon
1977 Plymouth Volare
1977 Toyota Celica
1977 Toyota Celica
1978 Cadillac Eldorado
1978 Chevrolet Camaro
1978 Dodge Colt
1978 Dodge Colt Wagon
1978 Honda Civic
1978 Jaguar XJ-6
1978 Pontiac Trans Am
1979 Datsun Pickup
1979 Ford Ranchero
1979 Mercedes-Benz 300SD
1979 Porsche 911SC
1980 International Harvester Scout
1980 Porsche 911SC
1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel Pickup
1981 Mazda RX-7
1981 Datsun 210
1984 Porsche 928
1985 Peugeot 505STI
1985 Volkswagen Quantum
1986 Toyota Corolla GT-S
1987 BMW L6
1987 Honda Civic 4WD Wagon
1987 Merkur XR4Ti
1988 CMC Gazelle
