I'm starting to suspect that the residents of Alameda are big fans of Jalopnik/Murilee and are secretly renting fantastic cars to park outside their homes HOPING to be showcased on DOTS!

@Papercutninja: Yeah, and what's that with the fins on the right in the 3rd picture? Alameda sure is a bizarre place. Here in Palo Alto you used to see some cool cars, but ever since the boom they've been replaced by new Mercedes and BMWs.

@BinkysDream: I believe thats a Chrysler New Yorker circa 1957. I could be a bit off but that definitely looks like the chunky mopar fins to me.

@BinkysDream: That's the '57 New Yorker we had on DOTS a while back. You can't see it in these photos, but the '65 Mercedes 220SE also parks on that block. Several other DOTS cars, past and future, live within a block or two.

@EdFinnerty: I knew it was already on DOTS.
[jalopnik.com]

Nice old Dodge Murilee. I bet 50 MPH in that old truck was scary, is scary and always will be scary. Ray Price? It is kind of a Roger Miller truck, isn't it?

Why am I completely enamored of the brake lights and rear turn signal lights?

One thing I've been wondering about DotS, you almost always nail down the exact year. How much reasearch goes into that? Do you just know all this stuff? The only cars I can consistantly pin down the year of are MkII Supras, and that's because I have one.

Multiple wheel weights - If it doesn't spin right the first time, keep adding more til it does! Probably wouldn't even need to balance your wheels if you never left the island right?

I just realized something sad about these cars.

If any of them are ever sold and left the island, they'll either be restored & put in a garage, or they'll continue to be driven in far harsher environs and deteriorate into nothingness in a matter of months.

Alameda: Oklahoman for time capsule, but better.

My dad and I rebuilt a '49 Dodge when I was a kid. We kept it mostly stock, painted it yellow and even left the 6 volt wiring system intact. The coolest mod was the beer keg gas tank.

Absolute gorgeousness fouled by that Obama bumpersticker.

@BlackIce_GTS: so how do you even know he's right...?

@TPSreports: Politics aside, I'd have to agree it's kinda sad to see a bumper sticker (particularly a political one) on something like this.

Probably not that hard to keep something like this running forever with some basic tools and know-how. They were built that way back then, rather than today's largely disposable, non-rebuildable cars.

MM: the stereo is probably in the glovebox.

I bet they used the same dash in the trucks with a radio and the ones without, so they always stuck a speaker grille in there whether there was a radio behind it or not.

49-51 Mercurys did that, if you ordered a radio delete car, the numbers on the radio dial were still on the dash where the radio would have been.

I saw one these (late 40s or '50) Dodge trucks several years ago in a slightly different town... Chesuncook Village, Maine. Located on a lake in the wild north. Permanent residents: 2. The truck was definitely town-only because there is no real road out of town. The green paint was mostly gone, but had very little rust.

The only other "auto" in town was a skidder-turned-off-roader with cheese-cutter tires and thick chains. It was likely the only thing that could have traveled the rough logging road out of there.

Wow! How did I miss this when it was first posted? Nice, nice truck. Please post more trucks for DOTS.

I always loved the "portholes" or quarter-panel windows on the back of the cab.
I wonder why they were eliminated?
Prolly, some mucky muck figured that by eliminating the windows they could save an extra $2.50 per vehicle plus they were too safe.