Minneapolis Street Sighting: Buick Skylark GS

Continuing to represent 1990s GM sporty cars that I have a soft spot is this Buick Skylark GS. Back in its heyday, having a Buick GS meant you had a muscle car; as the years wore on, however, GS turned from muscle car to trim package. Certainly not a bad thing by any means, but despite losing the muscle car power that accompanied the nomenclature, I'll give Buick credit for at least staying true to GS' sporty roots. Now, I know the Skylark GS pictured above isn't a sport car, and it doesn't need to be.
The Skylark has always been a bread and butter Buick vehicle, harking back to its 1961 roots, and it even carried the muscle car stigma pretty well. Shifting consumer demand put a stop to the muscle-car that this nameplate had become, and in the 1980s and 1990s the RWD lineup was turned into a FWD compact car that would do battle with the onslaught of Japanese imports. Gone were the big V8s and smoky burnouts; instead, the auto public was greeted with four cylinders and a new kind of smoke; oil leaks and head-gasket failures.
Launched in 1985, the FWD Skylark and its engine choices became the basis for this smallest-Buick range. Propulsion came from series of four cylinders and V6 with the most powerful engine delivering a not-quite-stonking 160 horses; most cars were equipped with either a choice of two four cylinders and a 3300 V6; in 1992, the Skylark was redesigned into what you see above; the pointy nose was phased out in 1996 for a normal looking, non-pointed front end treatment.
The GS consisted of a two-tone paint scheme, bigger alloys, and decent interior trimmings and unlike the GS of years past, this Skylark featured a lackluster 3300 V6 paired to a 3 speed automatic; this combo was good for 160 horses and 195 ft-lbs of torque being sent through the front tires; acceleration was.. well.. it was. Sixty mph came up in 8.7 seconds, and this sporty compact surged on till the electronic limiter kicked it at a hair over 100 miles and hour. But, special paint, the GS was not only; it also featured the first application in a domestic mainstream car of ride control and adjustable chassis tuning: comfort, which made the car ride like a luxury car, auto.. which didn't do anything, and sport, which firmed up the suspension and fooled drivers into think they were driving something more akin to Pontiac's Grand Am GT, a better handling vehicle from what I've read.
It appears GM is finally gaining back their early 1990s magic when it comes to sporty vehicles; but there's nothing that can bring back the sporty aura (get it?) that this member of the Big Three held so strongly in the nineties; this was a good time for sporty domestic cars, and it's often one of the most overlooked periods in the American auto industry.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevrolet Lumina Z34

As readers can sort of gather, I have a rather soft spot for some of GM's most unloved, bashed vehicles; and I'm not really afraid to admit it. I have always liked the first generation Chevrolet Lumina for some reason, and I think it looks great in two door guise; in addition to being a two door, this example is the coveted-in-GM-circles Z34 model. Don't get the idea that it was a corner-carving sports machine, because honestly.. it really isn't. What Chevrolet specialized in in the early 1990s was appearance packages; the Beretta, the Camaro, the Cavalier, the Corsica, the Lumina, and even the Monte Carlo (which replaced the Lumina nameplate in 1995). It seems that this was Chevrolet's peak era for making cars that younger drivers not only wanted, but could afford.
When I was younger, I assumed that the numbers after the Z coordinated with the engine size in liters, like it does with most other alphanumeric car names; after coming to my senses that a Camaro Z-28 did not have a 2.8L V6, I proved myself wrong. Ironically, these did have the 3.4 DOHC in them, as did the Monte Carlo Z34s that replaced them. The same formula cannot be applied (obviously) to the other Chevrolet "Z" cars, thankfully. Doesn't mean I dismiss the other Zs, though, because I quite like this lineup of reasonably attractive and sporty cars.
Unfortunately, this Z34 is starting to succumb to the elements; yes, the paint is all there, and despite the obligatory GM rust, none of the paint is actually gone; it's just rusted through. Likewise, the trim is pretty much intact, too.. The ground-effects spoiler, and louvers are in great shape, should the rest of the car cave completely into its cancer that's slowly killing it right now. Overall, this is about the shape I expect a 1990s GM car to be in these days; even though the owner has tried to baby it to the best of his ability, it appears mother nature wants him to do otherwise. And that's no fun, because these cars were fairly rare in their day, and ever more-so now.
I'm glad I shot this when I did; even though these pictures aren't that old, it now has slightly more rust, and a huge dent on the driver's side door, possibly from coming in contact with a larger vehicle. I feel bad for this car, and the W Body geek in me wants to save it; hell, as a car enthusiast I want to save it.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Pontiac G8 GT

