Photos of Cool Cars I Have Seen

[twobjshelbys]

Here are some pictures of cool cars that I see. I have a good Nikon SLR (D100 when I started, now D700) but don't carry it with me all the time. Sometimes I run across something nice and all I have is my crappy little cell phone camera.

So here are some thematic replies with sets of pictures of cool cars.

These are hosted on Photobucket.

[twobjshelbys]

My friend's '70 GTO. A project in progress but a very nice and easy restore. He got it as a bucket of interior parts that needed some reassembly. Lots of parts were not connected, e.g., the seats weren't even bolted to the floor. Headlights were dim because they weren't properly grounded.




My SGT is second in line.

[twobjshelbys]

This is a '64? Mercury Convertible. I think it has a big block 489 (I don't remember it and the side badge photo is fuzzy).







The lady bought it from someone and hasn't done anything to it. I think she said she was the 3rd owner. Interior was in pretty good shape.

Edit: Also, the general consensus of the gear heads is that the engine was worth more than what she paid for the car. No restoration had been done. Alloriginal.

[twobjshelbys]

Ranchero.





Nicely restored. The fake bullet holes on the side were kinda hokey.

[twobjshelbys]

A 68(?) 'stang 'vert I saw in the Walgreens parking lot. The guy was coming out as I was driving away and couldn't turn around. By the time I got back he was gone.







[Update from original post: I saw this car again and the owner was coming out. He's had it since the 80's, I think he said he was second owner. Original interior.]

[twobjshelbys]

Fairlane 500. Looked original with no work and in excellent condition. Lighting sucked so pics are fuzzy.

[twobjshelbys]

This is probably my favorite. It's not a car.

It's a 1952 Indian motorcycle. Yes, really. An original, 1952 Indian New York Police Department (NYPD) bike. The owner has redone the engine but has left all original paint and logos. It runs and sounds great.





I'm trying to arrange a real "not in the parking lot" photo shoot with the real camera of this. It's pretty cool.

[twobjshelbys]

Camaro. Very nicely restored.







Owned by a friend of a friend that has a GTO.

[twobjshelbys]

A couple of really sweet Corvette Stingrays

[twobjshelbys]

Malibu 'vert

[twobjshelbys]

Mopar. The side stripe says 360, but that again is one I don't remember.

[twobjshelbys]

And this from yesterday on the way back from Sam's Clu. It was on a trailer in Loveland, CO. I'm guessing he was on the way to a car show. I managed to get two cell phone snaps before people started honking at me taking pictures in traffic. Then one car behind me pulled up and it looked like he was doing the same thing. I think it is a '69.

[twobjshelbys]

One more set for tonight. This is a 1905 Franklin that was at the Hygiene church car show last weekend. The owner found it in a museum in Kansas. Someone had tried to restore the engine and when they put it back together it didn't run so they made it "look right" and put it on the museum floor, where it sat for 20 years. When the current owner got it it still had a 1/2 tank of gas (the full tank had evaporated and left 1/2" of sludge on the bottom). Cleaned everything out and it ran - sort of. He eventually figured out that the (physically symmetric) crank had been installed backwards resulting in exhaust action on intake and vice versa. It now runs and he drove it to the show (not too far though).



We don't need no stinking valve covers. There was an oil can in the engine compartment with instructions to oil the valve lifters every time the car is stopped. Maybe 20 miles between oilings.



Closeup of "top end".




One of many brass lanterns.



This is the equivalent of a modern ignition system. Each cylinder has a "vibrator" that creates a "shadow of sparks" that ignite the fuel. The owners concession to lack of parts availability was that these were overridden with a "master vibrator". The car originally used dry cells in a battery compartment that was also replaced with a small (rechargeable) motorcycle battery) but all of that stuff was "under the covers). It started with manual crank.

[twobjshelbys]

OK, one more. It was a Car and Tractor show. There is a tractor restoration company next door. Also Spidertrax (spidertrax.com) if you're into real competition off-road vehicles.

