By Hooniverse
Let me preface this by saying I had an OUTSTANDING weekend. I rented a car and drove to central Utah for a funeral. I know what you are thinkin “but Schmo, how can a funeral lead to a great weekend?” Well the service was a wonderful tribute to a wonderful lady who spent her 90+ years doing nothing but giving to others and I am glad to have attended. Aside from that, I got to spend time with my wonderful daughter, my awesome ex-inlaws, and I saw a lot of really cool stuff and had my camera on hand to document.
Ok, well I don’t have a lot to share with you but what I do have makes for good conversation. First, let us start out with a (most likely) 68 Beetle. There really is nothing special about it. It’s missing an engine and it has a goofy paint job but seeing it buried in the snow bank makes for a neat picture. Having spent a fair amount of time in this little town of about 200 people, I can safely say that old beetles and vee-dubs are fairly popular. In fact, the VW-people ratio is about 1-40 and this isn’t even hippie town.
Next up we have a nice vintage, still-in-service jeep landcruiser uh, something. Ooh! It’s an old Landrover! Wait that’s not right either. To be fair, I know what it is but I cannot for the life of me pin down the year. I know which half of which decade but the changes during that time frame are rather ambiguous. I’m willing to bet that someone nails the year/make/model by the fifth comment. What say you commentariate? And super-extra-bonus points if you can give the year/make/model of the house. Mid-westerners are immediately disqualified.
Lastly, the following pictures are from a side trip I took on the way back. A side trip that made paying for the rental car and the hotel room 100% worth it. You will see something thats pretty rare stateside and something that is a work in progress. There was one other vehicle on site that will get it’s own write-up in the next day or so (yeah, I know I am a tease and I’m ok with that.)
I hope everyone else had a great weekend also!
Antti Kautonen 
Mercedes Lilienthal 
Joel Strickland
Nice. I also took a (much shorter) road trip through the hill country of Texas. We happened across this weird shop that sold lawn stuff (i.e. turtles made of concrete with seashells on the backs, chimineas, rockers, benches, etc.) on one side, and the other had a dozen cars that were for sale. Now, these cars were something special. Most of the vehicles were Edsels. There was a pink Caddy that piqued my interest. Apparently, you make bids on these cars under this shed, and, after some amount of time, they let you know if you won the car. It got me thinking that I need to revisit my business plans…
Nissan Patrol.
Yep, it only took 4 comments. Mid-late 1960s: http://z.about.com/d/autorepair/1/0/J/c/1967_patr…
Well spotted.
Now – how and why is it there? They were never sold USDM, I believe?
For the record I want this one – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_Safari_Y…
http://www.terra2imports.ca/nissan/safari/ – Under 10k to Canada! Dammit I wish I needed one.
Apparently they were sold in the US. Roy Rogers was the spokesman.
Awesome.
They were apparently sold in 1969 in the states. What year vehicle was actually sold IN 1969 is up for some debate.
Mr. Schmo…. I know it's not as exciting as the other cars in the article, but after reading the first line, I couldn't help but think to myself the whole time I was reading the article…. "what did he rent?"
I think I found the answer in the tags, with a reference to a member of the Cervidae family, and if that's correct, you have my sympathy, but only having ridden in one around a parking lot, I'm curious what you thought about that too.
Getting the rental was a last minute decision on a Friday and the Caliber was the only vehicle they had available. I can't say I hate the thing like everyone else does, but I don't care for it either. It was decent on gas and quiet enough going 95 down the freeway. It got me from point A to B and back. My biggest complaints were utter lack of options and terrible visibility.
thanks!
nissan patrol SWB G60 – i have a MWB here at home
with the jap copy blue flame chevy six in all its metric glory
Is that why people sometimes say that the motor in a skyline is a "chevy" motor. Was it an evolution of the chevrolet design they used in the skylines?
Lovely country. I think that's the Wasatch Plateau, which features the Skyline Drive, where you can drive for miles through the aspen and camp at 10,000 feet in nice green alpine meadows. It's a great place to go.
Apologies for the goofy formatting. We have been having "technical difficulties" all morning and it has nothing to do with the mass quantities of brefass scotch I consumed by ten a.m.
A purple Cinquecento? I smile and grimace at the same time.
I hope that the pun was intended. Although I'm not sure if a 500 is fat enough to pass itself off as Grimace.
With a top speed of, what, 25 mph (?), it's no wonder it's taken him 30 years to rack up 39,000 miles on the Cinquecento.