(Updated 2/16/2026) An admission: This two-tone Ford van is a surrogate for my original target, but a fantastic and fitting one nonetheless.
It’s not often a thirty-one year old Ford Econoline, arguably one of the least inspiring vehicles ever built, will inspire much verbiage but stranger things have happened.
It’s new car day at CC today, or more precisely, new cars as they were day. Recently, I came across a few images of Chrysler products from the Forward Look era, back when new and on display in various settings, from showrooms to what look like events in various locations. Ready for a look at these chrome-finned wonders?
We start with the opening shot of a 1957 Custom Royal on display in Pittsburgh.
Time for another story specializing on a year, I think. It’s been a while since we had one of those. I had been going to feature 1972, as a natural progression from the last ‘year’ story I did. But as I looked through my files, I struck a snag. Whereas 1970 and 1971 had so many models that I had to pick and choose, 1972 has comparatively slim pickings. So much so, that I had to incorporate 1973 models as well.
1972 was the year I really got into building models – with a vengeance! Accordingly, some of these are very ordinary, the sort of thing many modellers would tear apart and rebuild. But, as some of them are quite rare kits nowadays, I’ll show them. As always, there are kits I don’t have.
Here’s something I didn’t expect to find while doing errands around San Salvador; a US-sourced gray-market Chevrolet HHR Panel Van, the first one I’ve ever come across in this city. Oddly, it wasn’t the “Wow, cool!” moment I would have thought would happen; instead, it was a muted “Ho, hum…”. Not sure what it was. Perhaps this Panel Van’s plain colorless flanks had much to do with that (lack of) reaction. Or the matte black rims. Or the years on its body that only highlighted the car’s mid Aughts worn materials all too well.
For what seemed like eons, Citroën’s range was completely illogical. It consisted of two models: a large 2-litre car (the Traction Avant, then the ID-/DS-19 after 1955) and the tiny flat twin-powered 2CV. The latter gave birth to a couple of higher-spec variants in the shape of the Ami 6 and the Dyane in the ‘60s, but neither could be classed as mid-sized, given their 600cc engine. The gaping hole in the middle remained until 1970, when the GS arrived.
(Updated 2/15/2026) As life goes on, you become able to make some choices, and I had one such decision to make the other weekend, around a new Mercedes-Maybach S650. Go in the back or the front, of the pub?
Actually, I’ll confess to my CC counsellors that I hadn’t realised that the Mercedes-Maybach S650 was actually on Britain’s roads. Britain gets short and long wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class variants and I was aware that there was an extra long wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S -Class available at least in some markets, which I had assumed to be Germany, perhaps North America and, of course, Asia, and that there was an intention to re-use the Maybach name in some way. But I didn’t know I could buy one at home. Obviously, I don’t car shop in the right places. Read the rest of this entry »
Michael B. shot this clean 1978 Monaco SE sedan for sale in North Carolina, and passed them along to me to write up. How could I pass up that opportunity, as these midi-fuselages have become quite rare, especially in civilian trim. I shot and wrote up an ex-cop car Plymouth Fury of the same vintage, and I rather suspect a very healthy percentage of the 20k 1978 Dodge Monaco four door sedans built went into fleet and police duty. 1978 was a very dark year for Dodge. Read the rest of this entry »
It doesn’t take long to see there’s something very unusual about this 1971 Buick Electra hardtop. Seen straight from the front, you may perhaps miss it, but move a bit to check out its flanks and you’ll see it, the unmistakable double axle at the rear that makes this a Buick unlike any other. As such, it’s a full-fledged, in working order, six-wheeled curiosity that raises several questions and comes with only speculative answers. And to add to its weirdness, the additional pair of wheels is retractable in truck-like form.
Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
I’ve been going by this house on Jackson Street for what will be thirty years this summer when I bought my first rental there. The Ford pickup has always been there, driven by the now-elderly matriarch. And presumably her son lives with her, as there have been cars out front associated with that demographic for much of that time, at least the past twenty years. But the Aerostar is a new addition. Has he arrived at the minivan stage of life? Read the rest of this entry »
In 2023, after it hit about 110,000 miles, my Passat started making repeated visits to the shop. It was never anything major, but the steady drip sure was annoying. My wife and I had fully recovered financially from our divorces, I was done with child-support payments, and there were no college tuition bills left to pay. Not only did I not have to nurse a car through its difficult years anymore, but I could buy a brand new car and get many, many years of good service from it.
Designed by Raymond Loewy Associates, the 1953 Studebaker coupe (renamed Hawk in 1956) was a classic design that Studebaker wasted little time in spoiling with an array of aesthetically dubious add-ons. Just as this aging and overdecorated coupe was fading away in the early ’60s, designer Brooks Stevens managed to salvage its reputation with a cheap and hasty but remarkably effective revamp that let the Hawk go out on a high note. Here’s a brief styling history of the 1953 to 1964 Studebaker coupes and their short-lived Bizarro World sibling, the 1958 Packard Hawk.
(Updated 2/14/2026) It appears we have never given proper tribute to the Isuzu Pickup )”P’up”) Space Cab. Let’s do so know, even if it’s a brief one. One thing I’ve noticed over the years: these are invariably hard-working pickups, and this one falls in that category.
(Updated 2/14/2026) The official paint color of this 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille was “Seamist Green”. This shade reminds me of a candy my grandparents used to keep around their house in one of several fancy, milk glass jars: the butter mint. You know the candy I’m talking about: the solid, slightly chalky but delicious candy flavored with peppermint, made mostly of butter (hence the name) and sugar. It starts melting on your tongue almost immediately after putting one in your mouth. They come in many different pastel colors, but unlike other candies offered in varying hues, the shade of the butter mint does not correspond with any flavor other than peppermint.
Text by Patrick Bell.
Today is Valentine’s Day, a commercial holiday where people of all sizes, shapes, colors and creeds stimulate the economy by purchasing stuff to show their love for their sweetheart. We are celebrating by featuring a gallery of couples and cars, the latter of course our favorite subject.
2011 Toyota Camry LE after ten years on the road.
We had bought our third Avalon in the summer of 2013, a good family hauler. Elsewhere in our fleet, miles were accruing, however. But being a Toyota family by then, why not a third Camry? We skipped the Fifth Generation (XV30) because we didn’t need a new car during that period, which coincided with peak expenses as our children grew into adulthood. (Toyota’s ad agency filmed an ad in Akron in 2001 on the Innerbelt –now closed– that was to be part of the kick-off for the new Fifth Generation. But after September 11, for some time, new 2002 car models weren’t on many people’s radar.)
The first car my wife bought back in 1977 was from the College Town Toyota dealer, so that was the first place we looked. Online sleuthing determined that all local Toyota dealers had plenty of Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Toyotas in stock. And 1.9% APR wasn’t too bad either (thanks, Mr. Bernanke).
