DETROIT, 2:38 PM, TUE MAY 13 | 39 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@jalopnik.com | SUBMIT A TIP | RSS
Posts Tagged “

Alameda

”
down on the street

1977 International Harvester Scout II Traveler

I probably shouldn't have tried to write a DOTS post a couple hours after coming home from a crazy weekend of racing, but I did... and totally spaced on the Truck Monday tradition. Not that the Datsun 1200 isn't a great car, but we're supposed to have a truck here to start our week, dammit! To make up for that screwup, I'm going with a truck I've been saving for a special occasion: a rusty, crusty survivor straight from the Alaskan bush!
More »

9:00 AM on Tue May 13 2008
By Murilee Martin
709 views, 30 comments

Latest by theholymac: You call that rust? Bah. You silly Californians have it easy. Drive up to Minneapolis for a spell, and I'll show you rust that'll make a grown man cry. more »

racing

Court Summerfield, 1961-2008

Those of us at the 24 Hours of LeMons race on Saturday afternoon were beyond heartbroken when Court Summerfield died at the wheel of the Team Cant Am Volvo 242 Turbo. Not only was Court's death a major loss for the LeMons racing community, it was also a tough blow for the city of Alameda; he lived on the island and worked at Ole's Waffle Shop, which is as much a part of the city's soul as are old cars parked on the street. I hung out with Court before the race on Saturday morning and I'm still unable to believe that this could happen to such a nice guy and great driver. The words of his wife made us feel a little better, however: "It was really just something that he was happy doing. I'm sure the way he went, he was happy." Check out the Cant Am Volvo in action during happier times, at Altamont and at Thunderhill Photo credit, above: Gianna Babb [San Francisco Chronicle]


More »

6:20 PM on Mon May 12 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,857 views, 56 comments

Latest by SRekauqh: *donated* more »

down on the street

1971 Datsun 1200

The little Datsuns of the early 70s are just about gone now, though a few still roam the streets of the Island That Time Forgot. We saw a '75 B210 last fall, and now we've got an even rarer machine in this early-70s 1200. I'm calling it a '71, but it might be a '72 or maybe even a '70; we'll need to rely on the serious Datsun fiends out there to nail down the exact year. More »

9:00 AM on Mon May 12 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,303 views, 39 comments

Latest by keicar: When I was growing up my older brother had one of these modified for rallying. Full roll cage, extractors, two Weber 40DCOE carbs, some wild cam grind (not much action below 6000rpm) and a rare factory LSD (as used by more »

down on the street

1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV

We've only seen a couple of Lincolns in this series (a '69 and a '77), and with ten Cadillacs so far, it's time to look at another of Ford's big luxo-machines. I found this '72 parked on the same block as the '70 Volvo 164 and the '87 BMW L6.
More »

9:00 AM on Fri May 9 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,672 views, 44 comments

Latest by carlivar: @wookie909: Your story makes me sad. more »

down on the street

You Think That Low VW Thing Can't Drive?

Some of you, upon seeing yesterday's Down On The Street car, seemed to think that a car so insanely low can't possibly get much real-world street time. Wrong! I was out on Alameda's main drag last night and heard the distinctive sound of a straight-pipe-equipped air-cooled VW engine approaching. Sure enough, it was the Low RHD Thing!

10:40 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,116 views, 34 comments

down on the street

1975 Dodge Dart Swinger

The '65 Barracuda won our Favorite DOTS Chrysler A-Body Poll back in March, but since that time I've found this '75 Dart Swinger. Would the Swinger, with its name conjuring up images of Malaise Era key parties, have triumphed over the Barracuda? Perhaps I'll have another A-body poll, once we've seen a few more of them; until then, we can only speculate.
More »

9:00 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,759 views, 56 comments

Latest by stephdumas: I just dust-off the thread a bit, I saw these bunches of old Dodge Dart/Swinger commercials on Youtube a 1969 Swinger 340 + Watch video a 1967 ad + Watch video and 2 1971 Swinger ads with the Sheriff Joe Higgens + more »

down on the street

250 Vintage Vehicles Down On The Alameda Street, Trailer Queens Need Not Apply

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!
More »

Feature

10:00 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,549 views, 32 comments

Latest by CptSevere: I need to send in pictures of some of the unique old iron that resides here in Tombstone, AZ. Desert climate, no rust, everything lasts forever. Everybody here has a project car (lawn monument) that this crowd here would love. more »

down on the street

Very, Very Low Volkswagen Thing

Remember the really, really low Volkswagen Transporter? When you get used to driving a bus that low, it just makes sense to add a Thing to your collection and make it even lower... and when you've dropped it down onto the pavement, then you convert it to right-hand drive. That's what this air-cooled Alameda madman has done here, and the result makes quite an impression.
More »

9:00 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By Murilee Martin
3,709 views, 47 comments

Latest by slag: Fear & LowThing in Alameda? more »

down on the street

1983 BMW 633CSi

We've only had one 6-series BMW so far in this series, so when I saw this '83 parked just around the corner from the '74 Porsche 911 Targa, I figured it was worth shooting. This one is a good example of a solid daily-driven car; a few scars, but nothing too serious.
More »

