I wasn’t going to do this car today. But venting my spleen on yesterday’s 1971 Ford Galaxie 500 and all the discussion it prompted forces the issue: what was the best of the big popular-priced big cars of the era? Having handily eliminated the Ford from the running leaves a tough choice: The Plymouth Fury/Dodge Polara, or the Chevy Impala. Now I have a pretty major soft spot for the big Mopars of the era, and I wrote quite the paean to a ’69 Fury here. But that memorable ride was colored by the circumstances of the day. Truth be told, both the big GM and Mopars had it all over the Fords, but there were a few crucial differences between the two; one in particular. (Read More…)

Stopping in at Wal Mart always raises the possibilities of some interesting people and car watching. There’s a web site dedicated to the remarkable sights of the peopleofwalmart.com. Prepare yourself! And buried in that treasure chest are some wild cars too. I’m sorry to say my brief venture into Wally Mart this morning doesn’t measure up to the best of theirs, but it’s worth sometimes to just stop for a second and smell the…old cars in the parking lot. Gallery follows: (Read More…)

I know some of you are getting tired of hearing about Eugene’s eccentricities. But where else can you order up a genuine Curbside Classic to deliver your pizza? That is, as an alternative to bicycle delivery, which is also on tap (oops, sorry). Well, Dominos does claim to be the Pizza Delivery Experts, and if you call the River Road store and ask for Josh to deliver your Cheesybread and Cinnastix, you’ll have a chance to check out his haulin’ 1971 Galaxie 500. Who knows, for the right price, he might even deliver long distance. Just be generous with your tip, because his beast is lucky to break single digits in the mileage department, the way he drives. Which is undoubtedly a lot gentler than I drove the exact same car when I was his age. (Read More…)

I apologize about the irregularity of the CC Clue. I’ve been cranking up the production of CCs substantially, hopefully without the same loss of quality and consequences as Toyota. So sometimes I’m up late writing, and it’s too late for the Clue, or I’m too tired. But today I set a personal best: wrote this morning’s Malibu CC and tomorrow’s mystery CC all by 4 PM! Time for quick Clue and head for a hunting walk beofre it gets dark. Enough about that; the Rabbit’s radio hole was going to be recognized by a former loving owner, and that would be Chuck Goolsbee. I promised him a prize of an un-rusty Toyota Tercel tailgate. I guess I better take some tools along, but I know I won’t have to walk far; there’s several a few blocks away.

Walking around some blocks of the student neighborhood near the University of Oregon on a gray winter’s day can be as depressing as recalling much of GM’s decline and fall products from the seventies on. It’s a sea of dull and cheap apartments already looking shabby and run-down rental houses, fronted by waves of drab colored hand-me-down Toyotas, Nissans, and the like. But every so often, a cheery sight appears, like this cherry-red 1979 Malibu coupe. It’s there to remind me that GM was still able to hit a few high notes while cranking out Vegas, Monzas and Citations; and that it hadn’t yet totally forgotten the magic formula that it first hit upon in 1955 and reprised with the ’64 Chevelle: a trim and tidy RWD coupe weighing about 3,000 pounds and powered by the SBC V8. Quite the mood elevator indeed. (Read More…)

Now here’s a well-preserved flash from the past. VW kits of every possible permutation were the rage in the seventies and into the eighties. The Beetle’s construction lent itself superbly to the task. A few bolts released the body from the platform, which could also be quite easily cut and shortened. The resulting short bed pickup variation makes the perfect little hauler, like this one. Ride and handling? Don’t ask. Although this profile shows off its best side, there’s a bonus or two or even three in the other shots: (Read More…)

It’s one thing to say “the electrification of the car is inevitable” (Bob Lutz) when you’re buying the motors from suppliers. But GM is putting (somebody’s) money where their oracle’s wandering mouth is, and getting into the electric motor building business. The General has announced that $246 million dollars, of which $105 million came from a DOE grant (not loan), will be spent on facilities to build lighter, smaller and more efficient electric motors for the next generation of their two-mode hybrid system and rear-wheel drive applications. Looks like a “slim-Jim” version is being developed for a “future range of rear-drive cars”. Hmm… (Read More…)

