Danville Street Sighting - 1970 Cadillac Eldorado

I'll be the first to admit that the post-1967 front-wheel-drive GM luxury coupes aren't on my short list of cars I'd have in my garage. But I do respect them. It takes a particular sort to fall in love with a big, floaty couch on wheels. The personal luxury coupe market segment enjoyed a couple of decades of popularity in America, largely supplanting the muscle car during the 1970s. The king among these was the Cadillac Eldorado, billed as the World's Finest Personal Car. And this one is amazing.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1970 Buick GS 455

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. First up, a 1970 Buick Gran Sport 455 in glorious Fire Red.

San Jose Street Sighting - 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe

Every year for the 4th of July I like to do a group of features called Independents' Week, focusing on independent American automakers. But since my archives are out of those right now, we're looking at defunct mainstream American brands in the colors of the American flag. We've already had a pair of Mercurys representing red and white. Third in the set this week, representing the color blue, is a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Plymouth Satellite

It's still rather interesting to me the way that car companies used to do models using the same body for several different trim levels and nameplates. In 1970 you could walk onto a Plymouth dealer lot and purchase a standard Belvedere, or you could spice it up with a Satellite, Sport Satellite, GTX or Road Runner. The lower Belvedere and Satellite models were available in a full complement of body styles, but the Sport Satellite was limited to hardtop coupe, sedan or station wagon and the GTX was hardtop only and the Road Runner was coupe or convertible. This car appears to be a regular Satellite hardtop. Satellites were offered with a 225 slant six or 318 small block V8, with a two- or four-barrel 383 V8 optional.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1970 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan

Admittedly I usually don't like photographing really beat-up cars but I do if they're interesting or uncommon. A 1970 Chevy Impala four-door hardtop used to be a common sight on America's roads, but certainly isn't anymore. GM produced over 600,000 Impalas in 1970, the vast majority of which were V8 cars. This number does not even include low-trim Biscaynes and Bel Airs or high-trim Caprices! I have seen an estimate of 46,000 for Impala Sport Sedan production but no actual number seems to be available.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1970 Mini Cooper S

It's been over a month since our last classic Mini, so it was time for another. I've come across a few Mk III Minis from the early 1970s and they almost all seem to be Coopers or at least done up as such. To the untrained observer (like me), any old Mini with a few visual enhancements and some replica badges from Mini Mania or Moss Motors could be a Cooper or Cooper S.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1970 Dodge Charger

Ask a person about the 1968-1970 Dodge Charger in popular culture and you'll get three answers. Older people will probably say the bad guys' black '68 R/T in Bullitt's famous chase scene. Young people might say the black '70 drag car driven by Vin Diesel in a couple of the Fast and the Furious movies (he also drove a modified '69 Charger Daytona replica in Furious 6). And most everyone knows a certain gravity-defying orange '69 R/T with the doors welded up and a horn that plays Dixie. Incidentally, virtually all of those cars were destroyed in filming their respective roles. But this green '70 Charger has survived and lives a quiet life in suburban Alameda.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Mini Mk III

Oh dear, a Mini. Let's see what an ignorant fool I am about these cars. Readers from the UK, please be gentle!

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Toyota Corona Mark II 1900 Wagon 4x4

A lot of the time, when you run across a custom car that's something completely unique, someone else has already posted something about it online. That makes research a lot easier. But sometimes it's a Frankenstein car and in some cases, the history isn't publicly known. All I know is I've seen this 1970 Toyota Corona Mark II wagon at least three times around the Bay Area since 2010 and I still know very little about it.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Ford Torino GT Convertible

Typically when I go to write about the cars I encounter on the street, some research is involved for data about the vehicle. Sometimes I have no idea what I'm looking at and need to look it up to determine the model year or other identifying information. Some cars are obscure variants of well known models or are modified in such a way that IDing them is hard. Did you know that Ford made a Torino GT convertible in 1970? Weirdly, though, this one doesn't have many of the sporty touches associated with the GT.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Convertible

It's winter now and much of the United States is gripped by frigid temperatures and snow. So this week, let's look at some convertibles!

Up first this week is a sunny yellow 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7 droptop. I've long loved the '70 Cougars with their neat styling, athletic looks and performance to match. The 1969 front end left a bit to be desired in my opinion, and the '70 facelift gives the car a more aggressive, symmetrical look. The electric shaver grille with hideaway headlamps of the early Cougars is my favorite design element. Mind you, there is still a balance of performance and comfort shown here. The formal-looking "Lincoln-Mercury Division" badge on the taillight panel is there to remind you that this isn't your teenage son's Mustang.

Oakland Street Sighting - 1970 Volkswagen Beetle 1500 Wunderbug

I told myself I'd never feature a Beetle. Twenty-one million of the things were built and a goodly number of them are still on the roads in various conditions. The Volkswagen Beetle is still common, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. And for that reason, the Bug was never that special to me. Some of you in the rustbelt who never see them, or VW enthusiasts, may feel otherwise. My father once owned a '71 Super Beetle and thought it was a wonderfully fun little car.

