One of the things I miss most about living in the San Francisco Bay Area— OK, maybe the thing I miss the most— is the proper Mission-style burrito. Here in Denver, the Midwestern-influenced salty/bland flavors, brown rice, and incorrect shape of the Chipotle-style burrito dominates, and so whenever I head back to Northern California to shoot some junkyard cars, I try to hit the taqueria that got me hooked on Mission-style Burritos in the first place: Ramiro & Sons Taqueria in my hometown of Alameda, California. Inside this place (whose burritos, good as they are, don’t quite measure up to what you’ll get in the actual Mission District about five miles due east and on the other side of the Bay; this place is my personal favorite), you’ll find a painting on the wall that’s been hanging there since 1984, and that painting depicts a yellow two-door hardtop of some sort parked in front. For 30 years now, I’ve puzzled over that painting, trying to figure out what kind of car I’m seeing.
It looks like something from the heart of Malaise Detroit, no doubt with some air shocks in the back to give it the rake that was all the rage in early-80s Alameda. It appears that the artist is still around, but I thought it would be cheating to ask him. Instead, I’m asking you.
Back when I was shooting street-parked Alameda cars for the Down On the Street series at Jalopnik, I couldn’t help thinking of the Yellow Mystery Car when I shot this yellow 510 across the street from Ramirez & Sons.
My strongest hunch has always been that we’re looking at a 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am Colonnade with the blinds or louvers (or whatever you call those colonnade-y things on the rear quarter-windows) removed.
It might be a mid-70s Pontiac Grand Prix.
Or perhaps it’s a Fox Ford, say an ’82 Fairmont Futura?
Maybe it isn’t even an American car at all. The Toyota Corona RT132 Coupe wasn’t available in the United States, but perhaps a sailor at the Alameda Naval Air Station brought one over from Japan. All right, let’s solve this mystery— what is this car?
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Looks like a late 70’s (downsized) Monte Carlo. I can see other makes/models in there but the Monte comes closest. Love that 77 Gran Prix.. My first car. Best GM product I ever owned.
You beat me to it by a few minutes! I thought of Monte Carlo right away when seeing the distinctive shape of opera window.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/my-curbside-classic-1976-chevrolet-monte-carlo-landau-hope-you-like-green/
License was taken,but that roof-line and wheel-arches say mid 70’s Monte Carlo all day.
I believe those early Montes had metal bumpers as well (prior to the molded bumper covers that would come later).. So it is very close to a Monte.
You think such license was taken intentionally? ;)
I’m way behind all of you this morning, but wholeheartedly agree — Monte Carlo.
Yep, and where I grew up in TX, the Monte Carlo was the official car of the taqueria.
Good question,but what I meant was that the artist was maybe more into a suggestion of the car,rather than getting it completely right.
+1 on the Monte–first thing I thought of.
Sad that I saw this so late, I knew immediately it was a buick in “that” brown color. And yes it’s a 73-75 Buick. Nothing else has those lines with that colonnade window.
I’ll leave you guys to decide if it’s a good looking car or not. I know my opinion on it.
Buick Regal. Among its GM sibs, it has the swept back wheel wells as depicted in the painting.
Yes, Regal and Monte Carlo have pretty much same body style other than cosmetic variations in the front and back.
Looks like Skink got it right…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nona6.jpg
Note the side running lamps in the front.
It has to be this.
Agreed. ’73-’75 Regal. It’s all about that rear window.
I vote likewise.
It could pass for my ’80 Regal too – it’s even the same gold color. Mine was stolen – they were ridiculously easy to steal, and had lots of interchangeable parts with the Monte Carlo and Olds Cutlass. ALL those models were taqueria types, so nailing down a particular model may be fruitless.
Another vote for Regal, that was my first impression.
The whole car is slanted (and the proportions look like an 88 Reatta – which it obviously can’t be) but what about an 81 Regal?
The color scheme is spot on.
It’s like someone took the lines of an 81 Regal and slanted it artistically.
All the angles are wrong, but the colors and details are exactly right:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAsruy4ic8awj6xFiY7V3g1A_mEe2xpVU_tFvNrrnbwxt0_DxV
Fiat X1/9?
Yes that lanky, Detroit malaise X1/9.
On first glance it reminded me of a Jaguar XJS, but the B/C pillars are pretty obviously wrong.
If I squint hard and ignore some of the proportions I can see a Monte Carlo, as already suggested.
My guess is a 1976 Buick Riviera:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4943421220_10b3877b68_b.jpg
Beat me to it! I second the ’76 Rivi…
I used to own a ’76 Riv, it looks more like a Regal to me.