[twobjshelbys]

Someone on the Black Vert Mafia site spotted the Cobra in the tractor picture so here is the explanation:



OK, I was going to post about the Cobra since it snuck in the picture. It's a replica from Factor Five. Not "authentic" enough to rate a #1 posting but since you brought it up... Had it been Cobra blue it might have garnered a little more respect.

[twobjshelbys]

Sorry, not a Mustang (that's coming as a separate topic) but this is a GTO sighted at Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO 7/6/08.

Interior looked original - some checkering and exposed but not "new". Exterior was flawless.

[twobjshelbys]

OK, here's another. This was in the Lyons grocery store parking lot when I was going home on the way to cook supper after a meeting at "the office".

I was in the wrong lane so I spun back around and parked, and the owner was just coming out.

'59 Fairlane 500 'vert. It's a "hard top vert" - the top folds back behind the back seat. He didn't pop it up but there was major structural stuff along the top of the windshield that was there to hold the top.

He's the second owner. Bought new at SilTerHar in 1959 - the badge is in the center of the rear here (the little gold spot). They are still in business.

[twobjshelbys]

Added for Birdman

I had a business trip and my wife and I stayed for a few days and went from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, and then stayed on the Wharf for a couple of days and did the tourist thing. We've been there alot but decided to stay down there so we could just walk to places. We've been to Alcatraz three or four times now, but every time we go we see something different and hear different stories from the rangers. Tours are mostly self guided now except for some "lectures" within the main cell block

So anyway we've gotten off the boat and walking up the road and I see a bunch of people walking in a walkway under the road heading to the power house. They're being guided on some impromptu tour which happen. So I see this guy wearing a tool belt and ask him how to catch up so we can see the inside. He explained that it started way up and that there is no access to that area from where we are and by the time we found the stairs they would be long gone. So he offered to show us something else. I thought it was cool.

This is the Alcatraz Fire Department engine. It was found (well, the guy who had it didn't lose it) in a garage in the city. The person who owned it volunteered it to be restored, and it was, by the inmates at (I think) Chino.

Oh and while he was showing us - just me and my wife - I asked him what his job was. He was doing temporary electrician's work that day - repairing light bulbs and stuff, but he was... the head park ranger. He explained that it was his "work but off duty" day, and was doing some routine maintenance. He said that the Rangers from the National Park Service take a pay cut to work on Alcatraz. [I don't know if it is in dollars or increased duty time.] He had been in Muir Woods before coming to Alcatraz.

[twobjshelbys]

Saw this 37 Ford at the local gas station while I was on the way to warm up the Shelby. Had to stop by. Paint job was beautiful, done in LaSalle, CO.









Fellow goes in to pay for the gas and he says there is a surprise under the hood:





I didn't think it would be prudent to try to race him. It sounded sweet

[twobjshelbys]

This is one quite a car. '72 Olds 442 with 455 4BBL. 85K miles.

I have a picture of the original window sticker and the Protect-a-plate and original owner's delivery papers but he balked when I took them and I told him I would only share them with the dealer - the original sale was from a Hajek in Longmont, CO. I also photoshopped out the license plates.

The car is purely original and strictly numbers matching. It was purchased by its current owner from someone in Georgia.

The car is factory new. It has never been painted (except for some minor touchups). The only work done was maintenance items like seals and brakes. When he bought it he asked the GA owner to describe it - he said he wouldn't balk at putting it on a showroom floor. He's right. The underneath is clean as a whistle.

The original spare tire (!) is still in the trunk. He was offered $400 for the tire (keep the rim) at a car show. Rejected. The original trunk "liner" (calling it a mat is giving it too much credit but that is what it was) is still there. The interior looked excellent - no checks or cracks. 8 track player still works.

So, folks - tell me what you think this car is worth. He wants to sell it, but I've gotten two wildly different bogeys (one about 30% under and one 2.5x).

Edit: Apparently the "copy" didn't get the photo links. Here they are:









[This car will get mentioned again in my Gateway Museum trip report.]