In the early to late 2000s, GM was in the process of yet again trying to "redefine" Pontiac; gone were the atrocious bodycladded cars that the marked the turn of the 21st century. Cars like the Grand Am, and Grand Prix GTP, the Montana minivan, and then finally, the unloved (but quite practical) Aztek crossover utility were decent vehicles in their own right, but like most vehicles initially conceived in the late 1990s, styling didn't quite stand the test of time. In 2007, GMs design team took a drastic turn; instead of vehicles whose exteriors were filled to the brim with all sorts of cladding and scoops and multi-tone paintjobs, GM adopted a cleaner, more flush way of doing things; the first example of this was the 2007 Silverado/Sierra, and then its SUV counterparts; later the '08 Malibu would debut, alongside the range of Solstice and Sky roadsters. So where does that leave the Pontiac G8?
Unfortunately, its dead, along with the rest of the Pontiac brand, and accompanying Saturn. Just as the two brands were starting to turn around, too. Due to "poor sales" both branded shuttered at the end of 2009, after a brief, but successful turnaround.
While analysts and marketing execs would say that the two brands needed to be shut down save money, I disagree. What did them in (most notably Pontiac) was the lack of serious advertising; I mean, when the G8 was in production, how often was it advertised? I can distinctly remember hurriedly bolting into a Pontiac dealer in summer 2008, and asking about the new G8. Instead of enthusiasm, rather, I was met with blank stares across the board; these Pontiac dealership employees didn't even know their own product very well-- and that's expected to sell cars? With all this misadvertisement, one would expect the turnout of new Pontiacs to owners would be pretty slim, and that seems to be the case. I know G8s are supposed to be a niche automobile, but I see far more Solstices than G8s, and Solstices were generally more expensive if you add in the "adjusted" dealer markup
I would feel a little bit.. odd..lambasting the condition, because honestly this a "used car" that attracts a special following-- for a multitude of reasons: it's big and fast, it's RWD and American, and it just plain looks scores cooler than the only other RWD American sedan duo on sale currently-- the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. Granted, the new 300 Series impresses me still, but those weren't on sale when this was shot; we still had the quite bland first generation roaming the streets.
I loved these cars when they first came out, and I still do. Unlike many recent or current GM products, the Pontiac G8 is sure to be a serious investment later on down the road; I can see even the base V6 models fetching serious coin, especially given that the G8 had an unreasonably short lifespan. I won't even fathom how much cash a low mile GXP could bring; to be frank, I can only remember one on public roads, and that one has been hacksawed into a half-Holden, half-Vauxhall mashup. Shame really, because these rare birds certainly deserve to be treated better.

Colin's Toybox: Hot Wheels Ferrari 512S

I've loved Hot Wheels as long as I can remember, and I've loved Ferraris as long as I can remember as well. In the later part of of the 2000s, Hot Wheels slowly began a turnaround in producing decent replicas of enthusiast cars to boost collector appeal; it worked initially, but then got rather old, with the cliche car choices and whatnot. These Ferraris kinda got my on the small scale bug that kept me going till I discovered I was running out of room.
Up close, this pair represents Hot Wheels detailing in its finest for a mainline car; no gaudy tampos, no off-color tint, and most importantly, the shape is not exaggerated in any way, shape, or form; a nice effort if I say so myself. But I'm biased-- I grew up on Hot Wheels Ferraris; I had several red F40s and obvious red Testarossas as well, and I also acquired several versions of the the common yellow Ferrari 250 Testarossa too. But I was a boy then; I didn't know much about the Ferrari heritage, nor did I care-- I just thought they looked cool. As I got older, I began to ride magazines such as Octane, Thoroughbreds and Classics, Evo, Car and Top Gear, and I got exposed to historic motorsports, and started learning about what real racing was. I developed a love for 1960s and 1970s race cars, and began to research and find out more about these cars. That's where the 512 comes in.
Children of the 1960s had Lesney products, and for the most part, children of the 1980s had Matchbox cars and Hot Wheels cars; children of the 2000s have Jada's DUB series, and a plethora of fantasy cars that do nothing for car enthusiasts; cars like the this classic Ferrari are not quite the dime-a-dozen Target find they once were. Instead, walking into Target brings rows upon rows of bland Camaros and no-name First Editions that will surely go unremembered years from now; to me, this pairing of vintage Ferraris represents a slow come back for Hot Wheels-- and one that's surely deserved and welcomed by car enthusiasts like me.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Morgan

