Today’s Bobcat CC tends to reinforce the image of Eugene as an insane asylum refuge for the disaffected, eccentric, permanently drugged, but artistic and creative goof-balls of the world. Well, that’s largely true, and it sure keeps things interesting. But the reality is that there are two Eugenes: south of the river and north of of it. That’s a slight over-simplification, but you get the picture, here: just imagine that the yellow line between the Charger SRT and the Datsun 710 is the Willamette. But there are circumstances that cause the two sides to intermingle, like this little parking lot behind an accountant’s office. Guess whose car is the accountant’s and whose is his patchouli-oil scented assistant’s? Another perspective to assist your efforts after the jump.
The accountant owns the 710. It still runs, so he does spend money on cars.
For some reason, the Datsun just looks more mechanically stout than the Dodge to me. Wonder where the SRT8 will be in 35 years… recycled into a chinese toaster probably.
The 710 is in remarkably good condition considering its age and the poor quality of the tin cans it was made from.
Please elaborate on the difference between northern and southern Eugene. I was once told that there was a significant difference between Eugene and Springfield.
Here are the grossly inadequate but commonly perpetuated stereotypes:
South of the river Eugene: University of Oregon, very liberal, Democratic, old hippies, neo-hippies, a smattering of anarchists and other radicals, anti-growth
North of the River Eugene: The moneyed elite, conservative, Republican, pro-growth, but kept in check by South Eugene (city council split 3-3).
Springfield: Downscale lumber mill town, conservative, pro-growth, home of much of the new commercial development.
In 1962 I did a year of grad school at OSU and lived a few months after that in Sweet Home. I remember seeing a sectioned 1946 Ford 2-door sedan in some sort of an impound lot between the main one-way streets in the north part of Eugene. I asked about it a couple of times but no, it wasn’t going anywhere. Just two or three years ago I saw it in Hemmings, and was glad to see that someone had taken it in hand. From what little I remember of Eugene then, it seemed more like Springfield does nowadays.
I’m an accountant with a Charger V8.
College cheer:
Beaver meat beaver meat rah rah rah
How do we eat it how do we eat it
Raw raw raw
Lotta’ of the California hippies of old ended up in Oregon. Many have been there for decades and are getting old.
Like me.
Sniff.
Much cheaper living, in general, here in fly-over country.
Get off my dirt
My God, the 710 wagon. The first car I remember. My parents bought one (burgundy) in 1976, same year I was born, and it was the car that I grew up with and the shape that stuck in my mind forever as what a “car” should look like. It wasn’t until 1982 that we even got a second car (a green Aries wagon), and the 710 wasn’t sold off until 1987 when we got another Aries (a blue sedan), not having learned our lesson.
I remember the Datsun being raw and crude and mechanically questionable and kinda junky (white vinyl seats, no less), but when we sold it it was my first lesson in saying a warm goodbye to an old mechanical friend.
If only the one in the photo had its hubcaps. Then this would have looked eerily like our driveway circa 1985.
The wagon was the secretary’s car. For some strange reason she now drives a new Dodge.
Cognitive Dissonance at its best.
The Datsun is so Jimmy Carter-years ugly. Datsun went from a solid looking 510 to the most hideous things on wheels during this era. Datsuns of this era have their own chapter in the “Ugliest Auto Ever Designed” chronicle of car design.
They were narrow. They had a high beltline. The tumblehome was right against your ears. The dashboards were narrow vinyl cliffs with deep recessed instrumentation. The seats were built by Little Tykes. The carpeting was fake mouse fur. They rusted faster than an unpainted coffee can in the Amazon.
Worse, they were still better than what was being manufactured by GM or Ford.
Yup – for those who didn’t experienced it, the Jimmy Carter years are known as the “maliase years” for a real reason. He, and they – utterly sucked.
I sold New 710s in the 70s for a Datsun dealership on Long Island and almost no one wanted one. The 510s and 1200s sold well, but when the 610, 710, and 810 arrived, it was all downhill. They became heavy and super underpowered. The engines however were bulletproof if serviced properly.
The 710 isn’t even close to being the ugliest car Datsun made…remember the F10?
Paul, does Springfield still smell like it did when I was there decades ago? The paper mill had gave the whole town an awful stench, much like the “Tacoma aroma” to the north and “Eureka like a pulp mill” to the south.
Yes, but probably not as bad, due to better controls at the pulp plant. Usually the wind blows the other way. My wife calls it the “dirty diaper” smell. The Eureka plant almost totally cut its smell ouput recently.
Yep, the Springfield aroma is much better than it was 30 years ago. You can still experience that lovely smell in Lewiston Idaho though. They have the added benefit of locating their pulp mill in a steep valley that often traps the odor.
My dad had an 810 wagon. Powerful, great ride, good mileage. But the rust! Oh, the humanity!!! Two years old and the fenders were perforated, four and they were flapping!
To help reinforce Paul’s stereotyping, I drive my F150 from my home north of the river to mingle with the aging VWs and Volvos in a downtown (south of the river) parking garage. My motorhome, motorcycles and mildly famous 1951 Oldsmobile are also housed up north.
However, I haven’t voted for a Republican since John Anderson. On the other hand the mayor of Eugene is the kind of flakey liberal that will never get my vote. All posture, no substance. There are many kinds of liberals in the world. Tie dye shirts are a sign of cultural liberalism of the type that (south) Eugene has aplenty. I prefer a good old fashioned public works project, or universal health care myself.
That 710 is mine actually. Im the receptionist. The charger is my dad’s. He’s the accountant and we both live in the south hills. He bought that car more or less because he always wanted a batmobile, not to show off his money. Me and my boyfriend actually own 3 datsuns so far, the other 2 are 620 pickups. It’s not the prettiest car but try to find another one. Iv’e seen one other 710 wagon in town since i got it.
Jassifrass, Thanks for identifying your cool 710. The other 710 is blue, and I already have pictures of it, and will do a full length Curbside Classic one of these days on it. Unless there’s another one?
the one i saw was blue ish. like teal sort of. it was in really good shape to. i was at the auto parts store when i saw them and chased them down a little to say hi. They were pretty happy to see me too. My boyfriend says he saw one on craiglist about 3 months ago that was blue and really nice too.
Jassifrass, I’m curious; how did you come to find this post here over two months after it was first put up?