1963 Land Rover Series IIa Station Wagon

A few weeks ago I asked for readers to submit any interesting rides they came across to be featured on the blog. I did not expect much to come of it but a college friend of mine sent me a bunch from Arizona which is where this British-market classic was found. The Land Rover Series was built from 1958-1985 This model is a Series IIa Station Wagon. The Series IIa is considered to be one of the most durable vehicles ever built. They were incredibly popular in Africa and South America for their ability to withstand not only harsh terrain but the intense climate as well. Many can be found in various parts of the world still in use today, in 1992 Land Rover claimed that 90% of the over 1 million units manufactured were still in use. despite those numbers they are rare in the states. If you look closely you can see the steering wheel mounted on the right-hand side signifying that this was a model that was brought to the US via a grey market deal. This vehicle is old enough that it's owner likely had little trouble with the US government while importing it. The tires monted on this particular example appear to be an upgrade from factory equipment. Under the hood lives either a 2.25l diesel-fed Inline-4 Cylinder. or a 2.6l gasoline inline-6 cylinder. both engines were hooked to a four-speed manual gearbox feeding all four wheels. What a rare find only wish I could have seen it in person.

1990 Daihatsu Charade

The local grocery store seems to be a hot bed of odd car models for some reason. In a city where the wealthy retire and roll around in Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Maserati's. The trust-fund playboys rip up the streets and cause sidewalk terrors with their sleek exotics. (I am talking to you guy who lives behind my house and wakes me up every morning with his Lotus Elise convertible high revving out of his $1,000 a month apartment garage.)  The lower class seems to be forced to roll in obscure late 80's early 90's American and Asian compacts. Case in point this 1990 Daihatsu Charade. Never heard of Daihatsu? not surprised though one of largest entry-level car manufactures in Asia, Australia and Europe. A Daihatsu has not been imported into the US since 1992. The Charade is one of the last Daihatsu's to be sold in the US. The car showed up on the US market in 1988 The standard model was powered by a 1.0L fuel-injected 3-cylinder engine that made all of 53 horsepower. A slightly more powerful 1.3 4-cylinder all-aluminum single over head cam engine was optional. All 3-cylinder models came with a 5-speed manual transmission. The larger 4-cylinders could be had with a 3-speed automatic. These cars were surprisingly much more expensive than other cars in their class and had reliability issues with the standard 3-cylinder engine. Toyota was the main investor in Daihatsu's USA division and pulled the plug late in the 1992 model year due to low sales.

Cars like this never seem to survive in the US market. It must be terrifying to drive a car that takes 15 seconds to achieve 60mph on US freeways.(Turbocharged versions were available overseas but still struggled to make barley over 100 horses) Also unlike Europe the USA is a very automatic transmission centered culture. Only performance enthusiasts seem to purchase manual transmission equipped cars in America. With low sales and the manufacturer only being the country for a few years must make finding parts for this car next to impossible for it's owner. The Charade falls into the same category as the Renault LeCar, FIAT Superbrava, Renault Fuego and the Yugo GV. (Never heard of any of these cars either? not surprised) Another failed attempt and bringing entry level cars built for the European market into the US.

1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera SL: Everyone's First Car

This car has been sitting outside the apartment I live in. I have a weird fascination with these boring little cars. There was a time when the Cutlass was a proud muscle car. My uncle had a 68 Cutlass 442 that would smoke the tires all the way through 3rd gear. In the 70s it became a big luxury land yacht. The 80s saw it as a Monte Carlo clone and those cars are a cheaper alternative to the Monte Carlo Aeroback today. By the 90s all that was gone. This 92 has either a 3.1 or 3.3l V6 both making a meare 160hp. The cars were very popular during there day and many are still on the road. I often see these cars listed as "a great first car." In many automobile classifieds. Come to think of it these cars are the dream of every parent with a 16 year old. Reliable, safe, cheap as dirt to insure, no style so the car will not draw attention, and no power so a reckless 16 year old lead foot would never be able to get the slushbox automatic to let the car hit 100. I have wondered if the owner would let me try and get this car running again but more than likely it will get hauled off to the crusher because it is not worth fixing.