Rounding out my week is this awesome Morgan; to be quite frank, I first guessed this as an MG or something of that nature; this comes from my archives, from a time when I barely fathomed that I would be able to see a Morgan in the wild, let alone see one so close to home. Back in the early days of shooting, I knew practically nothing about foreign cars; I focused on "oooh that's awesome" versus "man.. that's sweet. great photo material right here" and as such, my pictures were emphasizing quantity over quality. Lots and lots of pictures, yes, but they were terrible pictures. I used to take maybe... 4 or 5 pictures per car, and come home with 10 or 20 cars. And this exquisite little Morgan is proof; I knew nothing about framing a good picture, I cared extremely little about even getting the whole car in the frame, and I took all of about three minutes to shoot this thing.
When I shot this, I was like "whoa" and did a double take and damn near crashed my bike; I quickly stopped, hopped off, and did an extremely quick shoot. I kind of regret posting these haphazard pictures, especially since now this little guy is a daily sighting here, even in the winter. But hey; it's proof that even when I knew jack shit about classic British cars, I knew a good spot when it appeared in front of my eyes.
For those who don't know what makes the Morgan special.. it's got a wood frame, so if termites existed in Minnesota, this thing would likely be toast by now:P. Wait, no, it would have to rust first, exposing the wood frame. Clearly, this example isn't in too bad of shape, and that's evident by its daily-driver status. Yes, a Morgan of any sort is a fairly rare bird, especially in the US, but there's no better way to show a sports car you love than to drive it. And that the owner does; yes, it's earned its share of Minneapolis dirt, and it's no doubt been the cause of many a yuppy honking in a traffic jam, but it's clear the owner babies his Moggy. To be honest, I kind of wish I knew more about it when I shot these, instead of merely grabbing my cheapass camera and clicking away; but hey, it was a learning experience for me--and seeing this British hero on a daily basis makes that learning experience all the worthwhile. I only hope I can see more like this, now that I know what they are.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Austin Healey 3000 MK III

Here's another one from the archives; this time, it's another Austin Healey. Can you tell I absolutely adore these things? There's just something bout a truck.. scratch that.. I hate that song.. anyway.. There's something about a little British sports car that automatically captures my attention, and quickly draws me away from whatever I'm presently doing, and beckons me to take a closer look. And these blue and white two-tone 3000 MK III is no different; sure I've shot a gold one, a green and white two-tone, and a red one among others, but these cars never cease to amaze me. I put them in the same category of the Triumph TR250/3/4/5/6 as far as timeless British designs go.
Certainly, the Austin Healey might be cliche among car fans for being a typical "British classic", but I quite like them; I certainly don't see enough, so I can't go wrong there. Unfortunately, most of the ones I do see are near Quality Coaches, which specializes in repair and restoration of predominantly British cars, and this example is no different. When I shot this, it was a daily fixture of Quality Coaches in the summer of 2009 and 2010; as the years progressed, I began to see this example less and less, and I haven't seen it for at least a year or more. I hope nothing bad happened to it.
Like most Quality Coach vehicles, this little Brit looked amazing from a distance-- shiny paint, excellent chrome, and above-average trim. The paint color combination is on point, too. Really, it's hard to screw up a two-tone paint scheme something as much of a staple as an Healey. Up close, this thing still was a treat to the eyes-- no unexpected wear or tear. Just my kind of car!
I will always love these little British cars, and this blue and white Austin Healey 3000 is a stunning example of why I do so love these little guys. Keep driving, and happy motoring!