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Curbside Classic: 1960 Imperial Crown Southampton – The Frankenstein Of Cars
Calling a car from this period a monster is not exactly uncommon or uncalled for. But what if its own daddy called it that? Virgil Exner, the father of the definitive automotive fins created a...
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Curbside Classics: Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni – Detroit Finally Builds A...
Is time slowing down? Just fifteen years separate this 1960 Imperial and the Horizon’s birth. Or was it just that Detroit was terribly slow to embrace the inevitability of modern European design?...
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The Curbside Classics Graveyard: May They Rust In Peace
Even in Eugene, where Curbside Classics miraculously soldier along on the streets for decades beyond their normal life expectancy, the forces of entropy cannot be forestalled forever. If it’s still...
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Curbside Classic: 1988 Hyundai Excel – The Damn Near Deadly Sin
Americans are a forgiving sort, and redemption from sin is just the right gesture away. Well, that applies more to politicians and celebrities than to car companies. It can be a little more...
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Curbside Classic: 1990 Pontiac LeMans – The Lows And Rocky Mt. Highs Of GM’s...
Between the years 1988 and 1993, GM decided to use Americans in a mass experiment, in which I found myself an unwitting participant. Seemingly unable to determine on its own whether Korean-made cars...
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Curbside Classic: 1989 Ford Festiva – Korea Week Shitbox Shoot-out Loser
The Korean invasion began in the late eighties with three shitboxes: the Hyundai Excel, the Pontiac LeMans, and the Ford Festiva. Korea Week CC pits them against each other to determine the outcome:...
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Curbside True Classic: 1946 Packard Clipper Super – And Why Did Someone Dump...
It’s mysterious enough that a genuine CCCA-designated classic car suddenly appears curbside in my neighborhood. And not just any true classic, but the immensely desirable and infinitely awesome...
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Curbside Classic Fastback Week: 1969 Volkswagen 1600 Type 3 Fastback
Two fastbacks found in one week; now there’s something to be thankful for (not that I don’t have plenty already). The Packard Clipper Super and this Volkswagen Type 3 may not seem to share anything...
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Curbside Classic: Ultra Van – Cross An Airplane With A Corvair For The Most...
In 1959, David Peterson, a professional aircraft designer, had a dilemma: he owned a travel trailer and a boat, but couldn’t tow them both at the same time. He dreamed of putting an engine under the...
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Curbside Classic Mercury Memorial Week: 1968 Cougar – Mercury’s Greatest...
I almost forgot; Mercury is dead. Is amnesia a symptom of Mercury poisoning? Was it not just about the most forgettable brand ever? Ask yourself this: how many Mercuries (not counting the German Ford...
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Curbside Classic: The Bootylicious 1970 Mercury Marauder X-100
Memorable (def): 1. worth remembering 2. easily remembered Maurauder (def): one who raids for booty In yesterday’s Cougar CC, I claimed there were only three Mercuries truly worth remembering. The...
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Curbside Classic Mercury Memorial Week Finale: The Fat Cats – 1971, 1974 And...
The Cougar first arrived in 1967 as something unique and distinct: a handsome, lithe sporty coupe with a distinct hint of luxury and a dash of continental flavor. Although the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix...
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Curbside Classic: 1946 Lincoln Continental – The Most Imitated American Car Ever
This car is a jaw-dropper, a true classic, and a lucky find that rivals the CC logomobile, but it’s misnamed. By all rights, it should be the Edsel American. It was Edsel Ford’s fine taste and...
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Curbside Classic – When Honda’s Mojo Was Working: 1980-1983 Honda Civic
Yesterday’s piece about Honda’s slippage left little doubt that its mojo ain’t quite what it used to be. But there was a time when Honda was on fire, and could do (almost) no wrong. The gen 1 Civic...
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Curbside Classic: 1947 GM PD-3751 “Silversides” Greyhound Bus – The First...
This GM bus revolutionized the industry, and set the template for all over-the road buses to come: forward control, rear transverse diesel engine, the famous fluted aluminum “Silversides” cladding,...
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Curbside Classic: 1963 Tempest LeMans- Pontiac Tries To Build A BMW Before...