1994 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Mazda Miatas are the most common car in all of Sarasota Florida. An affordable 2 seat convertible with a sporty look makes a great ride for the retiree that doesn't want a used Mercedes-Benz E-Class and cannot afford a Maserati (I see at least 3 Maseratiis a day and they usually have elderly women with enormous earrings at the wheel.). The Miata was built in Hiroshima Japan and has one of longest runs of a Japanese car model in the USA. (The Honda Accord & Civic, and Toyota Camry & Corolla have run longer). The Miata appeared on the market in 1989 with an MSRP of $14,000 (around $25,000 today) The car was huge hit and the factories could not keep up with demand for them. This example most likely has a 1.8L inline 4-cylinder under the hood. (The engine was standard in 94, Mazda made no body alterations from 89-99 so it is hard to pinpoint the year of make without the VIN number) The engine made 131 horsepower which doesn't sound like much but in a car the weighed just barely 2,000 pounds it was plenty. A 4-speed automatic transmission was available but most buyers opted for the 5-speed manual shift. The success of this car is due to the different lives it could lead. 1. It was cheap for a sports car which made it available to a much larger group of people. 2. The styling is very European and it looks right at home among the Jaguars and BMW's at the country club. 3. It gets good fuel mileage 19 city/25 highway, 4. Reliable,  a lot of high end sports cars spend more time in the shop than on the road. The Miata could be driven daily without much worry. 5. With a little bit of tuning they are wicked fast. Miatas are a common sight in amateur road-racing. The Miata is to amateur road-racing what the 4th Gen Monte Carlo is to amateur stock car racing. Street tuners like them too there is a wealth of aftermarket go fast goodies available for Miatas. So if you wanted a sports car to cruise to the country club in or if you wanted to turn some fast laps at Willow Springs Raceway without breaking the bank the Miata could do both for you and bring you home at the end of the day. This example has lived a long life in the Florida sun as evidenced by the damaged rag top and I would be willing to bet if we looked inside we would see an odometer that is over 100,000.

2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser Faux-Woodie

The Chrysler PT Cruiser will go down in history as one of the worst cool cars ever. The model was introduced in 2001 and my aunt ordered one of the first ones ever built. The car was an obsession she had PT Cruiser t-shirts, key chains and even got me a remote-controlled PT Cruiser for Christmas that year. The car was an instant success, dealers could not keep them in stock. The aftermarket for them exploded and custom car shops had brand-new cruisers rolling in everyday to receive a unique look that their owners desired. Chrysler however did very little to maintain the car and as the years went on used cheaper and cheaper parts and materials for them. The cars handled very poorly in stock trim and did not age well. It did not take long for my aunt's 01' to be devoured by Michigan road cancer. I have always thought that aside from the issues that they would still be a really fun car to have. A friend of mine owns a pristine example of one in powder blue. She offered to let me take it for a drive one day. I did and I hated everything about it.Everything inside is made of brittle plastic. The cockpit is cramped beyond all belief and the blind spots are enormous for such a small car. The gauges sit at an angle to the driver's seat that makes them almost unreadable. But on to the car posted. The Woodie package was available in 2002 and 2003 only and added as you can see imitation wood grain paneling down the sides of the car. The standard engine was a 2.4L four-banger with a four-speed automatic transmission. (A 5-speed manual was optional) The car was a cruiser and nothing else. Built for the enjoyment of the people watching it drive by not the person actually doing the driving.  

2008 Nissan Frontier NISMO

For those of you who are not familiar with Japanese performance vehicles NISMO is a loose acronym for Nissan Motorsports International. NISMO is to Nissan like SVT is to Ford and AMG is to Mercedes-Benz. Anyway the Frontier NISMO shares a lot with it's base Frontier brothers. For example it is powered by the same 4.0L V6 that produced 261 horsepower and 281 foot-pounds of torque. Buyers had the choice of a 5-speed automatic transmission or a 6-speed manual, rear or four-wheel drive, and King Cab or crew cab configuration. But the NISMO had a few parts and pieces that would make owners of the standard model green with envy. Bilsten off-road shocks tuned by NISMO, skid plates, BFGoodrich Rugged Trail tires, 16-inch aluminum wheels, an electronic locking rear differential (four wheel-drive models had a limited slip differential up front as well). The truck could be ordered wtih the optional Traction Package that included stability control, hill-start assist and hill-descent systems. The Frontier NISMO was tuned to be an offroad machine. This particular example has been modded by it's owner. The graphics and the light bar on the roof are not Nissan equipment. Despite the fact that the truck is very clean it looks like it's owner knows what they have and it has hopefully been able to run some off-road trails in it's day.

