The city of Boston and surrounding areas are experiencing a very tough winter. It’s been cold, somewhere between -2F and 25F (-19C – -4C), brutally windy, and we have had record snow falls. Snow plowing and snow removal from the city has been slow and painful, by far the worst in the ten years that I’ve lived here. Streets and major roadways are 20% to 30% narrower, sidewalks are mess, and street parking is impossible. Interestingly, Boylston Street was completely plowed and all snow was removed from it prior to the Patriots Super Bowl victory parade, but streets around Mass General Hospital, the biggest hospital in the state, were gridlocked for days due to snow.
I took a quick drive around Beacon Hill last night and snapped a few pictures with my trusty potato. Under the pile of snow pictured above is a vehicle of some kind. Rules of this game are simple, identify it; year, make, and model. I’ll be lenient and let you off the hook with regards to the engine specs. Hit the jump for a few more snowy pics.
I was told this was a mobile Doppler radar. It was parked on Charles Street, next to a Starbucks.
This Forester is parked in a canyon. With all the snow plowed from the road on top of the snow that fell on it, digging this out was probably a tough job.
Another foot of snow is expected by the week’s end. Most people don’t bother digging out their cars and/or driving, knowing that someone will take the spot they have worked so hard to clean almost immediately. Downtown residents who street park but need daily use of their car use big garages, but those may be costly and some distance from their home.
Residents in other parts of the city, such as Charestown (a.k.a. The Town), Dorchester, South and East Boston, mark their dug out spots with chairs, BBQ grills, dryer racks, chairs, and other stuff. Don’t park there.
I think this was a two-way street.
What’s that yellow car?
By Kamil Kaluski
East Coast Editor. Races crappy cars and has an unhealthy obsession with Eastern Bloc cars. Current fleet: Ford Bronco, Lexus GX 470, and a Buick Regal crapcan racecar.
It looks pretty stubby, I'm going to guess Smart Fortwo.
I live in Texas, so scenes like this are quite cartoonish to me. My cartoonish response is to wonder if I could snake a vacuum extension into the cracked window before it snows, hook it up a hair dryer, and just wait indoors as the cabin gradually fills with expensively heated air to soften everything up. What could go wrong?
Electric engine and cabin warmers and petrol/diesel driven cabin warmers are very common accessories in Northern climates…hair dryers might actually work to some extent, all kidding aside. Warmed up my first car with a bunch of candles in -30C more than 10 years ago. This kind of carelessness will not be applied to more…grown-up cars.
Given the shape, I think it's a Rumpler:
<img src="http://aerotatra.czweb.org/rumpler2.jpg">
My guess for the top pic in a Jeep Liberty.
My guess for the yellow car is a New Beetle.
Chevy Trailblazer? That looks like it might be profitable to trailer our tractor w/ snowblower halfway across the continent and charge people to blow out their parking.
Top pic is a Toyota Rav4, not the current gen but the one before it, roughly a 2010 model, something with an external spare tire anyway.
My guess, judging by the squarish look of the tail light- is a Suzuki Grand Vitara of the 2005-2010 vintage.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Suzuki_Grand_Vitara_II_rear_20100513.jpg" width="500">
I thought that too, but the clear is over the red.
Specifically 2009-2012, because of the taillight (2009 facelift) and the rear mounted spare tire. Sports with those taillights rarely (I can't say "never") had the rear spare. So that leave "Base" and Limited models. It looks like the side mirrors are not body-color which would make it a "base" model as Limited had body-colored mirrors with turn signals.
2007 rav4
Yellow car is a new beetle(last gen) with a garbage bag over a broken window.
Actually the matte, opaque look is just what windows look like under frost.
I was sure it had a broken window. But now that I have more time I can see the frost. I'm a little farther north from Boston (Halifax. Nova scotia)and am living the same snowey winter.
Only a true monster would leave their NSX out in such horrid conditions, so I am not playing today.
Well, someone there does have an older Aston Martin that they drive around all year and sometimes street park.
There's a guy in TriBeCa who street parks a Maserati Coupe. The bumpers are in terrible shape. I used to walk past it every morning when i was working in NYC.
i used to live and go to school in the East Village. there was a week that i saw a tangerine Gallardo parallel-parked like any other car, moving around the block on street cleaning day.
it never occurred to me before then that people don't really street-park lamborghinis. walking past a $200k sports car just chillin alone on the curb at 2am struck me, but it took me a few moments to realize what was weird about it the first time.
Who's going to get back to these cars in the spring thaw to reveal their identities? 😉
What is the red car in photo 4? A Jetta?
I briefly thought Alfa 164, but the tail light looks wrong.
The C-pillar says Jetta to me.
Def a Jetta.
My guess: 2002-07 Jeep Liberty.
The yellow car looks like a @2013 Dodge Avenger. Hopefully more snow will render it invisible again.
Having grown up in the Intermountain West, I usually scoff at other people's complaints of snow, but even I've got to admit that's a pretty decent collection of white stuff. I'll really be impressed when the drifts reach the 2nd floor. The top of the 2nd floor.