Minneapolis Street Sightings: International Loadstar 1600

Whoa. It's not very often I spot an old bus, much less one of this vintage. While it looks sweet from afar, up close tells a very different story. The green paint, while a nice patina, is not the original color; it appears it was yellow as were all other school buses were at the time, and still are. I've never seen the inside of this thing, but I am curious as to what it holds. It's been sitting in this spot for about a year now, and I've never seen it move. I'm hoping it doesn't end up sitting in its current parking space and rotting. As I am always on the hunt for unusual vehicles, this has been my best find in terms of bizarre, but I dig it. Very much so.

Minneapolis Street Sightings: Ford LTD

First off, I love big Fords, and this is no exception. While the later model LTDs are a relatively common sight, the older ones are not so much anymore. I was even more amazed at the condition of this example; no holes, no dents, no surface rust. It even had the hubcaps still on it, which was pretty sweet. Most cars of this vintage I see either have long lost their hubcaps or have crappy chrome wheels more fit to a candy painted Tahoe on them. Pretty nice, I have to say. What engine this one has is unknown, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an engine with more than 400 cubes under the hood. 460 perhaps? Though not a huge powerhouse stock, these things were good enough for cops and robbers alike in their day. Unfortunately, LTDs are favorites of demo-derbiers and donk riders as well, and they, too tend to hunt for rust free editions. Sad, really, because cars of this vintage are getting harder and harder to find as time passes. I'd love to find one someday and use it as a daily driver. I'm not even that picky about the color. I just want one. Stat!

Minneapolis Street Sightings: Ford F-250

Headed down what seemed a deserted alleyway in a bad part of Minneapolis, I noticed an older pickup. As I got closer, I realized it wasn't any old pickup, it was a vintage Ford. I've seen unibodies, F-1s, F-100s, Rangers, and some old Broncos here and there, but I've honestly never seen one of this vintage I don't think. This example was really sweet. It had a workhorse patina that came off exceedingly well; it's not trying to be something it isn't. It's a simple work truck that does its duty well. Even better, all four hubcaps are different, but they are all shiny; that sorta drags the attitude of the truck down a notch. Other than that, though, this was a clean, if not well used vintage Ford. The only gripe I have is that's too shiny. It needs to be either dirty beyond belief, or it needs to be restored. If this was 1983, I could understand, but in 2009, either fix it or leave it in its patina state. Don't do both.

Minneapolis Street Sightings: Opel Omega

I usually don't snap modern cars--for one, 99% of them are boring, and for two, I could care less about the mundane vehicles that clutter the streets of America. You know which mundane vehicles I'm talking about, too. Vehicles such as Toyota Corollas, Honda Civics, Pontiac Grand Ams and Vibes, Nissan Sentras, Ford Tauruses, Chevy Impalas, etc., that we see by the hundreds on any given Sunday. In Europe, vehicles fitting that criteria would fall under the names of Ford Fiesta, Renault Clio and Megane, Opel Omega--wait--stop the presses. Opel Omega? Why that's what we have here! If you're thinking "hmm this looks familiar to me", you'd be right. We got the Opel Omega here the Catera, Cadillac's first real entry level luxury vehicle. Introduced in 1996 as a 1997 model, it was put up to the task of competing with cars such as Toyota's Lexus ES300 line and BMW's E36 3 series line. In its years on the US market, it and its near twin, the Opel Omega recieved cosmetic upates in order to keep the vehicle fresh in showrooms. In 2000, a Sport model was introduced with body colored grille, larger and more stylish wheels and received a new taillamp treatment. Judging by the wheels and the post-199 taillights, I would say this particular example is a 2000 or 2001 model. Due to slow sales (only 95,000 sold in its 5 year production run) and a quick dissolving marketing campaign, the Catera left the US market in 2001, oniy to be replaced by the CTS a year later.Ironically, the only other car sold in the US that shared the Cateramegas's platform was also a sales flop: The Pontiac GTO, which was a Holden Monaro. Part of the reason for the sales flop was marketing and MSRP. Both cars started at $35,000 or thereabouts; for more expensive than competitors.

Whoa.. It's been awhile..

Yeah...it has been awhile. Anyways, yes I have been shooting, but I've been hanging out with people too. I haven't had much time to upload recent pics.. but I will post the ones I have uploaded. I go to a different school now, more close to home. So, not only is this good because I spend less time going to and from home, I can do so more frequently, and easily. This means, while I will focus on schoolwork, I can have ample time to go car hunting too. :) Get ready for some sightings from my home neighborhood(s). In the meantime I present you with an impressive list of cars and trucks I've seen recently.

Ford Falcon Panel van
Oldsmobile Delta 88 convertible
Datsun Maxima
Mercury Cougar sedan
Dodge Challenger/Plymouth Sapporo
Ford Econoline pickup
Dodge Dart/330 wagon
VW Rabbit Diesel
Mazda GLC

Minneapolis Street Sightings: Jaguar XJS V12

Want a British sports car? Don't want to pay a fortune for a new Jaguar XK or a new Bristol? The 1980s and 1990s Jaguar XJS is for you. Introduced in 1976, it sported a 5.3L Jaguar V12 with only 290 hp, enough to propel the vehicle to 60 MPH in 8.9 seconds, or roughly the time it takes a Prius to achieve the same speed. Unlike the Prius, though, the Jaguar didn't get 45 MPG. Instead it achieved barely 14 MPG--and that's on the highway. Top speed was the big coupe's forte. It could reach 144 MPH, and look good while doing so. The downside to the Jaguar is--you guessed it--reliability. In the US, prices skyrocketed over the years, and desirability fell, with the introduction of other sport coupes such as Mercedes' SL roadster, and eventually the ho-hum Lexus SC series. Nissan even lopped the roof of it's legendary 300ZX Z32.
So what makes the Jaguar an interesting car? It's styling, from the slender rectangular headlights, to the wide-spoked alloy wheels, this car is distinctly British. The interior was a treat too--when new that is. And don't get me started on the engine note. My god. It sounds like a cross between an older Aston Martin V8 and new Jaguar XJ series--and that's no bad thing.
So, if you're looking for that quintessential piece of the British Motoring pie, look no further. Your car has arrived. And the best part is... you can have one for less than the price of a new Ford Focus. Don't say I didn't warn you about the reliability though.

Minneapolis Street Sightings: Mercedes 300TD wagon

Aaah what can I say? Another hearty old Benz 300TD variant rumbling around in the Minnesota fall. Nope, they won't die. You can drive em through the worst of all conditions for hundreds of thousands of miles, and they won't give up.
I was actually pretty impressed with this particular car, more so than previous Mercedes finds for a few reasons. Not only do I adore this bodystyle of Benz in the first place, but seeing a wagon in great shape rather than the oh-so-common sedan makes this find much more special to me. First off, the cream/tan color combination is spectacular, especially on this car. Second off, the condition is simply amazing. Not one single dent or rust spot, although that could be attributed to the Washington plates rather than the Minnesota dealies that seem to grace the cars featured here. Also, the paint is in great shape, too. So often when I spot older metal roaming the streets here, the paint is faded to all hell, and all the trim is missing. Not in this case. It appears as if this car hasn't aged at all. I don't know whether that's a good thing though, because these Benzes were so common back in the day it's almost sad to see one untouched. At the same time, I'm quite happy the car has been preserved for future generations to oogle over.