So, since I was going through my old brochures and stuff today for the Granada ESS post, I ran across more of the humorous “Granada looks like a blank” ads they did back then. Enjoy. Continue Reading →
Category: Klockau Classics
1978 Ford Granada ESS: Dearborn AMG?
Here’s another interesting oddball from the Me Decade. I spotted it this afternoon on Marketplace; its for sale in Edwardsville, Illinois.
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This Week’s Klockau Lust Object: 1976 Mercedes-Benz 280S
I spotted this just this morning over my second cup of coffee, for sale in the greater Grand Rapids metropolitan area.
Some may guess I only like rolling stock with cursive emblems, opera lamps and velour, but I drove Volvos for almost twenty years. Dad had Porsches since before I was born, still has a 356B and a ’67 1800S, and since my parents indulged my love of cars, I had all sorts of Pocket Cars, Matchboxes and Corgi Toys. Continue Reading →
1989 Dodge Omni: Nicest One Left?
Way back at the 2012 Geneseo, Illinois Trains, Planes and Automobiles car show, I ran across an endearing oddball. It certainly stood out amongst the dime a dozen red Camaros and Mustangs and streed rods. How about a 1989 Dodge Omni with less than 30K on the clock? And it was for sale too-yours for $3500!
1964 Sunbeam Rapier Series IV: You Saucy Minx!
The Rootes Group was one of the earliest practitioners of badge engineering. Long before the K-Cars, ’82 GM A-body quartet or first generation Neons came into being–going back to the mid-1930s, in fact–Rootes was keeping busy with variations on a theme, a practice that by the 1950s had become a long-established Rootes tradition. Take today’s featured Sixties classic from Blightly: the 1955-67 Sunbeam Rapier. This car, the most sporting of the “Audax” series of cars built by Rootes, shared just about everything (except minor trim and interior fillips and, in some cases, engines) with the bread-and-butter Hillman Minx and medium-priced Singer Gazelle. Continue Reading →
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum: Fleetwood Fini?
It’s officially spring, and this past Monday I was out just cruising around. I had gotten a picture frame for a 1966 Lincoln Continental ad I’d acquired awhile back at an antique store. But the previous night, while putting it together, I pressed the back a little too hard and broke it. Dagnabit! So it was off to the store the next day to get another one. Oh well, at least it was cheap. Continue Reading →
1956 Buick Special: So You Think You’re Special?
Here’s something you would not expect to see amongst common late-model fare at a small repair shop/car lot. Yet there it was: this stately ’56 Buick Special, looking like an elegant matron stranded at a Burger King. A car built during Buick’s early- to mid-1950s heyday. Continue Reading →
The 2022 Quad City Regional Auto Show
Since about 1995, my metropolitan area has had a local car show. New cars, mind, not vintage ones. I usually go, simply because it’s something to do before spring arrives. Plus, I’m a car nut. Plus, I know a lot of the local dealers and salespeople. Continue Reading →
This Week’s Klockau Lust Object: 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Estate
Since I have a lot of free time of late, I have been haunting Marketplace a lot, just looking for anything interesting and land yachtish from the ’70s. And today what did I spot but this green on green ’73 Nimitz-class Caprice wagon in San Diego. Continue Reading →
1986 Toyota MR2: Japanese X1/9
Remember the Fiat X1/9? It was a lovely little go-kart by all accounts, but with its rust-prone steel and thin-on-the-ground Fiat dealer network (at least in the U.S.) it slowly faded from the scene. Believe it or not, there is a nice bright blue one still living around here. I’ve seen it in a driveway several times.
Sadly, not at car shows or on the street, so no pics yet. Anyway, Toyota took the Fiat’s general hard points and then produced a sporty two-seater of their own: the MR2, or “Mister Two,” as it was affectionately dubbed by its fans. Continue Reading →