I’m calling this one a ’67 Thunderbird coupe–slightly tapered nose, window cut at the huge C-pillar.
http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/bird6701.htm#.UwS7s85VWcU
I’ve got to agree. We had a few of these, even in the gold color, still hanging around as daily drivers as I was growing up, and “T-bird” instantly popped into my head after first seeing the picture.
By the way, with all the talk of Monte’s, why did the swivel-out bucket seat never take off? My grandfather had one, thought those seats were the neatest thing. Of course I was also like, 10.
I thought that the body was late ’60s T-Bird too, but that opera window?
The tapered nose says Ford, but not sure about the opera window.
1976 Monte Carlo. Long rectangular marker lights are a dead giveaway.
1977ish Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham. It’s the only one that fits the body side contour, or lack thereof.
Not unlike GTA5, an amalgamation of various automotive themes. But the closest thing it resembles to me, an AMC Matador.
I vote for Generic 70s-era American Car. It’s nothing in particular, just part of the street scene.
I agree, its not a particular car, it represents a generic car shape. Its got the windows of the Gran Prix but the reflectors of the Fairmont. Thus its neither. Its not a foreign make as its too long… clearly some Detroit iron. And it appears to be rolling on gold rims. Or (more likely) the artist just painted them the same color as the car since he already established the palette. I wouldn’t even read the “rake” of air suspension as being depicted here, the whole painting has curve to it, as if being painted thru a fish-eye lens to give the building a larger-then-life appearance.
The thread is becoming a sort of Rorschach test. The answers that people provide tell you more about them than they do about the car.
The painting is similar to impressionist art. It’s an impression of an overall scene, not an exacting depiction of detail. The car is only incidental to the work.
This. And my guess is that if Murilee were to ask him what car it was; the artist would have no idea; especially after all these years.
It’s possible the artist intentionally made the car ambiguous, as the scene isn’t about the car. The more distinctive that the car is, the more distracting that it becomes.
” The car is only incidental to the work.”
Unless you’re a car guy, then it’s pretty much the object of the painting. Though, it’s quite obvious that the artist was not a car guy
Yup, it’s a generic 70’s American car. Those hideous “opera windows” were chopped into everything.
Hey now sometimes those were tasteful.
They looked good on the Mark.
Mmm, fomality.
http://www.classiccarclubphuket.com/Webpics/Brochures/Lincoln%20Continental%20Mark%20V%20Emilio%20Pucci%201977.jpg
Exactly, and the Town Coupe.
How bout a Dodge Mirada?
http://www.productioncars.com/gallery.php?car=13031&make=Dodge&model=Mirada
+1 Came here to post this
I’m throwing my hat in the Mirada ring.
I don’t think Malaise Yellow was still around when the Mirada came along, but I could be wrong.
This could easily been Natural Suede Tan, or Mocha Brown Metallic both colors available on the Mirada
My guess is a mid 70’s Grand Prix
1974 Olds Cutlass
^^this
It’s not just the shape – but the color. They sold a lot of them in particular color.
http://clubs.hemmings.com/delvaloldsclub/Member_s_Cars/1973-1977/RonClares74CutlassSupreme.jpg
My grandfather had one of these in SF – that car lived around the 27th and Army.
It’s a generic 73-77 GM A-body coupe. looks like a Pontiac rear, with a 76-77 Olds front on it, with the Chevy narrow quarter windows.
Monte Carlo.
Right here:
http://images.thecarconnection.com/med/1977-79-box-caprice-coupe_100356931_m.jpg
http://autopolis.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/79-caprice-coupe.jpg%3Fw%3D547
1977-1979 Chevrolet Caprice Coupe.
I thought the same thing at first, but the painted B-pillar screwed it for me.
Drat – you’re absolutely correct :( I was going by the front clip bumper and light configuration, the rear window, and the wheel openings.
I remember that hideous mustardy gold colour from my childhood with absolute loathing.
I have no idea, but the white car on the left is clearly a late prototype ’86 Ford Taurus.
Not seeing that; looks more like the 1996-1999 Taurus with the oval rear window and oval tailights.
The painting is 30 years old, car can’t be newer then an ’84
96 Fleetwood Brougham Coupe!
Bingo!
Post-1973 Monte Carlo, complete in that awful mustard-yellow color.
BTW, it’s a Colonnade style, NOT a “hardtop”, as the term used to mean; i.e: pillarless, with a roll-down rear window.
My wife calls the colour “baby unexpectancy”.
Its a blend of a few cars, a mid 70’s Monte base + 67-69 Barracuda convertible + something else.
Agree with a lot of what’s here, either one of the Colonnade A-bodies, or a 77-79 Ford T-bird.