In the thirties and forties, GM pioneered and brought to market some of the most innovative, successful and lasting new technologies: diesel-electric locomotives, the modern diesel bus, automatic...
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The Curbside Classics Treasure Hunt
This week’s Silversides Bus and Tempest CCs were high on my wish list, and finding them motivated me to put in some serious overtime. So today I need a breather, say an urban hike from our house to...
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Curbside Classics: The First Mini-Pickups: Datsun’s 1964 320 1200; 1967 520...
The Toyota pickup has become such a dominant vehicle in its class worldwide, its easy to assume that it was always that way. Not so. It was Nissan’s little Datsun trucks that essentially invented the...
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Curbside Classic: 1980 Chevrolet Citation – GM’s Deadliest Sin Ever
The greatest crime in ancient Greece was hubris. And the perpetrator that carried out the sins as a result of their hubris inevitably faced great shame and retribution, most often fatal. So for the...
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1975 BMW 2002tii
Yes, owners of classic cars still drive them on the street during the winter in Denver (though we haven’t seen any real snow yet); I spotted this rare Bavarian at the park yesterday. It’s nowhere near...
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Shorty Shoebox-amino Astounds, Confounds
Not many of us wake up in the morning and say to ourselves, “I think I’m going to shorten and narrow a ’57 Chevy wagon, give it a truck bed, and install a 427 with a 5-speed!” Check out the powered...
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Cargo Capacity Slightly Diminished, But Totally Worth It!
Here’s a totally practical daily driver I spotted on the south side of Denver a while back. My sources tell me that this Svenmeister Hardcore Kustoms creation, which appears to be a ’49 Ford pickup,...
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Snorkel-ized, RHD Diesel Land Cruiser Laughs At Denver Winter
In my first Denver winter after a driving lifetime in coastal California, I’m now experiencing my first real taste of driving in snow. My ’92 Civic is doing pretty well (i.e., I haven’t crashed or...
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Curbside Classic: 1975 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
You’d think that all the Malaise Era Montes would have been crushed 15 years ago, but you still see the occasional survivor chugging around these days. I spotted this battered-but-solid example in a...
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Curbside Classic Special: 1959 Edsel “Eco-Boost”
Editor’s note: Ladies and gentlemen, for one night only, it’s the return of Curbside Classics to TTAC. You can catch Paul Niedermeyer’s work (along with contributions from an ever expanding crew of...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: Volkswagen’s Deadly Sin #1: 1974 412
Every good idea has its time in the sun, but the trick is to get out of it before skin cancer appears. The rear engine configuration was once a sensation, especially in the form of the ground-breaking...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: GM’s Greatest Hits #2 – 1954 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan
[Note: GM’s Greatest Hits, like the Deadly Sins, are numbered according to their publication date, and not according to a relative ranking. PN] Trying to pick the best Cadillac is an exercise in...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: GM’s Deadly Sin #11 – 1977 Cadillac Seville
In 1977, GM offered the above two vehicles for sale. Squint a bit; can you see a certain fundamental similarity? Yes, their exterior skin and styling were somewhat different, but once you peel back the...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1965 Toyota FJ 40 Land Cruiser
References to the “DNA of a brand” is a long overused cliche, and perhaps finally on the way out. But it can be a valid consideration, depending…In thinking about Toyota and its early genetic roots,...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: GM’s Greatest Hit #3 – 1979 Chevrolet Caprice Classic
[Here’s my other contribution to Panther Appreciation Week; my prior Panther CC is here] In the long, strange and sometime tortured evolution of the classic large American sedan since WWII, there are...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1957 Metropolitan
Americans generally just don’t take too well to tiny cars. Perhaps they’re too much like toys, not really yet grown up? The Metropolitan certainly looks the part, resembling an amusement park ride or...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1965 Ford Econoline SuperVan Camper
This Econoline caught my eye for a number of reasons. These old bread boxes are getting scarce, even in Eugene. And this is one of the extended-body SuperVans, no less. But that’s not all; it has a...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1982 Isuzu I-Mark Diesel
Sorry, Hemi Cuda fans, but this is one of my most prized CC finds. As you know all too well by now, CC is not about haunting car shows for immaculate trailer queens. It’s about documenting the cars...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1968 Olsmobile 442
The Pontiac GTO generally gets bragging rights as the first of its kind: the classic intermediate-sized Detroit muscle car. It first appeared in 1964, and pretty much defined the category. But the Olds...
