Minneapolis Street Sighting: Plymouth Fury III convertible

As most of you know, my Plymouth sightings are far and few between; however, most of Plymouths I do spot are Furys—and in turn, most of those are top-tier Fury IIIs. The basic car was sold primarily to taxi fleets and police agencies, and later would gain notoriety for use as film vehicles that would get blown up or crashed in 1970s and 1980s TV shows, like CHiPs and Dukes of Hazzard.

Stepping up a notch got you such conveniences as power steering, stereos, air conditioning, and on hardtops, a vinyl roof was available.  Since this car is a Fury III, its saddled with air, power steering, and it likely had whitewalls with styled hubcaps when it was new.

Power for these big Mopars came in a choice of engines, ranging from a meager 225 slant-six all the way up to the big-boss 440. Given that this is a top-tier model, I highly doubt this one is burdened by the 225, though I have no idea, since it lacks the corresponding badging.

As with the other Furys, this example is extremely well-kept. Unlike the last Fury III I wrote about, which was a sedan, this one sports a set of modern American-Racing wheels versus the stock hubcaps. On this car, the modern rolling stock works; despite my wanting to see more older cars on original rolling stock, these wheels work. I couldn't imagine this Fury with any other rolling stock.

On the outside, this car is very nice. I am usually not a fan of generic red or burgundy cars, but for some reason (probably the black interior and minimal chrome) the hue suits this car perfectly. The badges are nicely preserved too, and I'm glad the owner didn't go the typical route and shave them.  Based on my top two angles for front-quarter shots, the proportions make it seem like big Mopar is moving forward even when its stationary—and the modern wheels further enhance that illusion.

Inside, this thing is set up for modern life. Yes, the interior is mostly stock, but like a vast majority of classic cars, this one sports a modern head unit which likely has iPod capabilities. Quite useful for going about life now. Other than the headunit, nothing seems out of place in this interior, and I quite like that. My favorite part is the huge speedo; for some reason, it vaguely reminds me of the unit in the W110/W111 Benzes. I wonder if that's no accident?

I am glad I did shoot this Fury; while not my favorite car by a longshot, I am glad I did document it; sure beats shooting another cliched donk or generic beater classic with no hubcaps, no?

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Alfa 1600 Spider

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible

I have always been a sucker for some muscle cars, but like all automotive enthusiasts, I have my favorites; from a young age, the Oldsmobile Cutlass has been a nameplate that I've always loved, no matter what the bodystyle. Even the dowdy Calais from 1985-1991 was sort of a "do want" car for me as a child. There was one particular generation of Cutlass I never cared for, and that was the final generation of the nameplate; in 1997, GM decided to slap the much-heralded name onto a non-descript four-door midsize almost-economy car. But, I can see the logic. It was almost an exact clone of the Chevrolet Malibu. Just as it was 25 years prior to that car's introduction.

 Like its front-wheel-drive counterparts, these 1970s A-bodies could either be had in economical forms (base, six-cylinder, automatics) or muscle car forms (455 cubes and a four-speed sticks), and could be had in a variety of bodystyles (also like the modern front-wheel-drive counterparts). While no real muscle car, the step-down from the 442 was still a nice looking car, and certainly had more attitude than its modern-day counterpart.

 As far as GM's A-bodies goes (and this also holds true for their FWD counterparts) I've liked the Oldsmobiles the best, and this convertible is no exception. I've liked the convertibles more than the fastbacks, but I think I like the notchback best. However, I have not seen a notchback in the flesh, so this one has to do.

I dig the triple white scheme, and the color-keyed rallye wheels are icing on the cake. Oddly enough, the black-on-white collector plates look like they were made with this Cutlass in mind. Paint finish is great, as well as trim, though there are a few things that bug me a bit. First off, this example looks like, while it is pampered, it is also a daily driver. Unfortunately, this Cut has earned a little bit of road rash, but on the plus side, it looks easily fixable

Inside, all was well, too, but there was one glaring problem; the alignment was a bit screwed up as evidenced by the off-canter steering wheel; other than that, the interior was in as nice of shape as the exterior, and its one place I'd gladly plant myself for a nice roadtrip.

I don't see many Cutlasses, but when I do they fall into two categories--half-assed donks, or redneck beaters. I'm glad I was able to shoot a nice one--at nighttime no less. I hope I can find a nicer one now that I know what I'm doing with my camera :)

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Ford Mustang convertible

In the beginning of the 1960s, the idea of an affordable sporty car was mostly a foreign concept, with exceptions made by the Chevrolet Corvette, as well as the AC/Shelby Cobra-- scratch that. Those aren't really what I would call "affordable", and those two certainly weren't practical vehicles by any means.

Whether you are a Mopar nut, a GM guy, or a died-in-the-wool Ford fan, you can agree that 1964 was quite a big year for the automotive landscape in the US; that year marked the launch of three very successful (but very different) performance-oriented vehicles.  On April 17 of that year, Ford launched a vehicle that has not missed a single beat-- the same cannot be said of its current (and longtime) rival, Chevrolet's Camaro.

After going through it's ups and downs, the iconic ponycar is going to be redesigned this upcoming spring to celebrate its 50th birthday; something that cannot be said of its Mopar rivals, nor can be said of its Chevrolet rival either.

I was going to walk readers through a brief history of the Mustang, but I realized that would take quite a while, so I didn't bother.  Instead of shooting a nicer, popularly equipped model, or a model up in ranks like a GT or even a Boss 351 or 429, I chose to spotlight a lower-end Mustang that everyone can enjoy (and also afford.)

At first sight, this particular looked well-looked-after, and it was; no obvious rust or bondo, and no real sign of any sort of damage. Good. As I made my way around the car, my previous assumptions were correct. The paint looked immaculate, but was far from show-quality. Minor ripples and orange peel let me know this Mustang has been repainted at least once-- but the color is a fairly pretty color so I'm not complaining.

The hubcaps were a factory item, too, so no real complaints on that front either, though I would've preferred sportier rolling stock; then again, hubcaps provide appeal to older people--those same people are customers of the new car, too, so I guess hubcaps weren't a bad idea.  I could, however, do without the white-line tires; they just scream "geezer alert", as does the luggage rack festooned to the trunklid.

Inside, this example was clean as a whistle, though I'd be hard-pressed to identify what was stock and what wasn't. I can't really say much in that regard save for that it looked like a well-dressed interior, with the automatic, this pony was ready for cruising on a nice day, as opposed to lighting up a Christmas-tree at the local quarter-mile track.

I was glad I shot this car. Why? Even though first-generation Mustangs are extremely cliche cars by now--especially on the West coast where cars don't rust, I rarely see them outside of dealerships here; I'll take any example I can shoot, even if its a base-model destined to be a subject of Wheeler Dealers.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider