1981 Chevrolet Impala Wagon

1981 Buick Skylark

1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Calais

1981 DeLorean DMC-12

Yes yes - I know -- Back to the Future Day was 3 days ago. This was not what I was thinking about when I had the good fortune to find this car a few weeks ago.

If reality hadn't come poking it's nose in it would have been tremendously successful. Never mind the fact that performance did not match looks, or how those fabulous doors made exiting awkward. Ignore the lawsuits, the scandal, the eventual failure of the company, even the appearances in the movies.

1981 Buick Riviera

My thanks to the owner, who generously allowed me access to the interior and told me about the car, which is brand new to him. He said that those great white walls are original equipment, and I believe him, considering the lack of tread in the second last shot. The odometer shows 46,000 km (28,600 mi), and this is the first time around. What a great find!

My favourite element here is the hubcaps -- they add a sense of old school luxury and prestige. Most Rivs have wire wheel hubcaps, which look fake. Next is the colour -- which is rich and luxurious -- and the shape. That swept back front end and even more steeply raked windshield, followed by the formal roof. Also love the walnut veneer, and the mechanical digital clock. Of course this is not a practical, reasonable car, so the whole form factor is absurd, repeating the excesses of previous decades in a new design. It is simultaneously appealing and appalling, like so many luxury cars, and emblematic of GM's former resistance to change.

By the way, This American Life has an excellent podcast on NUMMI, GM's first effort to change it's philosophy.

1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup

I knew there must be something interesting in the area when I saw three motorcycles in the front yard in various states of assembly. Given it's current environment in deepest darkest Commercial Drive, this rare car is in pretty good shape.

One must wonder what Volkswagen executives were thinking when they decided to build a truck based on the Rabbit. Probably decided to build cars in the US at the same meeting. Seeing that long loadbed behind the econobox front is now a treat.

BTW 1778 is the address, not the year.

1981 Oldsmobile Omega

1981 Toyota Vanguard Camper Conversion

So many nice features -- the hubcaps transplanted from an Oldsmobile, the rust that matches the 70s brown stripes, the overhang which contributes to the slowly collapsing rear suspension. And the retro space-age shape; a collision between a fibreglass sci-fi space shuttle and a pickup. The heart shaped coat hanger antenna is a nice touch too.

But it is still in use, no doubt providing many a pleasant mile to a comfortable night in a campground. Large and small at the same time.