Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevy Impala two door

Big Chevys seem to be my most common sighting, along with same era Cadillacs. With for good reason-- they're popular cars with a wide demographic. Everyone from gangsta wannabes to little old ladies drive them; from the candy painted 1988 Caprice on 24s to the pristine 1970 Chevelle SS cruising around the lake, there's a certain "mood" that comes with a Chevy, a sense of pride if you will.
Unfortunately, like the example I brought you Saturday, this car is a different kind of "daily driver"; a daily beater. I see this thing daily, and it never seems to get better. A far cry from a restoration project is, but it could be a decent project for some car enthusiast. If it was for sale, that is.
The paint, as you can see, is quite tattered, giving the car an feel of abandonment. Fear not, though, this thing still runs. (no relation to www.stillruns.com) The trim is intact, but shows tremendous wear. My favorite detail on this particular car is the "Mala" nomenclature. Maybe it's intentional, maybe it isn't. Whatever the case may be, it's a humorous case of "appropriate badging".
With a 283, I doubt this is a slouch, but its far from a 427. However, since the 283 does have plenty of hop-up parts available, so extracting extra horsepower shouldn't be a problem. Infact, I think if this beast were mine, I'd go for the speed parts, and widened steelies wrapped in good rubber. For kicks, I'd leave the body in this condition, though. Who would expect a ratty old Chevy to kick their ass at a stoplight. On second thought, what car guy wouldn't expect such a thing. Plan foiled. D'oh.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevy Impala four door

When I was at Augsburg, I used to see so many classics and unusual cars, it was hard for me to photograph them all. Maybe it was because I was running to class, or maybe it was because I was unsure of whether I should photograph said car. Whatever the case was, I was happy to have shot this. I used to see this Impala quite a bit during my couple years as a student.
As college-student-owned classics go, this one is pretty good condition, both for its age, and the duties it partakes in on any given day. College students drive their cars hard, and this Chevy is no exception. While the paint and body look good from a distance, they alone cannot tell the story of this specimen. Peeling out, tires scraping the curb, and hard braking are all in a day's work for this poor old girl.
What I liked most about this particular Impala, is not the fact that it lived close to me; it's the fact that while the person drives it like a bat out of hell, she keeps it looking stock, and has no intention of modifying it in any way.
The paint and body are in decent shape for this daily driver. Not only is the paint all one color, but the trim is intact, and present, right down to the dealer badges on the trunk. Even the oft-missing Chevrolet script on the trunk, and grille, is still present. How's that for surviving the harsh winters? Even the interior isn't in too bad of shape, although all I got was a lousy ass driver's side shot to prove my point.
I would like to see this classic Impala restored before the Minnesota winters claim it, but alas that will never be. It's now got all four hubcaps missing, and has a brown fender. On the bright side, it has no chance of being tortured a person who think it would look good on "dem twenni-sixez". At least.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Ferrari F355 Spider

Now, most of my sightings are older, classic vehicles. Very rarely do I feature a modern vehicle, with for good reason. Most are pretty damn ugly in comparison with their classic counterparts. The same hold true for Ferrari, I'm sad to say. Last built in 1998, the F355 represents in my opinion, one of the more beautiful "non supercar" Ferraris. Powered by a 3.55 liter V8, the sound these things make is like nothing else. I swear it's enough to make even the most non-car person turn their heads in shock and awe.
This example is well-presented (as a Ferrari should be) with no obvious damage except for a small curbing on the front bumper, no doubt from entering/exiting parking areas. The wheels are standard Ferrari fare, so no surprises here, though I would like to see it on HREs or Fiske wheels.
Again, the interior isn't that different than the standard Ferrari fare. Red with a tan interior seemed to be the most cliched color combination. Oh well, whatever works I guess. But-- what is that? a real polished shifter? Can it be?!? YES! It is! Even in Yuppieland Minnesota, someone drives a proper Ferrari! Kudos to him! I cannot tell you how many exotics I see that turn out to be paddle shifted or e-Gear or F1 or what have you. If you have an exotic, do the right thing. Get a stickshift. Please. Driving gods will thank you for it.

