So there's a lot near me that sells cars of all years. They've had everything from 1930s Plymouths and Buicks to 1960s Ford Falcons and Rancheros to '90s Cavaliers that refuse to die. My wife and I like to go from time to time to look and see what they have. We never buy anything, we just poke around to see what they have and dream about what we might buy one day if we ever fall face first into money. This time I brought a camera and asked the woman running the lot if I could take some pictures to share. She said yes.
The very first car we see when we pull in is this beautiful Studebaker Avanti.
While they're not super rare, they're not the most common cars either. Studebaker didn't make very many because shortly after the Avanti was introduced, they decided to stop building cars. You don't even see them at auto shows all of the time, so to see one on a lot in the wild is pretty cool.
Right behind the Avanti is a Dodge Wayfarer Sportabout.
I actually don't really know anything about this car. I'm not a huge fan of Chrysler/Dodge/Mopar and I don't know much about cars from this era either (though I love the way they look). If I'm reading the Wikipedia article right, only 2,903 of the 1950 Sportabouts were made, which I think is the year for this car. If that's the case, once again, it's something pretty rare.
One of the things you have to appreciate about cars made before the '70s are all of the emblems and trims. Car companies really knew how to go all out and turn them into works of art.
The two cars I really wanted to share though, is this pair of '58 Lincoln Continentals. They actually had a third one, but unfortunately due to my wife's rushing, I forgot to take pictures of it. You can see a little bit of it right behind the black continental. It's the white one and I believe it's actually a slightly later year because of the different tails and bumper (it's probably a '60). I didn't ask the owner of the lot, but more often than not when you get two or more cars of the same or similar year, it's because someone owned multiples in hoping of making one complete car. Car projects being what they are of course, the owner probably found himself in over his head and decided to sell them at a loss. The very first time I came to this lot, they had 3 Opel GTs and I'm sure they found their way there under similar circumstances.
The black Continental is obviously in the best shape out of the three. I didn't take pictures on the inside as it needed a lot of love, but you could find the back bumper, a few trim pieces, and the owner's manual all chilling in the back seat.
The red Continental was my favorite of the three though. It had the absolute perfect blend of patina and wear on it and in the second picture, you can see where someone had recently removed the trim pieces, leaving a cool shadow effect behind.
So yeah. Cars. This place goes through a lot of them so if you guys like these, I'll post some more from time to time. Once again, I apologize that these aren't the best photos. I'm not a photographer and it can be really hard to capture these cars when they're all packed in so tightly together and when I'm trying to keep out any distinguishing features that might show where I live (road signs, license plates, buildings, etc.). I hope you liked these though. I do.
Yeah. If I had to make a completely wild guess, I'd say that one kind of looks like a mid '70s one if you ask me. It looks like it's rocking a 5mph bumper that become a requirement back in '70s. If you check out a 1973 Camaro and compare it to a 1974 Camaro you can see how the bumper designs changed. The bumper on the car you posted is painted to match the rest of the body, which was something that you started to see on cars later in the decade like the 1977 Camaro.
This comes at an interesting time, as My parents are currently in the process of buying a new car. Their current car is a 2003 Pontiac Vibe, which also has a reputation of being pretty damn bulletproof. The only reason they're replacing it is because the cost of a new clutch and a new windshield (pitted from acid rain in Sudbury) with associated rust is almost as much as the car is worth. I have a special relationship with this car, as I drove it for 6 years or so while I went to school in Newfoundland and Ottawa. I drove it across country to Newfoundland and back twice, drove it countless times up hwy 17 from Ottawa to Sudbury and back, nd it dutifully drove me down to Ohio for my master's degree, where I handed the keys over to my folks (so I didn't have to import the car), and bought an Ohio Vibe, which I currently drive (and have regaled the community here with the tale of my import debacle). I love my car, I love my old car, and I will be sad to see it go. It might not be 90's cavalier bullet proof, but vibes are pretty darn close. thanks for the lovely snaps.'90s Cavaliers that refuse to die.
Shoot, seeing as how Vibes are based off the Toyota Matrix, they're probably even more bullet proof. Thanks for enjoying them. It means a lot to me to be able to share. :)It might not be 90's cavalier bullet proof, but vibes are pretty darn close.
thanks for the lovely snaps.
The Vive and the Matrix are the same car I looked at them when it came time to buy cars the last time; the Pontiac was cheaper by a factor of 10% even though they come out of the same factory built by the same workers.Shoot, seeing as how Vibes are based off the Toyota Matrix, they're probably even more bullet proof.
Yeah. Badge Engineering is an interesting concept. When talking cars, I've kind of trained myself away from saying "Car X and Car B are the same car" because for some dumb reason a lot of people really want to split hairs on some of the most minute differences and I just like avoiding those conversations. That's why I'll sometimes say things like "I love '80s GM G-Bodies" because that way I can kind of get away with saying that the '80s Buick Regals and Oldsmobile Cutlasses were pretty much the same car. Since we're talking about Cavaliers, GM, and Toyota and badge engineering, it's kind of cool to know that we exported the Cavalier to Japan under the Toyota brand.
This is pleasing. I have an '01 Cavalier that somehow managed to drive across the country without much issue, in the middle of summer. Those are some beautiful cars, especially that red Continental.'90s Cavaliers that refuse to die.
The nice thing about Cavaliers are that even though they're getting up there in age and have failing parts, there are so many that have been made through the years that you can still go into a pay and pull junk yard and get the parts you need. I think that's a huge part of why you can still see them on the road. I really like that red Continental overall as well. The patina on the paint just gave it a really nice texture all around. I think it would be almost criminal to try and restore it.
For that place to survive there must be enough people buying old cars to make it worthwhile. So who buys these older cars like that? Is it mostly enthusiasts. People looking to restore old cars for the adventure?
To be honest I can't really speak to their business model. They do sell more modern cars used cars too, though ones on their last legs. Think '90s Cavaliers, Buick Park Avenues, etc. They probably have enough running stuff to keep themselves afloat that way. I do know they've been around longer than I've known my wife, so they're probably not doing too shabby of a job.
I'm occasionally into old cars, and I've always loved the Dodge ram hood ornament. If I had to own a few dozen cars, one of them would be an old Dodge pickup with the ram hood ornament.