73 Olds Cutlass
Check out image 8 of 48:
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/oldsmobile/cutlass_supreme/1598773.html
1978 Mercury Grand Marquis
Consider that the artist doesn’t know anything about cars so even he/she may not have known exactly what he/she was painting, but I’m pretty sure the artist was looking at a ’73-’77 GM A body Colonnade Coupe, most likely a 73-75 Olds Cutlass judging by the swept back rear end:
http://www.stutzbach.com/stutzbachs/mark/StuffWithMotors/1973_Cutlass.htm
1977 Regal or similar year Cutlass.
Definitely agree with the ’73-’77 GM Colonnade coupe suggestions. My hunch says Monte Carlo too, but could easily be a Buick or Olds version. Something tells me it’s not a Pontiac. Let us know when you find out for sure, MM.
Sure reminds me of a black late model Olds 442 that a shipmate of mine had in 68-69. Best guess would be that it’s a mongrel of that or some of the GM siblings of that era.
Also agree that it looks like a GM A body Colonnade Coupe. But I am going to say Grand Prix because of that gold color, which seemed to be more prevelant on the Pontiacs.
I’ll be the first to guess it’s a last gen RWD Monte Carlo, that ended with ’87. Don’t know what year it started, maybe ’83. Of course this is an abstract painting I think.
Not abstract ;).
Late ’70s early ’80s was an ugly time in automotive design
You’re not kidding. The Cordoba? That Mirada? Blech.
Yesterday, I saw the sedan version (I know there was a coupe and also a wagon) of a VERY plain Chevrolet from maybe 1981? Like the size of a Nova, but more plain. I’ve never known what they are. Square body, square lights, plain, larger than a Cavalier, smaller than a Seville.
Edit: It was this!
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Iraqui-taxi-ext2.jpg
BLECH.
Volare’, Aspen, Le Baron, Charger, Ford Thunderbird, Futura and I’m just on “F”
Malibu?
Yep yep Malibu. I typed in “1981 Chevrolet sedan” and there it was. Lol. I’m glad I guessed the year right.
Which is why when the aero cars like the Audi 5000s and the Taurus appeared on the scene; they were such a breathe of fresh air compared to boxes like this.
In the era of coupe styling and gunslit windows; something like a 1980s sedan or an AMC Pacer with flush headlights would be something different and refreshing.
“Which is why when the aero cars like the Audi 5000s and the Taurus appeared on the scene; they were such a breathe of fresh air compared to boxes like this.”
When those two and even more so the Mercury Sable showed up it was like they were from another planet. I wish something as revolutionary would show up again
“When those two and even more so the Mercury Sable showed up it was like they were from another planet. I wish something as revolutionary would show up again”
That so true; as I have said before, I can still remember seeing my first aero car, an Audi 5000s, and where I saw it, and that was the exact same thought I had. This is something I have been musing about as I collected cars for my “30 Years of Ford Jellybeans” display.
The cars from about the mid-1930s to about 1960 followed an unbroken styling trend as running boards disappeared, fenders blended into the rest of the car, and they became more rounded. You could see the styling trends in say a 1935 Chrysler Airflow, a 1941 Chevrolet Delux, and a 1954 Ford. This trend ended with a bang with the wraparound windshields, tail fins, and excess chrome of the cars of the late 1950s.
Cars like the 1960 Corvair, 1961 Thunderbird, and 1961 Oldsmobile Cutlass suddenly broke away from this styling trend roughly 25 years later. Tailfins and wraparound windshields disappeared overnight, and cars suddenly became boxy with creased corners. Chrysler’s fuselage styling of the 1970s were an evolution of this styling trend. As cars downsized, and designers began to pay a little attention to aerodynamics, they got rid of the creased corners and other bits that caught the wind; the end result was boxy cars like CoreyDL’s Chevy and the 1980-1982 Thunderbird. Chrysler continued this styling trend all through the 1980s; as this styling trend went out with a whimper after roughly 30 years.
The Aero cars, of course, broke this styling trend. In the years since the Ford Sierra, Audi 5000s, and leading up to today; cars have pretty much followed this same path. As always, there are outliers like the Scion Xb and Nissan Cube as well as the retro styled cars; but cars have pretty much evolved from the station wagons and three box aero sedans of the 1980s to the CUVs and coupe styled sedans of today.
