Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1967 Plymouth Barracuda Convertible

The holiday season is nearing the home stretch now. Time for another replay of "All I Want For Christmas is 'U'". Are you sick of it yet? Buick, Datsun, Peugeot, Austin-Healey, Lotus, Triumph, and now back to America with a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda convertible in a seasonably festive downtown area. While the other cars this month were dug out of my archives, this one was just spotted a week ago as of publishing.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1967 Chevrolet Impala Wagon

Here's another old shoot from the archives. It's a 1967 Chevy Impala wagon with some pretty wild patina.

Danville Street Sighting - 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special

These pictures were taken with an old phone camera but this car was cool enough that I still wanted to share. It's a 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood.

Danville Street Sighting - 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

Each year for the 4th of July I like to celebrate America's Independence Day with a special feature. This year we're doing American muscle and sports coupes in red, white and blue. Rounding out our assortment today is a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray coupe finished in beautiful Nassau Blue metallic.

Danville Street Sighting - 1967 MG MGB GT

This was a fun one to shoot. You may recognize this MGB GT, because it's been my top header image for this blog for months. I thought it was one of my more unique and interesting street sightings in recent memory.

Danville Street Sighting - 1965 Ford Mustang GT 2+2 Fastback

Ever have those moments when you forget an anniversary or birthday until the last minute? Yeah, me too. Today is April 17. Happy birthday to the Ford Mustang.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1965 Austin Mini Cooper Mk 1

Today marks the tenth day of the fabled countdown to Christmas.

On the tenth day of Christmas my archive gave to thee:
A ten footer Mini,
911 stancing,
Jade Mach 1 Mustang,
'77 Lincoln,
Suede Studebaker,
Fine Nomad bling,
Ford Thunderbird,
Beige French shed,
Tuned Chevy LUV,
and a Park Lane down on the street.

We’ve looked at quite a few classic Minis on California Streets over the years. I remember the first Mini post nearly a decade ago, which lumped together three cars into one post. I used to snap pictures of cars all over the place but usually only one or two at a time and rarely more than five. That was before I started this blog. My informal guideline for myself is that fewer than five photos of a subject is not enough for a post here. Fortunately, thanks to reader feedback, I now try to capture as full a walk-around as I can. It can be a little difficult on a busy street, especially a one-way job where people park on the left side so I can’t get my customary left profile shot. Luckily this Mini was parked along the Panhandle park just east of Golden Gate Park, so I could still photograph the left side on public property. You'd think it would be easier to photograph a car only ten feet long!

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1964 Amphicar 770

And now for something completely different.

Full disclosure up front. I absolutely cheated with this one. It's one of several cars I've "found" over the years when I attended the Arcane Auto Society's annual meeting in San Francisco. Nice people and a whole lot of weird machinery. This Amphicar was parked in the alley behind the building for a short time at the end of the meet. Public street, weird old car, good enough for me. Where else are you going to see an Amphicar, anyway?

Oakland Street Sighting - 1968 Mercury Montego MX

The United States of America celebrates another birthday today, and in honor of Independence Day I usually publish posts celebrating offerings from independent American automakers. I call it Independents' Week. Unfortunately I don't get out as much as I used to, and my archives are fresh out of American independents. So, instead, I have a star-spangled collection of ... well, defunct American brands in the colors of Old Glory. First up is a red Mercury Montego sedan.

Danville Street Sighting - 1968 Triumph TR 250 Roadster

My theme of features for late November was red British roadsters. So here we are halfway through December on the cusp of the winter solstice, and I've been remiss. Here's a 1968 Triumph TR 250.

Emeryville Street Sighting - 1969 Lotus Elan S4 S/E Drophead Coupe

Any of my readers remember the Lotus Elite I featured in 2016? That wasn't the only car parked on that block that day. I left the Laney College flea market in Oakland on a Sunday morning and cruised over to Emeryville. I found two classic Lotus sports cars and a small warehouse with the roll-up door open. The owner was going to take one of the cars for a drive and needed to move the other in order to get it outside. Here is the Lotus Elan SE roadster.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1966 Mercury Comet 202

Around the city it seems like the favored kickaround classics are the Mopar Dart/Valiant twins and the Ford Falcon. They're tough, simple, reliable and practical. And in a town where parking spaces are nigh impossible to find, a small footprint and solid bumpers are helpful. While Falcons are relatively plentiful in urban environments, a Mercury Comet is a little less common. Here's a '66 Comet 202 sedan.

Danville Street Sighting - 1968 Cadillac Coupe DeVille

This week I have an impromptu theme for my posts. These are all cars I've found outside the same Danville auto repair shop on the same side street, just not at the same time. Last one for this group is a 1968 Cadillac coupe that I believe is a DeVille.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Plymouth Valiant V-200

This week I've had an informal theme of 1960s Plymouth convertibles, but so far it's been the big Fury on display. Here's something a little smaller.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1969 Plymouth Fury III

It wasn't really my intention to do a theme of Plymouth convertibles this week, but I happened to have a few of them in the archives and I know I have at least one reader who is into '60s Mopars. These aren't the muscle cars people think of, though. Today's feature is a 1969 Plymouth Fury III convertible.

Danville Street Sighting - 1967 Plymouth Sport Fury

Well folks, it's summer and that means warm sunny weather for top-down convertible cruising. At least in the parts of the country where it isn't storming right now. If you're sitting at your computer and it's thundering outside, my condolences. At least you can enjoy California vicariously here.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk R1

As a red-blooded American I love the Fourth of July. I love the parade that I have to go to another town to see, and the fireworks I have to go to another county to see. Honestly in my area it's kind of ruined since fireworks are illegal and my city no longer puts on their own show. But I can still fly the flag and once again do my annual "Independents' Week" to celebrate Independence Day.

For those of you unfamiliar with Independents' Week, it's a time when I focus on featuring cars built by American automakers not affiliated with the Big Three of Ford, GM or Chrysler. First up this week is a 1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk R1.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Chrysler New Yorker

It's hard to believe it took me the better part of a decade to get this car onto the blog. I first sighted this 1963 Chrysler New Yorker in San Francisco while on a road trip around California with friends in 2007. At that time it was parked in the Inner Richmond neighborhood and sitting on American Racing directional sawblade wheels. I only got a couple of snapshots of it that day, and spent my entire college years exploring the city with that Chrysler on my list of vehicles to find and shoot in depth. It was only after a day trip in which I covered the entire road grid of the Sunset District that the car turned up again. The first time I located the New Yorker it was very late in the day and my shoot came out poorly, half of the car in the shadow of the houses across the street. I came back at a later date and did much better.

Oakland Street Sighting - 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury

I'm not really sure how the words "Sport" and "Fury" go together. I guess it's something like "Mustang" and "Cobra". When you don't think about it, it makes perfect sense. The name Fury comes from the three Greek goddesses of vengeance. So a Sport Fury must be a very athletic, angry goddess.

Danville Street Sighting - 1968 AMC AMX

My Independents' Week feature series may be over, but I decided to add a bonus one just for the heck of it. Here's a 1968 AMC AMX.