Minneapolis Street Sighting: Saab 900

Saab has always been one of those brands that's overlooked in the car community; either people know about them, and are obsessed with them, or people have no clue what they are. When I was very young, I thought Saabs were supposed to be exotic, since in Kansas Saabs were not all that common. I used to think same of Volvos, too, but as a kid, I thought the Saabs always looked "sportier" if you will.

Some of my friends in the UK, or even on the West Coast of the United States have asked why I care about "old Saabs"; I am a guy from the mid-west--specifically Kansas, where everything that isn't a mainstream car brand (luxury or not) goes virtually unnoticed.  I did see these 900s from time to time, but common they were not. Even the newer ones are less so.  Oddly enough, the latest-gen 9-5s are starting to become common-- but this generation is still about as rare as a 1990 Honda Civic anything here. And for that reason alone, I shot--not to mention I thought it was a turbo at first glance. But I was wrong, sadly; it's just a "normal" 900 in a fairly decent color scheme.

I still like this; I've always been a fan of off-color car, particularly with trim the same color as the body; this Saab fits that bill quite nicely. Unfortunately, this examples from pretty bad paint bake, most notably on the rearmost part of the vehicle. While the rest of the 900's brown paint looks great--especially for a Minnesota car, the rear quarters could definitely use some help. With the exception of this odd discrepancy, the rest of the car looks great!

The stock plain white wheels are no longer here, either (thank God!), and have been replaced with prettier rolling stock. Minilite-style wheels are the equivalent of American Racing Torq Thrust wheels for foreign cars (and some American cars), and shown here in bronze, they look fantastic. I've never seen this combination before, but it certainly looks the business.

Inside, the old Saab looks great as well; I can't remember exact details of it, but I remember it looks nice, especially for a 900; it seems that almost all of the older Saabs I see have terrible interiors--but it appears that this one bucks the trend.

I know this isn't a rare Saab, and it isn't in the best condition, but to me, it's still worthy of photos. I like this example, and I'm going to pay more attention to these cars from now on.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Toyota Corolla wagon

The Toyota Corolla (and its Camry sibling) have always been known as boring cars among car-folk, but that's mainly the newer ones with the whole beige stigma. However, despite being a boring, bland car, certain versions of Toyota's long-lasting subcompact-turned-compact have garnered a "cool" factor lately. Now, obviously, if someone puts together "Corolla" and "cool", chances are they're blabbering on and on about the AE86; nothing wrong with that, but the AE86 isn't the only cool Corolla around.

Chances are, if you grew up in the early 1980s, you'd think differently; I grew up in the 1990s, and even then, these weren't that common. I don't remember seeing these very much in my childhood, but I assume that they were sold in Lawrence, but probably in small numbers; I've seen more sedans than wagons--by a longshot. 

In 1985, the Corolla went front-wheel-drive, and aside from the AE86 coupes and hatchbacks, the coolness all but disappeared; it was almost like Toyota decided to take the fun out of driving for their best-selling car--and it all went downhill from there. One by one, Toyotas got lamer and lamer as the sporty models started disappearing for good. Thankfully Toyota isn't Honda, as I would probably be sued right about now. 

 As I stated above, I do quite like these; I've loved wagons for the longest time, too, and I have a soft spot for vintage Toyotas. Yes, I can call this "vintage", since it is over thirty years old now.  Now, obviously, this is a far cry from today's Corolla, and for good reason; for one, Toyota actually built sturdy cars back in the early 1980s; you'd think that old 'yotas would rust or at least develop surface rust, but honestly, I haven't seen any of these here with iffy cancer--they're either mint or close to it, or they're a lost cause. This one was pretty damn mint, and with a couple hours of claybarring, this probably could pass as  "used car" circa 1986.