After thirty plus years, we are overdue for another revolution. But what will it be? Stylists nowadays seem to be chained by one ankle with safety regulations, by the other ankle with aerodynamics/CAFÉ, and around the neck by “me too” styling trends. Acura gave us the “beak”, Mazda the “clown face”, Ford, Kia, and others the “angry carp”; but if you took clay bucks of these cars and smoothed away the styling cues, you end up with the same basic shapes. The same was true for say a 1974 Plymouth Fury, a 1974 Chevrolet Caprice, and a 1974 Ford LTD. And how many coupes look like this picture? Today, we are at that stage again.
And I guess the period of 1900 to mid 1930 could be considered another styling trend, with the two and three box (literal) shape, and seperate attached fenders and running boards; broken by rounded cars like the Chrysler Airflow and Lincoln Zephyr.
As an earlier poster said, it’s kind of like Grand Theft Auto where there’s a car that’s instantly recognizable but doesn’t have the exact details and I’m sure the artist wasn’t exactly striving for automotive accuracy in the picture, but it’s most likely intended to a GM colonnade coupe – Monte or Grand Prix.
Fairly obvious it is a 73-77 A-Body Buick Century or one of its siblings.
Wait, is this a trick question?
This isn’t Jalop, so the answer isn’t Miata… Panther?
Paniata?
… brown wagon diesel stick?
Looks like my 77 Chrysler Cordoba.
1978 Caprice coupe. Low-rider.
The 3 piece backlite made me go Caprice…but now…1978 Monte Carlo Areocoupe. The artist exaggerated the backlite…or seemed to…
I can’t believe anybody ever thought that those Colonnade windows—if that’s what they’re called—were actually attractive. Then again, I’m a ’90s kid. And there are some *hideous* ’90s cars.
Ceci n’est pas une car.
…although perhaps it’s an Artist Rendering GT.
In thinking 74 or 75 Monte Carlo add well add some others here…
’74-’76 Riviera. The line of the rear fender top gives it away. And they even came in a very similar color… http://www.fastlanecars.com/classic-cars/car-for-sale.aspx?ct=1975-Buick-Riviera-2-Door-Hardtop&c=34ab1568-c85a-43e4-8b3d-7315f7f8c520
Definitely a 73-77 generic GM A-body of some kind.
I’m going to go with like a 1968 Corvair Monza coupe, based mostly on the rear part of the greenhouse and trunk angle and length.
That was my first thought too.
Forget the car — I’m more interested in the mission burrito. Murilee, if we can drill a hole deep enough in Denver, maybe we can snag a burrito en route: http://idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda-weehawken_burrito_tunnel.htm
I’m noticing the curve on the rear windshield.
There was a malaise era coupe that had a rear like that,where the glass was concave and one constant curve going into the decklid.
…but my brain’s drawing a blank on what specific car it is.
You’re not thinking of the Toronado XS are you?
http://www.foscoandmary.com/fosco/foscosworldpics/tnado%20side.jpg
Late 70’s cutlass supreme 2 door
All right, I suppose I’m going to have to try to contact the artist and see if he has the original photo, if any, used to make this painting.
You wrote this without knowing the answer? I hope the artist is still around and has a good memory
I kept thinking Mopar.
http://www.productioncars.com/gallery.php?car=882&make=Chrysler&model=Imperial
Maybe?
1976-7 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
1980 T-Bird:
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1980-ford-thunderbird-the-fabulous-fubar-edition/
My first thought was Mercury Cougar.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/1977-1979_Mercury_Cougar_two_door_-_dave_7.jpg
I’m seeing 1973-77 Buick Regal here, but there is artistic license and the artist is going for a scene and feeling rather that the depiction of a particular car.
Murilee, you were more interesting to me when you lived in California. I live about 250 miles from you in Colorado right now and have never liked the place. I can step out my door and run into someone from Colorado. Every car I see is from Colorado. I think Colorado is dulling your senses. This state really should be sold to China and the proceeds can be used to pay off the national debt.
Also, I wish I could recall what car you were featuring in DOTS and in the background was probably the only 1972 Continental Mark IV made without opera windows and you missed it. Maybe your senses have always been dull?
Think outside the box…
Mitsubishi Sapporo (might have been badged a Plymouth). My dad had one oh so many moons ago.
Although looking at images on this web-thingy, there is no window in the C-pillar, but that profile is spot on.
@ALL
Best burritos are at Johnnys, on the avenue, in Ventura California. Bar none!
While it could be a Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Olds Cutlass or even a bad depiction of a Cordoba, it most resembles the Buick Regal which had a sloped back. Although the Grand Am overall body shape is closer, it doesn’t have louvers.
The body shape reads 1967 Thunderbird to me, but we’re not talking photorealism, and this is rather sloppy composition, so I’m going with the most distinctive element — the window — and guessing 1980 Thunderbird.
My first thought was a 1974-76 Riviera.