Who would have thought, after the eulogizing and pessimistic reports? GM has just announced that they have reached an agreement to sell Saab to Spyker. GM did not disclose financial details. Reuters asked its “source familiar with the matter.” The source said Spyker would buy Saab for $400m. A paltry $74m is in cash, the rest is deferred shares. The deal is not completely clinched: It is subject to a Swedish government guarantee on a €400m ($564m) loan from the European Investment Bank. Sweden told GM, it is looking into the matter. GM’s press release is after the the jump. Meanwhile, we’ll try to find out what it took to bring Lazarus back from the dead. Or how likely it is to really happen this time. Haven’t we been here before? (Read More…)

Reading the book “Winning: The Racing Life Of Paul Newman” last night, I realized that there were several connections between Paul and today’s featured Curbside Classic. Newman raced Zs successfully for the Bob Sharp team in the seventies, having started his career in a Datsun 510. And they’re both celebrating birthdays: The Z arrived in the US forty years ago, and Newman would have been 85 today, had he not passed away last year. I’ve praised the coming and eulogized the passing of the 240Z in the CC, but I’d like to give a moment’s tribute to my life hero: (Read More…)

The Datsun 240 was as a true revolutionary, smashing the long-stagnant sports car market of the sixties into smithereens. It was long overdue too; folks were getting cranky for the messiah: a truly modern sporty two seater with four-wheel independent suspension, a zippy OHC six engine, dazzling styling, all served up at a reasonable price; say $3500 (about $20k adjusted). The hole in the market for such a car was begging to be filled. And Datsun stepped up and delivered, with a grand-slam home run. But like most revolutionaries, the Z was anything but truly original. But then neither was Che nor Lenin; they studied Marx. And Datsun? They took their studies seriously too.

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In Eugene, you learn to expect the unexpected; anywhere, any time. Like this bicycle-RV, for instance: no biggie. We have lots of pedal-powered delivery bikes and trikes in town, including rural organic farmers who pedal their produce into town regularly on trikes like this. And they’re even made here in a small factory in Eugene, so that they can be delivered by pedal-power to their pedaling buyers. OK; this RV is different, and it really is kind of big for a bike; 800 lbs, to be precise. And it’s grown over time; I saw it a year or so ago, before it sprouted the rear upper-level addition. And the owner actually takes this on the road, having recently made the trip back from an extended visit to Portland (110 miles away). I tried to get more information from him about details, and the solar-assisted electric motor, but I forgot one important thing: (Read More…)

You try finding an intact gen1 Eclipse; it took me months. And forget about it being a Turbo; they’ve all been riced, diced, sliced and mashed into oblivion. Was there ever more of a young guy car than this?  I’ll go out on a limb and say that the turbo AWD version of this and its Plymouth Laser and Eagle Talon DSM clones were the closest thing there was to a four-wheeler crotch rocket in their day. It may be a bit on the young side for Curbside Classics, but I figured I’d better grab this Eclipse now, because it may well be the last in town, and its driver is a young guy. High testosterone levels lead to drives of several types, but not generally the one that pertains to preservation. The Eclipse is the victim of its intended demographic. (Read More…)

I know racing is not a TTAC thing per se. But safety, old photos, lady luck and the human face at work are, at least on Sunday. Going through some an old Car & Driver from 1963, I ran across some remarkable photographs of Julius Weitmann. Two are about those rare cases when drivers lived to remember their rude ejections from race cars, as Hans Hermann here looking warily at the BRM that bucked him at Avus in 1958 after a few flips. (Read More…)

It’s time to use up some of the leftover shots from the recent trip to the Bay Area (not that I’m running low; no worries). I admit that the ’68 Chevy truck caught my attention first, although I have several of that vintage and they’ll be coming soon to TTAT. But then I noticed the white coupe hiding behind the truck wasn’t just any old boring Beretta, but a pretty hot little piece… (Read More…)

Do you remember this car? I didn’t. I don’t mean the vehicle in general, but this variation of it. This doesn’t happen often, but it’s humbling to know there are gaps, and I’m thankful to come across the opportunity to refresh the memory banks. (Read More…)