San Diego Summer Car Spotting

cazalea · 2017-07-09T08:18:05Z

Cazalea spots high-end, classic, and vintage Ford, Dodge, and Buick cars in San Diego. See rare Mercedes Maybach, Buick Invicta, and Ford pickups.

Hello Lads, it's been quite a while since we put together a dedicated spotting tour around San Diego. However, we do see interesting cars on a daily basis, and today I've pulled together some shots from the last month. This means a smattering of different types rather than a focus on one brand, or a single color. So here we go:

THE HIGH-END

Bentley 4-door. I have seen these in the showroom but rarely on the road. We snapped this on the highway - sorry for the limited view. Of course, after this, when the camera was not handy, we also saw a Bentley convertible and a R-R Phantom. Some days are just lucky.

Now rarer than hen's teeth - the Mercedes Maybach, sitting in a bad neighborhood in a public parking lot.

I got an exercise bonus from my Health app for walking around this entire car twice. It's very long.

MEMORIES OF THE PAST

This was parked close to my house, but I've never seen it before - a 1961 Buick Invicta 4-door hardtop. Invicta meant 'unconquerable, invincible, unbeatable, unvanquished' and fitted into the Buick lineup between the LeSabre (bottom) and Electra (top). It's strange to think now (so many years later) that I owned about 15 different Buicks. But I digress. In the early Seventies, I worked for an aircraft fabrication plant and "the Big Boss" had one of these. His was white and gorgeous inside - all sparkly chrome with blue and silver leather. I drove it once and loved it.

This one is nice, but not glamorous.

I think it needs a waxing and some whitewall tires.

THE OLD PICKUPS

This Ford has nice "patina" and looks pretty complete

Sticking with Ford brand products, we chased down this nice yellow Fifties Ford on the highway

The driver has just the right pose! This truck body style was known as the "Step Side", "Flare Side" or "Sport Side"

And tucked alongside the house is a 60's Ford long-bed pickup with Twin I-Beam suspension and "Fleet Side" or "Style Side"

And here are a couple guys enjoying a sunny afternoon in a Ford Bronco, circa 1970

This is a Dodge A100 Cab-over pickup, with the engine in the front between driver and passenger. This short and maneuverable truck competed with the Ford Econoline, Chevy Rampside, and VW pickup.

The engine is under the blanket in this truck. Notice the automatic transmission shifter poking up from the dash.

Here's a Chevy long bed styleside pickup which lives right across the street from the blue Ford shown earlier.

Now to Bill's favorite cargo-hauling vehicle, the El Camino. I'm sorry to say these two examples are rust buckets!

THE QUIRKY FORDS

Shifting away from trucks, here we have a fourth-generation, 1964-66 T-Bird, in the process of deteriorating (or being customized). It's missing the shine off both ends. Who would paint their chrome black?

I guess looking at the T-Bird and Corvette you get a profile of the owner, and it's not a good one ...

About a mile away I found this mid-Sixties Mercury Comet, a 4-door version of the Falcon (and Mustang). It's looking a bit disheveled, partly due to lack of rain for the 4-5 months, and perhaps birds in the trees above.

Speaking of Mustangs, a few minutes later I sighted this red-orange Mustang which was featured last year in another Spotting episode. There were two guys bent over the engine, so I made a quick U-turn to see if I could catch them in action. Instead, as I returned 30 seconds later they had both mysteriously disappeared. So I took this photo and cruised past consumed with curiousity, then saw them both on their knees by the front of the car, searching in the gutter for a spring or bolt that must have flown out. As a watch repairing guy, I felt their pain ...