I was mostly impressed--not only by the awesome condition, but by how original it was, right down to the dealer plaque on the liftgate; if this is the same "Freeway" that sells Fords now, they've done business for over thirty year--which honestly is quite a feat in the ever-changing dealership
 landscape.  I think this car could go on to be one of the nicest classic Toyotas in Minnesota--even though this obviously wasn't intended as a sports car, it's been well kept. And for that alone, I think this is probably one of the coolest Japanese car I've shot.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Fiat X/19 five speed

I don't know whether this counts as cheating or not, but I will be sporadically posting cars from a friend's collection here on The Automotive Way. He has decided not to disclose his age, nor how long he's been into the hobby, or what he does for a living, but his collection of cars is immense, ranging from the eclectic to the downright sublime. All of his cars are foreign,and a vast majority of them are Italian, and fall under one major automotive group, with the exception of a scant few.

What you see here is what he calls a "summer toy"; it's a 1979 Fiat X1/9 by Bertone, and its not the first one of the breed he's owned--and it certainly isn't his first Fiat. Fiats from this era are finicky cars--either they run or they don't. But that's what makes the car hobby fun for my friend; while other people spend the winter snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, or just being in the snow, my friend spends his winters looking for project cars that he can get running over the winter; over a typical winter, his collection grows by four or five cars. Since I've known him, he's gained about ten vehicles that he's kept.

Onto the car, though, it was found via craigslist, and it was acquired for a measly $400 thanks to some redneck who simply wanted it gone. It ran, and drove fine, it wasn't wanted on the property any longer. How cool is that? I wish I could score a running and driving car for that little! Damn.

In these pictures, the paint appears to be flat, but with an afternoon with clay, this things shines right up. The decals are cracking a little bit, but that's to be expected in a car this old. The wheels, the trim, everything is in good order, save for a taillight lense. Other than that, this little X1/9 is pretty awesome. I've ridden in it a few times, and sitting so low, you feel like you're going twice as fast as what you actually are. Even though the power these put out is relatively lame by today's standards, these aren't bad cars. I just wish rust wouldn't have eaten so many of them.

I obviously had fun shooting this car, and I can't wait to feature more of this collection!

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce 2.0 Injection

When I go out shooting, I tend to look for cars and trucks that aren't from the US; Italian cars have always tickled my fancy, but I realize that in the Midwest, finding Ferraris, and Lamborghinis--much less Lancias, is a difficult task to undertake--so I "settle" for Alfa Romeos. Over the years, I have come to adore the early Spiders like a child adores his or her parents; unfortunately, the newer cars lost some of the simplicity that made the early cars so endearing. Instead of slim chrome bumpers, and neat like accents here and there, the Alfa Romeos of the 1980s were slathered with black plastic that only GM could be fond of; they went from being slick little sportsters to ugly-bumpered, once-awesome roadsters. I guess that's what happens when the US interferes with the design of imported cars.

In 1995, Alfa Romeo stoppped US sales, and their last hurrah in the US were honestly some of the ugliest old-body Spiders to be offered; painted in cliche colors, all one color with no chrome at all, and ugly wheels, these Spiders best represent everything wrong with Alfa's last US dealer network. Hopefully, the brand will come back (and Fiat keeps promising so), and with it, a new Spider.

I usually appreciate Spiders in colors other than red--and I tried to appreciate this one the best I could; there's just too much black plastic for my liking. In addition to that, the main color is just...blah. I don't like it, nor do I absolutely hate it, either. It seems to be more of a Chrysler minivan color than a 1980s Alfa Romeo paint hue; I suppose it would look good on say, an Arna or Milano or something, but on the Spider, it looks very unsporty.