View ArticleLe Curbside Classic: Renault R4
Despite being in sensual Paris, no one is going to accuse me of shameless sexual exploitation by posting this ugly little R4, or the woman behind it. I was late on the draw, and just missed a gaggle of...
View ArticleLe Curbside Classic: Citroen Ami 8
I know some of you dear readers think I’m overly infatuated with tiny underpowered foreign toy cars. And you’re right! But that’s not why you’re rubbing your eyes looking at this visually challenging...
View ArticleLe Curbside Classic: Citroen H Van
I return from Paris fulfilled. This was a family trip, with a focus on culture, museums, food and window shopping; not cars. But in our walking haunts of Paris’ most colorful neighborhoods, I found...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1968 Rambler American
Our recent deep immersion in eccentric little French cars might have been a bit much for some of you, so I decided to give you something as all-American as possible: a loaf of Wonder Bread instead of a...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1961 Ford Thunderbird Convertible – The American Dream Car
What exactly is the American Dream? Was it easier to answer that question fifty years ago? If you were seven years old, and had just arrived from Austria at the same time this 1961 Thunderbird first...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1974 Dodge D-100 “Gypsy Wagon” Camper
Dodge trucks have gotten short-shrift around here. They do tend to kind of disappear in the background, especially this generation, even thought they were built almost forever. But this one caught my...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1965 Mercedes 220S (W111)
Go ahead and laugh. I did, when I first ran across this Mercedes 220S with genuine wire wheels. Yes, it’s a major cultural faux pax, if one understands the German approach to such things; it’s the...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1989 Nissan 240SX (And Silvia/SX History)
We’ve spent a lot of time in the sixties and seventies lately, probably alienating some of our younger readers, so lets set the time machine a bit closer to home. Why did I pick this? Because I think...
View ArticleKubSide Classic: 1983 Grumman KubVan
The early eighties was the most revolutionary and unique time in the American automobile industry ever. Thanks to exploding oil and fuel prices, and with the expectation that the increases would...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1987 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint
The Volt is GM’s current answer to CAFE mandates and a hedge against high oil prices. In the mid eighties, the answer to the same challenge was the Chevy Sprint. The two couldn’t be more more...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1986 Ford Tempo – A Deadly Sin?
From the blooming tree in the photo, it’s obvious that I didn’t just shoot this Tempo recently. But then it wasn’t just this past spring either; it was a year and a half ago. Why have I been...
View ArticleCorpseside Classic: 1970 Cadillac Hearse
Where have all the old hearses gone? There was a time when these body haulers were a common alternative to the VW bus (conveniently displayed in the back) if you wanted to hit the road as a group, or...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1963 Pontiac Catalina – The Sexiest Big Car Of Its Time
The 1963 Pontiac was the very crest of the wave that swept the Excitement brand to glorious heights in the sixties. The upwelling first appeared out of seemingly nowhere in 1959. It continued to build...
View ArticleCurbside Classic: 1987 Pontiac Sunbird GT – The Collectible Exciting Deadly Sin
This is one of 1,540 Sunbird GT turbocharged four door sedans built in 1987. And given how few gen1 J-Cars are still on the streets, is it off the wall to guess that there might be…say… fourteen left...
View ArticleThe Official Curbside Classic Sales Lot: All $895 Or Less
Ever wonder where Eugenians get all those wonderful Curbside Classics I bring to you three times a week? After almost two years, it’s finally time to reveal the secret: the St. Vincent dePaul (a mere...
View ArticleWatt EV Coupe – Will It Make It to Production or Not?
The Watt Electric Vehicle Company (WEVC) has unveiled the EV Coupe, a classic shape inspired by the 1955 Porsche 356A. WEVC is not connected with Porsche AG. WEVC does not imply that any of their...
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