Minneapolis Street Sighting: Toyota Paseo

Toyota had a lot going for it in the early 1990s; nice-looking (if not plainly styled) cars and trucks, no cluttery design cues that didn't fit, and.. they made sporty-ish cars. With the Celica and MR2 being mostly known, and the Paseo being quite an underdog--or a pretender if you will, I would say it was the equivalent of today's Scion tC. Despite Toyota's claim (and Scion's for that matter) that the car was a proper sports coupe, it wasn't.

 Equipped with a 1.5L four cylinder churning out a hundred stamping horses, the two-door Toyota was far from fast. Based on the Tercel, the Paseo was more of a sporty-looking car for people who didn't have Celica  (or Supra) money (hey, that resembles the Scion tC being based on the Corolla--for people who can't have an FR-S).   Exterior styling was decent; it wasn't amazingly good-looking, but it wasn't ugly either. Again, this also applies to the Scion tC. Inside, the appointments were a little bit better than bare, and there was no way to change that--unless you went to JC Whitney and ordered "chrome-look" vents and switch-panels).

Paseos here fall into two distinct categories--the sort-of-preserved, meaning no body damage, but a wee bit of rust and other minor blemishes, and totally riced out beaters that belong at U-Pull-R-Parts; this example is a good representation of the former. While it does look "nice" from across the street, it is obvious there is wear and tear.

Aside from the minor rust (and to be honest, what 20 year old Minnesota doesn't have any), the bodywork seems to be in great shape--especially for a vehicle that is viewed as an economy car rather than a potential collector's item. All the trim is present, and even the spoiler hasn't broken yet. The only issues I have with this example are the piss-poor fading on the hubcaps--and really, that's about it.

I've did "one-shot-wonders" of Paseos in the past, but they're getting thin out here. I wonder if I should start shooting more and more decent examples. I had fun shooting this one, even if I was a bit perturbed by the college students questioning what I was doing.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Dodge Colt

Monday, I started Dodge week with a Colt, so I figure its best to end Dodge week with one, too. Like one from the early 1980s, this car, too is a Mitsubishi in disguise; while it says Dodge and even has the funky Ramhead logo, it clearly is a Mitsubishi Mirage in (not quite convincing) drag. Equipped with a choice of two equally underpowered engines, these "new" Colts were not quite the "fun" car the first 1980s version turned out to be. The engine of choice was a meager 1.5L four with all of 92 horses. Honestly, that probably wasn't so bad given the fact those most economy prod didn't produce over a hundred horses.








This car was kind of a "well, it's not rust-free, at least" shoot for me. I never really liked these as a child, and I still don't. What honestly made me shoot this was the rarity factory. Obviously, a Dodge Colt of this generation is no collector car, nor does it retain any sort of enthusiast following. But--like it's much earlier predecessor, these things are quite hard to spot. I honestly can't remember the last one I saw.
For a forgotten half-import, this little coupe has been preserved quite well. I used to see these infrequently when new, and some twenty years later, this one's still kicking. I have to say, someone did a rather good job of keeping the tinworm away from this one. Yes, it has a little rust spot on the passenger door, but I suppose that's inevitable for a car of this age and purpose.
Rarely do I see any Colt, much less a base model with no frills whatsoever. It appears that under the cheap hubcaps, the base steel (aluminum?) wheels still lurk. I'd chuck these hubbies in a minute and expose the original rolling stock. This is no special breed of performance car, but I do think it needs to be kept original, if only for the sake of not having many other survivors.
The Dodge Colts marks the true end of badge-engineered Chryslerbishis, and it leaves with a bittersweet feeling. I know neither Chrysler nor Mitsubishi made stellar cars in the 1990s, but together, the joint venture spawned quite a few interesting vehicles. To many, the Colt does not make that list, but to me it does.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile Delta 88

Please excuse the lousy picture quality, and lighting; this is another vehicle from my "quantity > quality" days. Spotted probably in winter of 2008 or early 2009, this particular Olds used to be a quite a staple near MCTC. Okay, so it probably wasn't all that special, honestly. I did see it daily (or at least whenever I had class), so I figured I'd come to campus early and shoot it. Good thing I did, because it hasn't been spotted since the winter I took these photos.
As one can tell from the "Baby on Board" sticker in the rearmost glass, this old boat was likely someone's daily driver. While it isn't the best choice as far as gas mileage goes, just a few years ago, older vehicles were just cheap transport. Now, though, this car would be prime "donk ryder" fodder; it's got RWD, and it's a "big body." Just they combination that they lust after; I don't think they'd be wetting themselves over this one, though.
While the paint was pretty good, especially for a vehicle of this vintage, it definitely showed obvious signs of "daily driver syndrome." Rust didn't hide itself, leading me to believe this vehicle did double duty as a daily driver and a winter beater. Honestly, to most people, that's all an older car ever was supposed to be.
And here's why it saddens me. Most cars don't live past the daily driver stage; I do realize that's normal, but as these older cars die and most modern cars become "older", I will have lost interest in shooting. Why? Because most cars most after 1990 don't really excite the way cars like this do. Yes, I know that an Oldsmobile Delta 88 (especially this generation) will never be looked upon as truly wonderful collector car, but that's why it interested me enough to shoot it. It just isn't a car one sees everyday.