Category Archives: Spotted in the wild

Classics, rarities and who-knows-what-else I’ve encountered in my travels.

I want your sex…kitten

"Are you MAN enough to slip behind THIS wheel, big boy?"

“Are you MAN enough to slip behind THIS wheel, big boy?”

Yumminah humminah!

No car in history exudes raw sex appeal like the Jaguar E-Type.

This lithe, curvaceous vehicle was to the British automotive landscape what the eradication of the censorship code was to British films.

When it appeared on the scene in 1961 with a hood 18 miles long, wire knock-off wheels, sumptuous leather interior and a throbbing, triple-carb straight-six making 265 horses and gobs of torque, mothers must have covered their children’s eyes.

No wonder it was chosen as Austin Powers’ ride (the ‘Shaguar’).

The spotless model seen here enjoying the sun in small-town Ontario is a Type 2 model, produced from 1968 to 1971. The dainty bumpers seen here were tossed aside as crash regulations came into effect in the early 70s, ruining the lines of many a vehicle.

Offered with a V-12 engine before its demise in 1975, the E-Type was always good looking, always fast (0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds in base 3.8-litre form, 6.7 seconds with the 4.2-litre) and remains desirable to this day.

The E-Type’s speed, refinement and unmistakable style led The Daily Telegraph to declare it the most beautiful car of all time in 2008, topping a list of 100 competitors.

Yup, I wouldn’t kick it out of my driveway for eating chips.

MOREpar

1972 Dodge Charger, Yellowknife, NWT.

1972 Dodge Charger, Yellowknife, NWT.

I’ll have what he’s having…

The Canadian subarctic is an unlikely place to find red-hot American muscle, but that’s where this brawny ’72 Charger found itself.

Gas in the summer of 2012 was $1.41/litre in the ‘Knife, a figure that doesn’t change much in either direction, so filling the tank on this beast would be a direct hit to the wallet. Still, any driver’s options for cruising are as limited as the northern road network, so this thing likely stays parked for most of the time.

The ’68-70 Chargers get most of the drool action in popular culture, but I really dig the ’71-72’s as well. Their hulking, wide-stance and curvaceous fuselage shape are everything I love about early-70s American cars.

Vehicles from this era simply look indestructible.

The body on this black beauty looks pretty unblemished and straight, though the hidden headlamp doors are way out of alignment. I’ll blame the harsh, northern climate and the failure-prone nature of this feature (on any make or model) for this imperfection. As well, the hood seems to me missing its tie-downs, though the anchors remain.

Horsepower figures has started to slip by ’72 as compression ratios dropped, but the Charger could still be optioned with several tons of iron under the hood. I have no idea what motor beats within this example – ’72 Charger engine choices ran the gamut from the 225 Slant-Six, to the 318, 340, 400, and 426 V8’s, maxing out with the range-topping 440.

I hate to think what it would cost to feed a 440 muscle car making 8-10 miles per gallon – especially in Yellowknife. However, I have no doubt this owner turns a lot of heads during the 1.5-kilometre trip to the local watering hole.

That’s a stretch…

VW Beetle super-stretch limo, because why not? Spotted in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.

VW Beetle super-stretch limo, because why not? Spotted in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.

Arriving in a Town Car or Hummer H2 limo is sooooo 2001.

Not so if you pull up in this beauty.

I have no story behind this particular conversion – clearly, someone wanted to arrive in style in something that returned respectable mileage. This cigarette of a car obviously started out as an early-to-mid 70s Super Beetle before being subjected to some sort of Medieval torture.

Along the way this lengthy German benefited from a wheel upgrade, and while I couldn’t tell from the outside, I can only hope an engine upgrade was also part of the deal. No word on whether it floats, but if it does, it would make one groovy party boat.

I’d be curious to see whether this white whale sags under a full load of loaded revellers, or whether it can reach 100 km/h in such a state. The windows were heavily tinted (of course), so it was difficult to discern the interior amenities. Dark red velour was spotted in the front seat, and I can only assume that motif carries on in the back.

Whether your see this ride as gracious or grotesque, it’s uniqueness is undeniable. As such, it definitely deserves to be documented.

"Great, Fred - how are we supposed to find THIS in a parking lot?"

“Great, Fred – how are we supposed to find THIS in a parking lot?”

Lots of classic cars scream “1950s!”, but few do it louder than the late, great Desoto, former stablemate of Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler.

