Posts Tagged “
1960s
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choose your eternity
Wouldn't you know it, the 60s BMW coupe beat the 80s one in our last Choose Your Eternity poll. Sure, the 633CSi is more complicated, but you might be able to find a parts car or three in your local wrecking yard... and where's the Hell there? Today we're going to return to the perennial France-versus-the-world battle for the All Time Global Project Car Hell JiggaChampion Trophy (which leaks rusty water and has to be jump-started), and- just because we love an underdog- we're going to let Japan take on the mightiest of PCH Superpowers!
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Project Car Hell: Dangel Peugeot Wagon or V8 Datsun Fairlady?
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Engine of the Day: Cadillac OHV V8
Much as we like flathead engines, Detroit's development of V8s with overhead valves after World War II really gave a shot of horsepower to those speed-maddened hot-rodders who were ready to take their machines to the next level past the ol' flathead Ford. Cadillac and Olds came out with their sibling OHV engine design in 1949, and Caddies from that year until 1967 were powered by 331s, 365s, 390s, and 429s. Plenty of these engines found their way into hooned-out Model Ts and As as well. Engine photo credit: Stephen Foskett [Wikipedia]
down on the street
We've reached another milestone in the Down On The Street Series, with today's vehicle being the 250th vintage (or at least interesting) street-parked vehicle I've photographed parked on the streets of Alameda, California. It's been a little over a year since we saw the very first DOTS car, and I never thought I'd be able to find as many as I have. Doing this series has turned me into an annoyingly slow driver when I'm in Alameda, as I'm constantly cruising at minimum speed and scanning parked cars for potential DOTS candidates; by this time I've developed the ability to pick out an interesting parked car just from a nanosecond's glimpse of a grille at a distance of several blocks. So make the jump and check out the cars!
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250 Vintage Vehicles Down On The Alameda Street, Trailer Queens Need Not Apply
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choose your eternity
In another setback to French dreams of displaying the All-Time Eternal Project Car Damnation MegaTrophy (which turns into a pile of red powder within a few weeks) at the top of the Eiffel Tower, the hybridized British Leyland machine obliterated the Peugeot diesel in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. The endless battle between PCH Superpowers Britain, France, and Italy will hold a cease-fire today, as we're so inspired by the beauty and coke-dealer-style original price tag of this morning's PCH car that we have no choice but to fill your garage with the sulfurous fumes of two gorgeous- yet maddeningly complex- Bavarian machines today.
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PCH, Upscale BMW Coupe Edition: 1967 2000C or 1984 633CSi?
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down on the street
While we saw a Chevy truck about a month ago, the most recent Chevy pickup truck was way back in February. So today we're going to head over to a part of Alameda I've mostly ignored in this series (save for the '72 Mercury Monterey): Bay Farm Island (if you're an Alameda old-timer) aka Harbor Bay Isle (if you prefer a name made up by the developer that built a lot of tract homes there in the 80s). While technically part of Alameda, BFI/HBI (which is not really an island; it's on the mainland, adjacent to the Oakland airport) was mostly built up after World War II, and thus most of the houses have garages. That means the pickings are slimmer for street-parked old cars... but they can still be found!
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1965 Chevrolet C10 Pickup Truck
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down on the street
1969 was a great year for Cadillac sales (and 1970 was better still), so it's no surprise that we're now looking at the third '69 Cadillac in this series. That's as good a reason as any to have a poll to determine the readers' favorite street-parked Alameda Cad on this fine Friday morning. I found this '69 parked just down the street from the Checker Marathon, and it has the look of a low-mileage original-owner car: solid, some rough spots but overall pretty nice. This may well be one of those old cars that only rarely ventures off the island.
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1969 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, With Bonus Cadillac Poll
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Volvo 1800S Joins Its Amazon Brethren At East Bay Junkyard
Not long after undertw rescued a bunch of parts from a Volvo Amazon featured in this series, another old Volvo has been put out on the same yard. This is no run-of-the-mill Amazon, however- we're looking at a genuine Volvo 1800S (I'm going to say it's a '63, based on the grille) with plenty of good components ready for the picking.1967 Olds Delta 88 Berths At San Francisco Handicapped Space
Many of you have been sending in great DOTSBE photos (and I'll get to all of them, sooner or later), but today I just had to share this daily-driven big Olds that I often see parked near my office in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. Parking is a swirling, sanity-eradicating nightmare in this part of town, with its big office buildings all around and the Giants' ballpark a couple blocks away, but this 41-year-old Delta 88 sedan has the special handicapped placard that enables it to ease right into a nice fat blue space right in the heart of everything. It's a beater, but it drives every day!
down on the street
I enjoy the nice, shiny, well-preserved cars in this series, of course, but I really love me some beaters! Cars that haven't been coddled for one minute of their decades-long lives! This Cyclone is one of my all-time favorite Alameda cars; an original 289/4-speed machine, it's been roaring around the island for at least the last 15 years and probably longer. It sounds good, looks mean, and lives on a busy street. Sure, it's slowly rusting away, but it's got decades to go before the slow-motion California-style rust finally brings it down.
