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 - 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.

Emeryville Street Sighting - 1963 Volvo PV544 Sport

Tucked away on a quiet corner of a quiet street in Emeryville, California is an unassuming brick building with a simple script sign above its door that says "Fantasy Junction". It lives up to its name. Inside are dozens of classic sports cars worthy of anyone's dream garage, and all for sale. And outside... well, usually there's nothing special outside. But on one of my visits there with a friend who had never been, we encountered this cherry red Volvo PV 544 parked across the street.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Plymouth Belvedere Station Wagon

When cruising around for classic cars on the streets, I sometimes find that the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco yields interesting subjects. A sort of mecca for both tourists and eclectic locals, the Haight has mostly on-street parking for its various homes and businesses and I've run across a number of classics there. This '63 Plymouth Belvedere was a great spotting.

Santa Clara Street Sighting - 1963 Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside

It's the first day of a new year, when we look forward to the potential for great new things. In the spirit of going forward, today's feature is a forward control Chevy Corvair 95 Rampside pickup.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible

We've already looked at a few 1960s Lincoln Continentals here, but nearly all have been sedans and thus far, only two years have been represented: 1963 and 1968. This is yet another '63, but it's our first Continental convertible.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Oldsmobile Starfire Holiday Coupe

Corporate internal competition is a funny thing. When GM wanted a piece of the burgeoning personal luxury sport coupe market in the early 1960s, they brought out the Oldsmobile Starfire to compete with the likes of the Ford Thunderbird and other sporty, two-door luxury cars. But there was a problem. See, GM's once-orderly brand hierarchy had dissolved in the interest of being all things to all people. Now they had half a dozen divisions all competing, in many cases, for the same market segment. When this Olds Starfire rolled off the assembly line in 1963, it was competing with the new '63 Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Wildcat and sexy new Riviera. Even the higher-spec Chevy Impalas (particularly the SS) and similar Olds Dynamic 88s probably stole sales from the Starfire.

Oakland Street Sighting - 1963 Mercury Monterey Custom Breezeway

I have a bit of a soft spot for the 1963 Mercury Monterey. An acquaintance of mine owns one, a two-door with the Breezeway rear window that was a daily driver and occasional autocross car until it met a concrete barrier at an event. As of this writing, it awaits restoration.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1963 Dodge Polara Convertible

Regular readers here know that I'm not exactly a Mopar fanboy. By that I mean I like a lot of Chrysler products, but there are also a lot of models and model years I don't particularly favor. Much has been said about Chrysler's amusing gamble to downsize their 1962 Dodge and Plymouth models on short notice, and how it left their formerly fullsize cars roughly the size of their competitors' intermediate offerings. The end result was a line of ungainly vehicles with scaled-down styling cues meant for larger bodies. Chrysler executives fired designer Virgil Exner for the unpopular goof, even though downsizing wasn't his plan and he wasn't actually involved in the reinterpretation of his original design. Elwood Engel was brought in to "fix" things for '63, and the result was the Dodge Polara you see here.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1963 Rambler American Wagon

When I travel down to Santa Cruz with friends, one of my favorite places to stop is the Santa Cruz Diner on Ocean Street. It's an eclectic little place that apparently is good enough that Guy Fieri from the Food Network stopped by to sample their food. But this is a car blog and you aren't here to read about how much I like their Monte Cristo sandwich. This 1963 Rambler American was parked just around the corner.
While coming off of highway 17 into town, I couldn't help but notice the odd little Rambler grinning (grimacing?) at us as we drove by. I've seen another '63 Rambler in Santa Cruz before, a blue 440 convertible that was featured here in October 2012. I always enjoy visiting Santa Cruz, in no small part because its unique population of artists, hippies, surfers and eccentrics makes for a mix of unusual cars dotting the streets. Some of them dot the street in more ways than one.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1963 Chrysler 300

In the summer of 2010 I was returning from Santa Cruz's silly tourist trap, the Mystery Spot, and happened upon a white 1966 Dodge Monaco 440 station wagon parked on the street. It would have been an awesome subject for a street sighting feature, but I passed. One photo from the driver's seat of my car and away I went, promising myself that I would go back someday and shoot it properly.
Two years passed. I went back. The car was gone. In its place was this, a 1963 Chrysler 300 coupe. The owner walked outside while I was photographing it and I asked what happened to the Monaco. He told me he had sold it, but one day while Googling for 1966 Monaco wagons he had found a picture of his wagon, posted on a car blog called California Streets. Small world, indeed!

