1986 Plymouth Reliant Wagon

Note the Chrysler pentagon but Plymouth labelling (held on by metal fasteners), with all other badges completely missing, the wipers wrapped in newspaper.

Also the banal hubcaps, egg crate grille, the vast glass area / narrow pillars. I took a shot of the "Buckle Up For Safety" sticker in the window, but exactly this shot appears on "The Street Peep".

1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham

This car is not what you think of when you think "Cutlass".

This strange mule is just the sort of hidden classic that should be celebrated:
- The clever little vent window in the rear door, to make up for the fact that the larger window does not roll down.
- the odd collision of style -- a front end looking like a full sized Olds, the backend still looking like a Cutlass.
- the long rear overhang, which still looks small because the front looks full sized.
- the small looking wheels, tires and exterior mirrors.
- the pillow like seats trying to communicate luxury.

Yet the formal roof line is not awful, and they tried to add some class with the accent lights on the "C" pillars. And the shut line of the rear door blends into the fender bulge.

1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

In the same spot at the same time as another GM product from a while ago. This was the second time I've seen this car, and it's owner -- a nice guy.

Love the formal roofline, the way the vinyl in the roof traps dirt & moss into patterns, and gradually peels from the metal, the very long rear overhang. And how there needs to be a thin chrome strip surrounding everything. The door that covers the fuel cap is behind the licence plate. I thought that sort of detail disappeared in the '70s for safety reasons.

1985 Pontiac Parisienne Brougham

A beige-y car against a sort of beige-y background on a kind of beige-y day.

Love the chrome lower body panels, which catch the dirt and salt, ensuring that few cars so equipped survive to this day. Also the gold colour on the roof and hood, standing in for a vinyl roof. And those aerodynamic mirrors -- sporty but so small, the exact same unit used on everything from Chevettes to Le Sabres. The fender skirts, the formal roofline, the hood ornament -- all echoes of a past which was more optimistic and careless.

1976 Mercury Monarch

A car that looks odd these days because of a boxy front end noticeably longer than the back. But this is moderate compared to some other pre-90s American cars. Ford was trying to make their "small" car fit in. An effort to create a small luxury car, which fell flat on it's face like many of it's contemporaries.

This car is in great shape for a 40 year old. All the original hubcaps, few dents. Some obviously re-painted doors, hood ornament looks like it is from a later Lincoln, rear suspension slowly sagging. But it sits in quiet dignity.

Love the shape of the rear trunk area, the narrow seeming roll-down windows in the rear doors, the skinny little chrome strips around everything, and those bullseye hubcaps.

1985 Buick LeSabre Limited Collectors Edition

Yes, GM actually named a car "Collectors Edition", apparently because this was last year of the rear wheel drive version. It just adds to the the absurd charm of this anachronism on wheels. The car looked old school when it was new.

Lens distortion and fog c/o my cell phone.

1976 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

Cadillac has had such fine examples of excess, repeated in endless variation. The condition of this car only heightens its monstrosity. Such amazing trim pieces above and beyond what one would find on it's less gaudy but still impressive Cadillac siblings. I particularly enjoy the third picture for its crazed look. Although the Cadillac insignia is everywhere, the most prominent marking is "E L D O R A D O".

Sadly, due to cramped conditions no profile shot was possible.

Photographing the main attraction inevitably got other interesting cars into the background. These will be in the next post.

1987 Peugeot 505 STX

Car seems smooth and flat, but subtle curves show up in the profile. Also digging the arched eyebrows over the headlights, the AMC like door pulls. Owner says his mother bought a similar model, and both are still in use.

1991 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue

Found in a Safeway parking lot. The gentleman who owns it says it only has 65,000 kms on it & still works well for him. Unfortunately, I could not get profile shot, because it was surrounded by blocking cars.

Of note: chrome strips (everywhere!), broad brushed chrome near the base of the trunk lid and on C pillar, wonderfully excessive padded roof compressed by "Fifth Avenue" badge.