9:00 AM on Tue May 6 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,501 views, 48 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: Do you take the three 320is, the 928, or the 633CSi? Well, duh - a single 320i, a brand new Caballero, and go-fast goodies for both... more »

down on the street

1965 Chevrolet C10 Pickup Truck

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!
More »

9:00 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By Murilee Martin
906 views, 26 comments

Latest by HUMONGUS: Bought a 67' Chevy with a blown 283 from a farmer, had wooden racks stuck in the sides of the bed and totally messed-up seats. Was going to stick a 350 down in it but found a rollover 1972 Olds more »

down on the street

1969 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, With Bonus Cadillac Poll

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.
More »

9:00 AM on Fri May 2 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,571 views, 33 comments

Latest by niterunner: I had to vote for the '69 only cause it was my first car. My Grandpa had several cars under restoration when i turned 16...and he thought it would be a great idea to give me the mechanically overhaulled '69 more »

down on the street

1979 Porsche 928

We've already seen a 928 in this series, but I always consider the Malaise Era 928s to be the best ones. Sure, the later 928s were way faster, but late-70s car freaks didn't have much reason for optimism during a period of declining horsepower, disco tape stripes, and huge bumpers, and the then-new 928 was one of the few bright spots. So here we go with another JFG/DOTS combo car, which I found parked near the 1970 VW Transporter pickup.
More »

9:00 AM on Thu May 1 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,315 views, 53 comments

Latest by Aatos: @petersterncan: There are some other 'gems' like $300 parking brake cable but otherwise it's not too bad like you assessed. Stick with the older style cars though if you're on budget, as they're pretty simple and parts cars can be had more »

down on the street

1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone, With Bonus Mercury Poll

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.
More »

9:00 AM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,868 views, 46 comments

Latest by CptSevere: Seems like 1964 was a good styling year for all the US cars, and the Comet is no exception. Being a Cyclone with a 4 speed clinched my vote. Love to fix that thing up and run it in the more »

down on the street

1982 Mazda 626 Luxury

I must admit that the Mazda 626 has spent its entire existence without really registering on my personal automotive radar screen. A generic-looking Mazda sedan with no rotary? Yet the first-generation 626 sold quite well and gained a reputation for reliability... and now most of them are gone forever, fed into the ravenous jaws of The Crusher. So even though it's no AE86 or RX-7, this car has earned DOTS status by surviving everyday use for 26 hard years.
More »

9:00 AM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,460 views, 48 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: @ejacobs: Wait now, 69 HP out of a 1.3, but 75 out of a 2.0? Must be a helluvalotta torque out of that two-liter. I kinda like this car. Never seen one here in New England - a shame, really, but even more »

down on the street

1941 Chevrolet Pickup Truck

Here's a truck I'd been seeing around town for months, but was never able to capture holding still long enough to photograph for this series; another such vehicle is a powder-blue BMW 1500 that taunts me on a regular basis. Clearly, the owner of such vehicles drive them every day (very much in the spirit of DOTS) but they park them on obscure streets or- worse yet- in garages. Thwarted! Finally, I spotted the ol' green Chevy truck parked outside a popular dog park in the island's West End.
More »

9:00 AM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,922 views, 48 comments

Latest by FuzzyPlushroom: @Paul Y. is Going Dumb at the Sideshow: Aye, same here. Shame really - there's a '48-'52 Ford pickup, a nice Porsche 914, and a few other neat autos around. Love this truck... Missing hubcap makes it even better. Great color more »

down on the street

1971 Chrysler Newport Royal, With DOTS of the Week Poll

I've found quite a few early-70s big Chryslers on the island, including this '71 Newport 4-door, so it's time to get another one of of these Detroit survivors its day of fame. I found this '71 Newport Royal 2-door hardtop in the same neighborhood as the '42 Pontiac Torpedo, and it parks on the street every day- no garage coddling for this C-body!
More »

9:00 AM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,477 views, 77 comments

Latest by gumbypiz: Good God, I remember these things! My great aunts husband passed away. Harvey. Harvey (what other name would be driving this behemoth?) had a swamp green Newport two-door barge with the 440 (why I'll never know as he never drove more »

down on the street

1969 Ford Mustang

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).
More »

9:00 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,042 views, 45 comments

Latest by racebeer: @graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: Funny you should mention the Manta. I had a '72 Rallye in Pu**y Magnet Yellow with the flat black hood. A/R 4 spoke mags with BFG D60X13 T/As, Koni shocks, and that more »

down on the street

1977 Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Once I found the Fiat Strada, I knew I'd have to be able to find a 124 somewhere on the island. Sure enough, on the same block as the aquamarine '65 Impala, here was this fine example of Italian Malaise. These things used to be quite common on the island (as were MGBs), but... well, you know the rest of that story.
More »

9:00 AM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,388 views, 41 comments

Latest by superasiaone: I vote Fiat, mainly because I have an '81 Spider. LOVE IT! I've only done 3 things in the year and a half I've owned it as a semi-daily driver...bumpers came off about 15 min. after I brought it home(someone more »