Danville Street Sighting - 1963 Buick Wildcat convertible

I'm not an expert on 1960s Buicks. Aside from the Riviera, it seems most of the Buick line was an upgraded version of the more common Chevrolets and Pontiacs. The 1963 Buick Wildcat may have a passing resemblance in profile to the 1963 Chevy Impala. That's because it is based on the full-size B platform Chevy, albeit with many changes. Wildcats were an interesting creature, more of a large sporty car than a general boulevard cruiser.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1963 Ford Thunderbird

For those readers who cringed at the 1961 Thunderbird I featured last time, rejoice! Here's a beautiful 1963 T-Bird I found in sunny Santa Cruz. This car is nearly perfect and I'd wager it's been restored. For some reason I love 1963 Ford products in metallic beige. I have a diecast display model of a '63 Ford Galaxie 500XL painted this color, which I chose because it was subtle and elegant compared with the bright reds and blues of the time period. Mind you, I complain about modern beige cars but I don't see it as too much of a double standard. Modern cars are boring to start with and beige makes them even worse!

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Lincoln Continental

This isn't the first time I've stumbled upon a 1963 Lincoln Continental sedan. In fact, this is the second one I've found in San Francisco. What surprised me, is where in the city it lives. This giant boat parks on a very narrow, winding street on a steep hill - not its natural habitat by a long shot. This is why parking laws tell drivers to curb their wheels. You don't want an out-of-control, unmanned '63 Continental barreling down your street.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1963 Rambler American 440 Convertible

It was a cold, dull day in Santa Cruz and my friend and I had nothing to do. We didn't feel like blowing money at the Boardwalk so we hopped in my car and drove through town. I always love finding off-brand cars, so when we passed this Bahama Blue 1963 Rambler American 440 convertible, I stopped and grabbed my camera.

Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1963 Ford Falcon Club Wagon

A while ago, I featured a Ford Falcon Club Wagon I found parked on Haight Street in San Francisco. It was a well-used example and was in rather ratty condition. The van, being a Falcon-badged variant of what is more commonly called the Econoline, confused some people. The post made it to an Australian Falcon forum, and mind you, the Aussies take their Falcons very seriously. They couldn't believe that such a thing existed, because clearly it was an Econoline someone put 'custom' Falcon badges on. Well, it wasn't the only Falcon Club Wagon van out there.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Volkswagen Type 2 Bus Pickup

The VW Bus pickup seems to come in two distinct varieties: Custom lowrider or beaten work truck. I don't see many that are stock, and even fewer that are in this stage of degradation. This is one of the newer Bus pickups I've seen, and yet it's in arguably the worst condition of any I've seen on the street. Found in the Mission District, this old single-cab Splittie has been through the wringer.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Triumph TR4 roadster

I don't know if it's because they're cheap, or British, or just because it's the big city, but it seems as though most British roadsters in the city are in some stage of disrepair. They often have worn, weather-beaten paint and some degree of rust sullying their bodies. The upholstery is cracked, convertible tops are often bandaged with tape, bumpers bent and pitted and wooden steering wheels worn smooth with many miles and many years of experience. Some people call such a car a beater. Others call it "cheap and cheerful". And nobody does cheap and cheerful like a drop-top sports roadster.

Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1963 Buick Electra 225 convertible

Few cars have a reputation built on sheer size. The Buick Electra - the real one, not the silly post-1986 FWD version - was one of those cars. It was affectionately called the "Deuce and a Quarter" for its massive 225-inch length. These cars were luxury boats, loaded with chrome and convenience features, as well as what passed for "safety" items in those days like extra padding and warning buzzers in case the two-ton car's inertia proved too much for the drum brakes to stop in time.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Buick Riviera

I'm a big fan of first-generation Buick Rivieras. The 1963-65 Rivs were a styling triumph for Buick, and this pretty blue luxury coupe is a strong example of the breed. These early (pre-'65) Rivieras lack the hidden headlights that were part of the original design, but in my opinion the fixed-light cars are the best looking. The 1965 models have a cleaner design with stacked lights hidden behind the stainless corner trim, a hood ornament and no simulated side scoops.