Automotive

Or seeing Mark's 1968 beautiful blue Camaro SS convertible which we couldn't quite catch ...



Anyway, the adrenaline rush does come over us once in awhile. I hope it does for you too. Shall we move on into the El Camino zone? 

A 1972 SS in the local body shop getting spiffed up



and a newer one in the apartment complex down the road a ways

Motorcycle under cover discreetly parked in front of this El Camino.



Next we found a slightly rat-rodded Dodge - this model is very appealing to me for reasons I can't explain



Spotlights on the windshield pillars are a nice touch. Maybe this was a cop truck once?



This is an honest Ford work truck, with a dock bumper of heavy steel that got folded back under itself on the left rear corner. That jolt must have knocked someone's teeth loose

Now a pale blue Suburban. Nothing special, but we got the shot so ...





This pimped out Buick Skylark is an unusual choice. A very stylized vehicle with that swooping chrome line - it will look better with good paint



Our city has gone wild with traffic signage!



We see many pairs of vehicles, such as these two VW Westfalia campers



A nice pair to take camping. Put the kids in one and mom/dad in the other



Here's the first of our Dodge Darts for today. And for sale - Art, I know you are in London, but it's calling your name.

I count the Jeep in the back as a find too - massive tires, extreme lift, wheel arches, etc.

I like finding Dodge Darts. My step-dad bought a 1961 Dart when I was in high school - it was a surplus (worn out) police car. 

How cool is that? A black police car with spotlights and odd holes here and there from removed equipment. I never got to drive it though, because we moved away and the car got sold before I got my license.



We better have a run of these, so I'll slot in this hopped up Dart

And its sibling, the Plymouth Valiant for good measure

Here is the Ford equivalent to the Dart/Valiant-sized vehicle, the Fairline. Smaller than a Galaxie and bigger than a Falcon. This dates to the early Sixties and looks to be the lowest model trim. Cheaply made.

but with dual exhausts, exiting in front of the rear wheels and parked on the curb at the house with the sunburnt Buick Skylark I featured yesterday, it might have a big motor in it.



Now moving on to a busy street, we found a very early Chevy Camaro in an unattractive blue/grey combo with plain wheels

This Torino-based Ranchero must have been painted from a similar can of ugly blue

Nearby a shabby house hosting a similarly blue, stereotypically shabby VW bus with special California modifications - duct tape windscreen molding and 



the external oil cooler just run out the side and bolted to the body - keeping cylinder #3 from melting down while driving through the desert or over the Grapevine pass into LA



A HUGE Pontiac Bonneville from the early Seventies



Mis-matched tires, burnt paint, peeling vinyl roof but it still is a scary 2-door coupe with a big motor



A nice Ford 4x4 pickup came next down the road



From the "gas shortage" era, notice the two fuel tank fillers. It's been hit in the rear too, or lost its tailgate at some time in the past. New one held on with external hardware store catches while bumper is drooping...



This is the third or fourth Chevy we've seen with the full-width grille modification. It looks kind of cool to me but I'd be unhappy at night, as the headlights are behind the bars...



This is a 4x4 as well, in good shape.



At the end of a very long driveway my zoom lens found this Cadillac hiding an old pickup - an GMC perhaps?





A lonely Ghia in front of a tiny flat

and a ghastly color on this C3 Corvette



Cross-fire Injection label on the fender means it's a 1982; it has a fiberglass transverse single leaf spring suspension, and was the last time you could get an 8-track tape deck in your 'Vette



I saw this wall before I saw the Camaro.

Quite a statement in a very old neighborhood.




What we have learned is the best hunting grounds are older neighborhoods that still have residents living there who moved in during the Fifties, Sixties or maybe Seventies. New suburbs have far fewer interesting cars in the front yards, as they tend to have "tenant guidelines" for good behavior and to keep up the property values. Neighborhoods with too many apartments, and those undergoing "gentrification" have too many young people with Uber on their green minds rather than "rat rods" and smoke-belching diesel dualie pickups.

Luckily we have only covered about 1/4 of those neighborhoods in San Diego, so with your permission (con permiso) and support we will continue to hunt!