1974 Plymouth Duster

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California.

The Duster was a crypto-fastback version of the Valiant and counterpart to the Beelzebublianic Dodge Demon, and these things spent a good decade being so commonplace as to be nearly invisible. Perhaps the Duster name was ruined by the infamous "Cocaine Factory" Turismo Duster of the mid-80s, but who could forget such Malaise machines as the Feather Duster (lightweight version) or the Space Duster (fold-down rear seat)?

Is it possible that this 34-year-old Oakland Athletics bumper sticker has been on this car since Gerald Ford was president? Perhaps they made better stickers in the old days; after all, this '65 Impala still has a Charlie Finley-era "Swingin' A's" decal on the bumper.

Yes, that's a Malibu parked behind the Duster, and really sharp-eyed readers might have noticed the Steyr Pinzgauer parked on the next block. We'll get a better look at the Malibu in a future installment of DOTS!

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