The Beetle is such a simple and versatile platform, it's excellent as a starting point for dune buggies like the Meyers Manx and kit cars ranging from fiberglass Porsche 356 replicas to the Bradley GT. There is a tuner culture that gave rise to the Cal Look, Volksrod and Baja Bug. And then there's this, a faux-1937 Ford coupe called the Wunderbug.

Kensington Street Sighting - 1970 Cadillac Superior Crown Sovereign Funeral Coach

It's something of a tradition for me to feature a hearse for my Halloween post. This year I have two to share. The first is a 1970 Cadillac Superior Crown Sovereign Funeral Coach. That's kind of a mouthful. Specifically, it is a Cadillac Funeral Coach, with coachwork performed by Superior Coach Company, and the model as offered by Superior is the Crown Sovereign. These professional cars were offered as an end-loader or side-loader ("three-way"), the latter of which came with rear-hinged suicide doors to aid in sliding a casket through either side of the car. Other options included the Landau or Landaulet trims, a padded vinyl roof covering which covered the whole roof as on this car, or in the case of the Landaulet, only half the roof was covered. The vinyl ended at a stainless steel band which extended from the C-pillar up and across the roof.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Volkswagen Type 2 Bus Pickup

There are a few Volkswagen Type 2 Bus pickups already on this site. All of them, however, have been the early T1 model, or "Splittie". In 1968 the T2 was introduced, called the "Bay" Bus for its large curved windshield. The pickup versions of these Buses sold relatively well through the 1960s, but were curbed sharply by the U.S. Chicken Tax, a 25% tariff on imported light trucks. That tax all but eliminated VW pickups from the American market in the 1970s. The passenger vans were not affected and sold in large numbers well into the end of the decade, paving the way for the T3 Vanagon, T4 Eurovan (and later the T5 Transporter not sold in the States). The VW Rabbit also offered a pickup version, but for the American market it was built in Pennsylvania and avoided the tax.

Danville Street Sighting - 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396

One of my all-time favorite muscle cars is the 1970 Chevelle SS. It was an amazing year for General Motors, pretty much the climax of the muscle car era and there weren't a lot of cars that could be called ugly in GM's vast stable. The Chevelle was Chevrolet's everyman midsize offering and could be had in any flavor from a tame straight-six Nomad wagon to an El Camino pickup to an LS6 454 Chevelle SS convertible producing 450-plus horsepower. The one everybody remembers is the SS 454 coupe, usually decked out with a cowl induction hood and contrasting stripes.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Cadillac Eldorado

One of my guilty pleasures of the automotive world is the 1967-70 Cadillac Eldorado. I've never understood what it is about that car that I like, but I think it's mostly the dramatic rear three-quarter view. Otherwise this generation is notable to me only for being the first FWD Cadillacs.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Citroën DS

I'm not certain if this counts as a street sighting. I was leaving San Francisco's annual Fleet Week air show (at the same time as thousands upon thousands of other people as seen in these photos) and discovered this lovely green Citroën DS parked at Fishermen's Wharf. It turned out there was some sort of informal car show starting down at that end of the wharf, consisting mainly of lowriders and donk/high-riser cars on huge chrome wheels. Since the DS didn't match that description, and was parked on the same block where the Studebaker collector usually parks his cars, I felt more inclined to accept it as a legitimate street sighting. As difficult as it was to get clear pictures without hordes of people walking or biking past the car or milling around it, I feel like I've earned the right to feature it here!

Oakland Street Sighting - 1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III

For years now, Mercedes-Benz has been running holiday season commercials depicting Santa Claus driving a red Mercedes as his Christmas sleigh. An SL roadster? How pedestrian. Santa's too pimp for that. A fat man who dresses in red and white fur and gets little people and animals to help him do his work needs something big and classy. And in proper pimp car fashion, the car should match Santa's favorite wardrobe. The jolly old elf also has to make his rounds delivering toys to millions of kids in one night, so he needs something powerful and fast, with a large trunk for the bag of gifts.

Enter the 1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III.

Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1970 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight LS Holiday sedan

I don't know what it is about vintage full-size near-luxury sedans. The more ornate their ornamentation, the more optimistic the name, the more trashed they tend to be. This one is a 1970 Ninety Eight LS (Luxury Sedan) Holiday four-door hardtop, the top model in Oldsmobile's lineup. The 98 came with a 455 Rocket V8 and was available with a host of convenience options befitting a luxury cruiser, including standard power seats, power windows, power steering and power front disc brakes, available tilt and telescoping steering wheel, 8-track tape player, and of course a luxury vinyl roof. Rear fender skirts were standard.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Morris Minor 1000 Van

I've seen a number of unusual cars cruising down the streets of San Francisco over the years, and occasionally I've been lucky enough to turn on my camera and snap a picture or two as they drive by. Three years ago I was walking through the Haight and this Morris Minor van puttered past. Needless to say, I was excited, but after two photos I figured I'd never see the little van again. And for a while I didn't see it, until this April when it showed up parked on Nob Hill.