On the plus side, this example seemed to be free of rust, and it didn't possess the wide array of dents and dings that most cars of this vintage possess, so that's a plus. Honestly, aside from the color, this little convertible was pretty nice. I wouldn't sport it based on color alone, but then again, I prefer the older cars anyway. I still had fun shooting this one, and I wouldn't really turn it down if it was given to me, but this era isn't my favorite.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile 98 Regency Diesel

With all the talk lately about how Oldsmobiles are the most common make for older cars here, I figured I should post one soon; so here it is. I have a thing for "rare" cars, and then there's rare. Diesel technology in the late 1970s and early 1980s was nowhere near what it is today--but that didn't stop GM from trying it out. Rather than spend money making a few decent smaller cars, the firm decided it would be an awesome idea to have its bigger cars powered by a diesel--which wasn't a bad idea in itself; rather, the execution was piss pood, and as a result, not only was fuel economy rather dismal, performance was.. somehow even less exciting than the petrol versions of the said car. Slow, wallowy, and soft-riding, complete with the clatter of a 1960s-era city bust at stoplights.

In an era where Oldsmobiles were presented as luxury cars without the luxury price-tag, offering a diesel probably wasn't the best idea.  And both car magazines and the buying public agreed; very few diesel GMs were sold new, and even less remain today. I'm not even sure if this one is still powered by a diesel, let alone the standard 305 diesel.

In any event, this is a fairly boring car that was kept in nice-enough shape to warrant attention; and because I did pay attention, I found a pretty rare beast--even by Oldsmobile standards.

 As I said above, this 98 is a fairly boring car; I still see these from time-to-time in less than stellar condition; I took a close peek at this one since it was the most interesting car on the block, and I'm glad I did.  The paint was immaculate, with absolutely no indication of rust or rot anywhere--a sure sign that this thing has been babied from day one.

The only thing that leads me to believe this Regency may not be stock still is the dual exhaust; although the pipes appear to stock size, I don't know whether dual exhaust was an option on the diesels; if this thing was still a diesel, it'd be one rare piece. Even if the diesel did get chucked in favor of a petrol engine, this thing is still a nice car.

I normally don't give these Oldsmobiles a second glance, but for some reason, my gut told me to shoot this--and I'm glad I did; I haven't seen a diesel GM car since.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevrolet El Camino "SS"

Throughout my ongoing tenure of shooting and blogging about cars and trucks, there are those vehicles which I probably shouldn't admit to liking, but I like anyway; of those on my (extensively long), one of them seems like an almost common fixture in the midwest--the Chevrolet El Camino. First introduced in 1959, the El Camino would go on to skip a few model years, then return for the 1964 model year. Oddly enough, the Ford competition didn't skip a year at all between 1957 and 1979. However, the El Camino was in production from 1964 to 1988, so it was in production longer than its competition. While I don't like all generations of the Ranchero, I do like every iteration of Chevrolet's trucklet.

Perhaps my favorite was the last-of-the-breed. Based on the 1978 Malibu sedan, this last-generation trucklet ran basically unchanged for the last ten years of its life.  Available with a choice of V6 and V8 power, there was one for everyone--and if you got tired of the factory powerplant, any number of GM powertrains bolted in without too much hassle.  I wonder why these aren't as common in the pro-touring hobby as their car counterparts? I like them, and I think these look great when done the right way. However,this example could use a few nips and tucks here and there. I'll explain below.

First things first, this isn't an SS model to begin with; aside from that gripe, this thing is generally pretty clean. I'm not a fan of the relocation of the license plate, nor am I fan of that damn grille, but as a whole, this truck is clean. The paint is relatively nice, although it does have orange peel on the doors and fenders. I'd get it resprayed in black, and get a nicer (and probably stock-fit) grille, and possibly a small cowl hood.

The wheels could be better, too, but they're not too bad. I would've chosen some Budniks or something; these look.. blah. I am thankful that the rear tires are decently sized, and not dragster width like many other Elcos are here. I'd also add traction bars below the rear suspension, and add anti-sway bars as well.

The owner said this was powered by a 350. Nice, but a tad lame; I'd go bigger--and forced induction. I think this thing would be awesome with a turbo big block smaller than 400 cubes. Turbo 383 maybe? I'd want it to haul ass (who wouldn't?) but I'd want it sound a little better than a generic V8 though.

There; now that I've stated all the things I'd change, I just gave readers an idea of my perfect El Camino. Anyone wanna help me build it?