By Marcal Eilenstein
Welcome to another round of everybody’s favorite random car roundup. Today, I want to share with you some of the weird, wonderful cars I came across this month on my daily sojourn to the office and home again. Large or small, we like them all here at the Hooniverse, and I hope you enjoy this collection of interesting vehicles I’ve seen this month.
First off, we have this giant Mini, which really should just be called Medium at this point. What is that color, though? It looks like a cross between hospital green and mustard.
Grainy picture, but I had to get a shot of this confident Fiesta driver. Trying to keep up in traffic with a little 3-cylinder can be a challenge, but this guy clearly did not give a care. Rust-covered steelies and faded gray plastic just add to this car’s character. Quick Mystery Car question – what car am I driving in this picture? I’ll give you a big hint – its average MPG is almost exactly triple my truck’s.
‘Merica.
Not ‘Merica, but still cool. We often think of VW vans as full of smelly hippies; that may be true for some, but a lot of the time they’re just regular folk. Regular folk who like to carry gas cans on the roof.
By far my favorite of the bunch. This 1979 Cadillac Sedan deVille was striking. I saw it coming behind me from half a mile away, and I slowed down enough that I could get a decent picture of it. It’s rare to see a Cadillac like this with the fiberglass filler not cracked, faded, or missing. The padded vinyl was complete as well, with no tears or cracks. This is definitely the nicest Caddy I’ve seen in a long time.
I hope you enjoyed these cars. Let us know what you think in the comments.
[Photos Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Marcal Eilenstein]
Jeff Glucker
Fiesta? Nope, Festiva. I got a kick out out driving my first wife's Festiva. It was an '88, the first year model, and the only year with a carburetor. They used a Mazda-designed and built 1.3l SOHC four.
And it's 'Murica. As my oldest daughter says, "Imagine a redneck grilling steaks, with a monster truck in the background. That's 'Murica".
The photo is a a Beetle. God I hate those body kits.
Isn't that a
GazelleFiberfab MiGi?Bet the fiberglass on that Caddy has been replaced at least once.
The original fillers were made out of urethane, which was flexible when new (they have to deform and spring back to shape in a 5 mph bump), but hardened and cracked after a few years of heat and UV exposure, especially here in Texas. The repro parts are usually fiberglass.
Yep, I distinctly remember the rubbery bounce of urethane when new. I've seen replacements made of fiberglass and even papier mache.
Papier Mache' FTW!
And people make fun of Trabants.
/not implying in any way that paper fibre based products are not suitable for automotive applications.
I wonder if the urethane was "Bayflex" plastic like my mid-'80s motorcycle has. Made by Bayer, the aspirin people. Mine's all cracked up and impossible to plastic weld. Touted as 'near indestructible' when it came out. I proved that wrong around 1994.
Just guessing…
Photo 1: Houghton Beach
Photo 2: Northup Way
Photo 3: 112th and NE 12th, Bellevue
Photo 4: Houghton Center
Photo 5: 98th Ave, near Juanita Bay Park
Photo 6: I-405
Did I get any right?
Very close.
1. Waverly Park in Kirkland
2. 116th & 12th westbound
3. 120th & 12th southbound
4. Woodinville town center
5. Avondale Rd. north of 116th
6. 520 eastbound just past the 41st St exit
Oh, well. I moved away in '95, most of the landmarks have changed.
my God! Now we're expected to identify the location of the pictures, not just the subject? This is really going to make my brain hurt.
That colour on the Maximini when on an earlier, related British product the Rover P6, was called Tobacco Leaf. I think it safe to assume that it's not called that now. 🙂
<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zp5hU5oekAI/S4rjEeG2KdI/AAAAAAAAC1c/ZgbwiXwZrBo/s400/rover+p6+3500.jpg"width="600">