Diecast of the Day: ERTL Buick GS400

Long before Lexus introduced its car bearing the namesake (which in its own right is a nice car), the GS belonged to Buick. Packing a range of 400 and 455 cubes, the series was one in a series of Buick's own muscle car lineup. Since I am new to the world of relatively obscure (not common/cliche)muscle cars, I had to pick this up!
Finished in typical ERTL-quality paint, the finish is very good for its price point. The metallic does shine in the sun, and the color is extremely vivid when the light presents itself. The GS400 logos are painted on, and done so very well. Same goes for the engine paint. What I like most about the paint and body, though, is the vynil top. True sleeper this is (despite the GS400 logos that is :P)
The interior is pretty amazing, too. Better than what I initially expected from ERTL to be honest. The steering wheel and dash are nicely replicated, and look true to the original car. Again, it's the surprises that win me over in here. I love the seats! Fold down and poseable! How cool is that? Too bad they're a b!tch and a half to adjust and put back into position.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Chevy Nova II wagon

In the 1960s, when a station wagon came in multiple trimlines for each model sold, the big three had their act together. Ford's compact wagon was the Falcon, Dodge had their Dart offering, and Chevy had it's simplistic Nova II. Introduced in 1962, the little Chevy lasted until 1967. While common everyday vehicles when new, these little wagons are quickly becoming alternative rods for car guys wanted something a little--you know-- different. And these wagons are certainly different.
At the last Car Craft car show I attended, wagons seemed to be making quite a comeback. Ford had its share of Falcons represented, and their very a scant few Darts. The II, though, surprised me. It seems as if they almost have a cult following. Sitting innocently among the various brightly colored, Torq-Thrust laden, hole-hooded, restomods, this specimen caught my eye. However, it was near the end of the show, and I had to leave. As luck would have it, though, I spotted it right in my neighborhood not less than a week after the show.
Basking in the sun in all its brown glory, this little wagon means business. The paint is so-so, appearing very original, with a tad bit of patina. Unlike alot of "resto rods", and "rat rods", I don't think this patina is staged. However, one thing concerns me. Despite the Hurst badge, I didn't see a shifter in it. Overall, though, the paint and body were in decent condition.
The rolling stock was clean, too. Fitted on modern tires, the brown Corvette rallyes provide a nice, clean look with avoiding being cliche. The polished lugs help set off the wheels and the right amount of flair. As with the paint and body, I agree with the choice of wheels. It presents a modern twist on a classic car without being overly gaudy, a big plus in my book.
While I don't remember every exact detail of the interior up close, (I was more focused on the body/paint/wheels) I did notice a throw over the front bench. Kinda cool, but a tad cliche. However, I respect the fact that in keeping with the car's theme, the interior was left pretty spartan. Again, a big plus, since most "hot rods" are laden with the same tacky electronic doodads their blingster cousins are laden with.
I have to say this is one of the better custom Novas I've seen. Partially because I'm a sucker for wagons, and partially because it avoids all things cliche, while still managing to look pretty nice, both from afar and up close.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Cadillac Coupe deVille

Cadillacs has a storied history of building elegant, stately cars for the most part. In 1985, when the deVille series switched to FWD (front-wheel-drive), it seemed to many like Cadillac was losing their heritage and "cheapening" its last "true luxury car". That was not the case, however. Despite looking radically different than its predecessor, it still packed V8 power, although unlike the predecessor, the new deVille only came with two choices.
Gone was the 425 cube engine, and the diesel 350 was done for as well. Instead, the new-for-1985 Cadillac Coupe deVille (and Sedan deVille too) packed a choice of 4.1 and 4.5 V8 engines. Neither engine made over 200 horses, but since the car dropped 800 pounds in its more compact redesign, power was respectable rather than at "oh c'mon you damn thing, accelerate already". Truth be told, the only powerplant that warranted that reaction in the previous deVille series was the god-awful diesel.
This example look spectacular from across the street; the paint was great, the wheels (although not correct) were finished nicely, and the trim appeared to be in good order. However, as I edged closer to examine this semi-stately vehicle, its imperfections began to make themselves known.
While the paint and body did, indeed look well finished, the trim was broken or bent in key locations. On the right side, the "Coupe deVille" script was broken, rendering this a "Coupe ille". On the trunk, too, the Cadillac script was intact minus the "C". Quite common, unfortunately.
Here's where it did shine though. No evidence of obvious rust or pitting was found. A good thing, considering this is a Minnesota car, therefore it must survive our craptacular, salt-heavy winters. And the wheels; most folks would putting late-model base-model DTS wheels on this near-classic is a travesty. I disagree. While, yeah, I would like to see proper wire hubcaps, these wheels are probably extremely easy to keep clean. You can't say that about wire hubcaps now can you? At least it isn't rolling on 22s or 24s yet.
When all is said and done, I found this example extremely attractive. The color, the wheels, the vynil, all is top notch. Which is funny, because I usually don't pay attention to mid-1980s GMs. Maybe now that they're approaching classic status, I'm starting to notice them more and more. And perhaps maybe, I can find some more examples of mid-1980s GMs to shoot.