Certainly, besides Cadillac, no car wore turquoise paint, fins and greenish weather glass better than Desoto. And while this 1956 Fireflite predates the high-flying fins of the ’57 models, its Virgil Exner-crafted ‘Forward Look’ styling hints strongly at the design direction that followed.

Frankly, this two-tone head-turner looks so good, I don’t know how much more ‘Longer, Lower, Wider’ I could handle. The design is so pleasing, I pity the engineers who had to change it for a car-buying public eager to have the next big thing.

1956 is something of a sleeper year for American cars, coming one year before the explosion of postwar excess that took fins into the stratosphere, put rockets on the back of cars and grafted Jayne Mansfield’s chest onto the front.

Look closely at this Stratford, Ontario relic and you’ll see twin tailpipes peeking from underneath its shapely bumper. That’s to handle the by-products of a 255-horsepower, 330 cubic inch V-8.

The Fireflite was a sales hit for Desoto, which ranked 11th in sales in 1956, a high water mark for the brand. Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall for a make whose roots dated back to 1928. With Chrysler moving from upscale to mid-range in the 1950s following the introduction of the range-topping Imperial, Desoto’s home sales turf was being eroded away on all sides.

Following an abbreviated sales year in 1961, the Desoto brand was put out to pasture – sadly, just five years after this gorgeous example rolled off the assembly line.

With credit to the film ‘Blade Runner’ – “The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long.”

1953 Willys Aero Lark, Hixon, British Columbia.

1953 Willys Aero Lark, Hixon, British Columbia.

A rarity even in a well-populated junkyard, this ’53 Willys Aero Lark doesn’t garner immediate recognition.

A product of Willys-Overland Motors (later Kaiser-Willys), the Willys Aero was produced from 1952 to 1955 before its parent company decided to focus solely on the iconic Willys Jeep.

While the Aero received positive reviews for its strong straight-six engines and sturdy, lightweight unibody construction (which earned it a reputation for good acceleration and gas mileage), sales weren’t scorching. The American buying public already had its hands full with the Big Three, and to a lesser extent Studebaker, Packard, Nash and Hudson.

While the Willys Aero had a short lifespan in the U.S., the design soldiered on in Latin America after Brazil purchased the tooling to bolster its own auto industry.

Willys-Overland do Brasil S.A. churned out slightly facelifted Aeros from 1960 until 1971.

 

Late 90s E-Class and circa-1975 Buick LeSabre, Chelsea, Quebec.

Late 90s E-Class and circa-1975 Buick LeSabre, Chelsea, Quebec.

He was from America, she was from the Continent. He liked Zeppelin, she preferred Ace of Base.

Yet, somehow this late-90s E-Class and circa-1975 Buick LeSabre found each other. In a west Quebec garage/scrapyard.

Just like in Titanic.

I always admired the capable, no-nonsense presence of the E-Class, but that Buick is land barge Heaven.

A road tank. A square-rigged cabin cruiser, like so much of what rolled off 1970s U.S. assembly lines.

Malaise was soaking into the industry in the mid-70s, but this ’75 reflects an era where full-size meant living room, full hardtops and convertibles were still available, and the increasingly emissions-choked 455cid engine option was still on the books.

In 1977, downsizing across the entire GM lineup turned those heady days of conspicuous excess into memories.

 

Circa-1952 and 1957 Chevrolet, Ogdensburg, New York.

Circa-1952 and 1957 Chevrolet, Ogdensburg, New York.

What could be more American than this?

Okay, there’s no baseball in sight, nor is the Stars n’ Stripes waving proudly in the breeze, but this pair of 1950s Chevrolets hold the U.S. end up nonetheless.

And that garage – oh, baby, that garage.

The 2-door ’57 is clearly the owner’s pride and joy. Black paint deep enough to take a swim in, cataract-forming chrome, not to mention the aftermarket wheels and white-letter rubber.

With this level of flash, I don’t think anyone’s going to ask its frumpier older sister to the dance. Still, the ’52 looks like it hasn’t been ignored completely, though I have to wonder about that fading attempt to paint on a sportier roofline.

 

 

1952 Pontiac, Ottawa, Ontario.

1952 Pontiac, Ottawa, Ontario.

That laundry was never happier.

Early 50s styling was conservative pretty much across the board, but this spotless ’52 Pontiac sedan stands out. It’s no Cadillac, but it ain’t no Chevy, either.

Liberal amounts of chrome (minus unnecessary, gaudy flourishes) plus a tasteful two-tone paint job compliment this great example of one of the more overlooked American makes of the 1950s.