2013 Tesla Model S

Remember a few days ago in the first post of this blog how I mentioned the Tesla Model S as the longest range electric car in the world? I happened to walk by one of these high-dollar green machines just a few days later. This Tesla Model S is the signature performance edition which comes with an 85kw battery pack which gives in an EPA estimated range of 265 miles on 1 charge. Also the 85kw models have access to Tesla's "Supercharging" Stations where the vehicle can charge for 30 minutes and gain up to 150 miles in range. This package comes standard on Signature and Signature Performance edition cars and can be had as option on all base model Tesla's with the exception of the Roadster. The Performance models boast 416 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque. The car will do zero to 60 in 4.2 seconds (Other cars with the same 0-60: 2002 Ferrari 575. 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT-8, 1966 AC Cobra) and has a tops speed of 130 mph from the three-phase AC induction motor. It will get down the road pretty quick and can hang with late model American muscle cars and low-end exotics. However when it comes to electric super cars the folks at AMG Mercedes-Benz have it figured out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gFGX43vubM (skip to 1:36 impatient people). This Tesla Model had an MSRP of  $105,400. As I am sure you are familiar with the big news from Tesla this month where they released their patents for public use. It appears that the electirc car is not going anywhere anytime soon. I would not mind a long-range Tesla drivetrain but in something more attractive to me. Perhaps an enormous 70's American land yacht.

Matt 

2008 Isuzu Ascender The Art of Badge-Engineering

I see this Isuzu on a regular basis around town. At first I thought nothing of it because it just looked like a plain old Chevy TrailBlazer But when I caught a glimpse of the front grille it looked very different and as I got closer I realized it was the TrailBlazer's badge-engineered cousin the Ascender. The term badge-engineered comes from Murilee Martin over at The Truth About Cars and it is applied to cars that are shared between makes with only minor cosmetic differences to make them different. The Ascender is exactly that a rebaged Chevy TrailBlazer that was sold by Isuzu. Isuzu had been partially owned by GM for a period of time in the early 2000s. In 2008 The Ascender was equipped with a 4.2L Vortec Inline 6 cylinder engine bolted to a 4-speed automatic transmission. The Ascender was available in a 5 passenger configuration. Isuzu offered some big incentives for purchase including a 7-year 75,000 mile power train warranty. However the incredibly small network of Isuzu dealerships meant that if you happened to move during that time you would not be able to get your Isuzu serviced under warranty coverage unless you were willing to pay to have it towed a long way. A lesson my family learned the hard way with the 1998 Isuzu Rodeo we owned for a long time. It suffered from electrical gremlins for about a year while a former Isuzu tech working at a nearby Toyota dealer attempted to fix it (attempted being the key word) After several costly trips to the dealer my Father managed to fix it by mistake with 9-year old me holding pieces of the dashboard out of his way. Isuzu was very successful at selling commercial trucks but their passenger vehicle sales never took off in the US and they discontinued sales in the US market.

2013 Nissan Leaf

I spotted this all-electric Leaf on my way into work a few weeks ago. The Leaf is one of the first full-electric vehicles available in the United States. Production began in 2010 but the cars are still a rare site on the roads despite having an MSRP of $28,980 for a the new 2014 model. It's main competitor the Chevy Volt carries an MSRP of $34, 185 (The Volt also features a backup gasoline engine which the Leaf does not) The lack of a backup engine hurts the Leaf. This 2013 has a 110hp motor that can go a mere 75 miles on one charge. which makes it unsuitable for anything other than limited city driving. The key to the success of an electric car in the United States will be range due to the lack of EV charging stations that are starting to become common in Europe. The longest EV range currently belongs to the Tesla Model S boasting 265 miles on one charge. But with a base price of $69,900 (The base model can go only 208 miles on a charge) the car is out of most individuals grasp. The Leaf has sold 42,100 units in the US as of December 2013 and is currently the highest selling electric car in the country. With a 0-60 time of 9.9 seconds it is par for the course among gasoline microcars but don't expect to see one tearing it up at your local race track. The Leaf reminds me a lot of the first gen Honda Insight Hybrid. It was popular but did not have the best sales figures. It did however get people talking about Hybrid cars and now they are everywhere. I feel that the Leaf will serve the same function: a catalyst towards more electric cars on US roads.

Matt

Introduction

Hello Interwebs,

I have decided to start a car spotting blog. I will be posting pictures of interesting, out of the ordinary and rare cars I come across along with some information about them. IT could be anything a classic American muscle car, a 30 year old rusted out Hyundai that you just don't see on the road anymore, a cool custom or an ultra-rare six figure sports car. This blog was inspired by blogs I follow:
 Down on the Junkyard:. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/tag/down-on-the-junkyard/
Old Parked Cars: http://www.oldparkedcars.com/
Hope you all enjoy,
Matt