Buick Is Back!

Up until the 1980s, with the demise of the Grand National and its much more evil GNX cousin, Buick had a knack for building successful well-thought out vehicles. Buick built its heritage on a rather successful line of GS vehicles including the 1967 Buick GS400 and legendary Buick GS Stage I, II, III, and IV, as well as hits such as the Bill Mitchell-designed 1963 Riviera personal luxury group. The American maker even had one of its vehicles, the Reatta coupe and roadster, designed by none other than Pinninfarina of Italy.
In the last twenty years, though, the band was known for churning out mundane, middleground vehicles that filled the "not-quite-luxury-but-not-exactly-sports-cars" category in the American corporation's brand lineup. Instead of churning out high powered performance cars, the brand churned out such garbage as the 1992-1996 Skylark, that horrendous Terraza minivan (so did the rest of GM's stable, but still...), the ill-fated Ranier SUV, and more recently, the lukewarm Lucerne sedan. Despite wearing the "Super" moniker, it was nothing of the sort.
In late 2007, however, Buick seemed to turn around. With the introduction of the hot-looking Enclave crossover, it appeared GM was getting serious about revitalizing the brand. For good. The Enclave replaced the humdrum Ranier, the butt-ugly Rendezvous crossover thing, as well as the bastard-of-a-van-thing Terraza. Sharing its platform with the late Saturn Outlook, Chevy Traverse, and GMC Acadia, the Enclave is part of GM's plan to replace minivans with.. other SUVs? Okay, I don't get it, but at least they're better looking than said minivans.
In mid 2008, it was announced that GM was going to redesign the slow-selling LaCrosse and give it distinctive styling. In late 2009, GM delivered on the promise. Based on the Epsilon platform which underpins the premium Saab 9-5 and not-for-US-sale Opel Insignia, the new car debuted with much praise. Unlike the outgoing model, the new car is decidedly more upscale, offering a wide range of options to suit buyers from many demographics. Like many premium luxury cars, the new LaCrosse has interior illumination (bright blue in this case), rearview camera for parking, and it features GM exclusive Onstar turn-by-turn navigation system as well as many other upscale features.
However, the big news for the 2010 model year is the return of the Regal for 2011. Discontinued in 2004, after years of slow selling, and fleet and rental sales, it was replaced in by the even worse-off Lucerne sedan. Like the new LaCrosse, the new Regal is moving up the totem pole. Interestingly enough, the new Regal is also based on the Opel Insignia. While the LaCrosse goes head to head with luxury-oriented sedans such as the Lexus ES350 and Hyundai Azera, the Regal will do battle with sportier sedans such as the Acura TSX and Volvo S60.
In addition to the base 2.4L four cylinder, turbocharged two liter four cylinder is coming as well. This engine will be in the Regal GS. Packing realistically 250 to 260 horses and an equal torque numbers, this hot sports sedan will be AWD and offer a six-speed stickshift for the first time in ages. If the Opel Isignia OPC is anything to go by, the Regal GS is sure to be a bahnstormer. In Europe, the hot Opel is position to go head to head with Audi's legendary S4. Can it do the same here? Or will it have to fight off the new-for-2010 Ford Taurus SHO first?
All indications point to a good year for Buick, with exceptional products once again. Maybe this time the dealers will actually know something about the cars they're selling. And just maybe, the younger generation of car buyers will catch on to the storied brand and let the Buick performance legend live on for another generation. Buick is back, and people need to open their eyes and take advantage of it.