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1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone, With Bonus Mercury Poll
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choose your eternity
We had another nail-biter yesterday, with the Subaru XT6 edging out the BRAT by a 234 to 228 vote count in the Choose Your Eternity poll. We're going to declare that one a tie, and that's a good thing; after all, what's Hell without difficult choices? Today we're going to park a pair of European machines just inside the gates of Hades, where they will beckon enticingly to you with their only-one-in-town obscurity and double-take-inspiring appearance. It's lots of fun having an oddball car whose mere presence makes onlookers question your sanity respect your taste in fine automobiles, and either of these two could be a life sentence highly fulfilling project. Thanks to HotRodElectric and Franzouse for the tips!
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PCH, European Pain Edition: Borgward Hansa Wagon or Peugeot 304?
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Engine of the Day: Ford Windsor V8
Since we've already seen the Chrysler LA and Chevrolet small-block engines in this series, we're about due for the V8 Ford made by the millions during about the same span of decades: the Windsor small-block. Starting with the 221- and 260-cubic-inch versions in 1962, Ford put Windsors in cars and trucks for the next 40 years (and you can still buy brand-new crate 302s and 351Ws from Ford today). Ford didn't make the Windsors quite as friendly for component mix-and-match fun as did their Detroit competitors (and perhaps the 351W is different enough to deserve its own EOTD entry), but the numbers don't lie: the Windsor was a true workhorse. Make the jump to hear a Windsor-equipped Cobra in action. Engine photo credit: Stephen Foskett. [Wikipedia] More »
plymouth belvedere
Last year, Belvedere Adrian brought two vehicles from his fleet of old Plymouths, plus his vintage Serro Scotty trailer, to a tailgate party before an Oakland Athletics game, and a good time was had by all. Last weekend, however, we figured we needed more Belvederes, so Adrian brought five of his favorite B-bodies, including the still-streetworthy Thunderhill 24 Hours of LeMons-bound '66. The Junkyard Boogaloo Boombox was there, the food was excellent, and the A's ended up crushing the Royals like cockroaches. Lesson learned: the more Belvederes, the better the party!
Beer, Bratwurst, Baseball, and Belvederes: Tailgate Party Madness With Adrian
down on the street
Alameda has quite a few 1960s Mustangs on the street, but our last one was months ago. This '69 always parks on the street (not far from the '60 Studebaker Lark), though it's usually under a car cover. However, it does get regular driving use, as I learned when I talked to the owner (who says he gets offers on the car from other drivers at stoplights).
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1969 Ford Mustang
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choose your eternity
Perhaps you breathed a sigh of relief after Chevy-Powered Porsche Hell was over with, figuring that (with the small-block-motivated 911 winning so decisively) you would be spared the temptation of a hacked-up Porsche sporting a non-Stuttgart engine for quite a while. However Project Car Hell doesn't work that way; just because you were able to walk past the fiery gates once doesn't mean you won't be lured right back in by the same kind of bait! That's why we're returning to Porsche Engine Swap Hell today, this time going for six cylinders instead of eight.
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PCH, No Escape From Engine-Swapped Porsches Edition: VR6 914 or Corvair 912?
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Star-Spangled Scout Lurks Behind The Orange Curtain
Normally we like to show street-parked cars in this series, but we're making an exception for this International Harvester Scout that parks in the driveway at БЯд╒╒ ®'s place in Orange County's lovely Huntington Beach. The fading on the stars-and-stripes motif suggests that the custom paint job was laid down around the time of the US Bicentennial. I'm going to say this is a '66, but I could be off by a year or two. БЯд╒╒ ® has spotted several other quality DOTSBE cars in his neighborhood, so we'll be sure to share his photos.More »
down on the street
When we saw the '73 Buick Riviera in this series a couple months ago, some of your comments indicated that many of you prefer the pre-boattail Rivs. That's no problem, because (in spite of Alameda having something of a vintage Buick shortage) I was able to find this nice '66 parked within a block of the 1972 Plymouth Fury III. And, since the Favorite DOTS Plymouth poll was so much fun, let's do the same thing to determine which of the island's Buicks is the crowd favorite.
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1966 Buick Riviera, Plus Bonus Buick Poll
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down on the street
With all the vintage GMC and Chevy trucks on the streets of Alameda, I need to be sure I don't neglect the Fords and Dodges when DOTS Truck Monday rolls around. We had a '64 Ford F-100 recently, but it's been several months since our last Dodge pickup. This '62 seems to be a work in progress, since it seems to alternate between being up on jackstands in the driveway and parked on the street with a drain pan under the engine. I'm not sure whether it moves under its own power or gets pushed between the two locations, but these trucks are so simple that it shouldn't take much longer before it's driving regularly.
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1962 Dodge D100 Pickup Truck
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