Minneapolis Street Sighting: Aston Martin V8 Vantage S

I'll be honest--as a car spotter, most modern cars leave me with shivers, and not in a good way. They're boring, either mind-numbingly fast, or just painfully slow. All electronic driver's aids, and wretched company fascias let casual pedestrians know what company took your money and in return gave you a soulless appliance that just happens to haul ass, and drink gas. The art of building cars is largely left to big-bucks supercars, and grand tourers, but even those cars are largely lacking in soul, in driver involvement, and most of all, a glorious engine note.
Aston Martin has not forgotten this; sure, they build the Rapide--which is hideous, but every premium brand is building a four-door "coupe", so why not? It allows Aston more business, and gives them more money to focus on building the cars Aston likes.
In the Aston stable, there are quite a number of cars, but this "entry level" Aston is what I will focus on today. Launched in 2005,the Vantage was initially offered in V8 trim. A short while later, a convertible was offered as well, called the Volante (Aston speak for roadster). In model year 2008, a much faster, much quicker V12 Vantage joining the ranking of the model range, and sent the V8 Vantage S into the middle of the Vantage totem pole. Fear not, though, the Aston V8 Vantage S is far from just a pretty face.
With 430 horses on tap, and a hair over 360 ft/lbs, Aston's middle-ground supercar can run with the best from America and Germany. Unlike its American and German competition, the Aston V8 Vantage doesn't quite have the wild model range the Corvette and 911 do. But that's not the point. Astons are fairly rare, and each one is special. Chances are, you won't see multiple Astons in the same day on the same block.









With cars this new, I really can't "rate" the condition, nor can I talk about blemishes in the paintwork. What I can judge is the paint color; here, the gray looks absolutely fantastic. Understated is what works best for these British brutes; having something like an Aston in a bright, brash color would be an insult. Yes, these cars do make a statement, but unlike Porsches, Astons need not be flamboyant. The exhaust snarl speaks for itself.
While I despise the wheels on the V8 Vantage, and the DB9, I adore the rolling stock on this Vantage S; brutish, without being hideous. Good sense of porportion, mixed with a slightly classier 5 spoke design--and they don't look generic, nor do they pass for aftermarket cheapies. Aston has perfected the GT car, from engine and gearbox, right down to the massive rolling stock. A 911 this isn't; it's much more special.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevrolet Impala

There's really not a more common vehicle here in the Twin Cities than Chevrolet's venerable Impala nameplate; it's a vehicle that's been used as a police car, a taxi, a beater, and now that they're reaching collector status, the Impala nameplate is becoming (or has become) a hit with other motoring crowds. The donk guys like them, because well, the name has instant street cred, the lowrider guys like em too- for the same reason. But it's quite often to find examples that have been tastefully modified, no matter what genre that modifications fall under.
Spotting a custom Impala isn't difficult--I know this; but spotting and shooting the right one can be. In a metropolitan area whose streets are riddled with loose car parts, potholes, bikers, and salt, many classic vehicles eventually succumb to damage--either from everyday driving, or as the result of motorists--or bus drivers who are simply to ignorant to keep an eye on their surroundings.
Not many have stood out over the years, but there are certain years that keep sticking out and beg me to find more examples; like 1958, 1961, the 1962s are the last year of Chevrolets that I dug almost the entire sedan and two door range. Fortunately, these aren't homie favorites yet, so finding clean ones should be easy. Or should it?











I've been car-stalking this clean '62 four door for quite a while now. When I first saw it, it was almost all stock, save for the club sticker. Still is, save for a nice lowering job. Unlike most "club" cars, this Impala hasn't been hacked into a relic of its former self. Wearing a period color, and sporting stock wheels and hubcaps, this classic four door appears that it could've been customized when it was brand new. I'm sure it probably has an airbag suspension, but who cares? It's clean, it looks very nice for what it is, and it doesn't look like a clone of every other customized Impala, four door or not.
I give the owner kudos for sticking to a basic, yet classy look; if this Impala had any other wheels, I'd simply pass it by. Same thing with the color; the brown really sets it off. I don't see many brown cars, and if this were any other color, I'd pass it by. It's not often that I shoot Impala four doors (because honestly they're either beaters, or donks), but it takes the right car to get me to notice. I'd say the owner of this clean '62 definitely made me notice-for the better.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile Cutlass F-85

Here in the Midwest, Oldsmobiles tend to be somewhat common; I've seen a boatload of models spanning the brand's extensive history, but even so, a few models have escaped me until recently. The Cutlass moniker has been used on a vast array of drive configurations
and bodystyles; but what some Oldsmobile enthusiasts may not know, is that the Cutlass didn't always start out as a "economy luxury car.
The F-85 was supposedly labeled as a "sporty variant", but with a meager 215 cube V8, it was anything but. According to Car Life magazine, 60 miles per hour came in a rather bleak 14.5 seconds, and it tripped the quarter mile in just under 22 secods. Hardly performance by anyone's standards. As luck would have it, the F-85 moniker was dropped after the 1964 model year due to faltering sales.
As the years went by, the Cutlass got bigger, and bigger, and the absence of a smaller Oldsmobile Cutlass was quite evident. With the rise of fuel-conscious cars appearing in the 1980s, GM saw room to add what would become one of the most widely known (and successful) addition to the Cutlass lineup--the front-wheel-drive Ciera. Produced from 1982-1996, this bread and butter medium-compact made up the bulk of Oldsmobile sales during its entire production run; it would also represent the first "little" Cutlass in about 20 years since F-85 ceased production.










As readers can plainly see, this example wears quite the patina; rust and faded paint adhere to this vehicle like a fruit fly does a restaurant wall. Although most "patina'd" cars are quite deliberate, this alley-parked F-85 doesn't appear to be an act of deliberate "weathering". Rather, it looks as if it was freshly pulled from an outdoor resting spot.
The paint appears mostly solid, and the surface rust appears relatively minor; the trim, too, is in fairly good shape considering its age. I doubt trim pieces for a first-generation Cutlass of any sort are very easy to find. All the glassware (including the headlights and taillights) are in impeccable shape and free of any sort of damage. As far as I'm concerned, this particular car would be a great restoration candidate; no immediate damage, rust isn't overly ruining the metalwork, and its complete enough that restoration shouldn't be too difficult.
I've never seen one of this generation till now, and I think it needs to be saved. Even though the 1968-1972 cars are more common, and the 1978-1988 cars catching up quickly, there's still room in the Oldsmobile hobby for a few of these; I just wish more people would think of saving these.