Danville Street Sighting - 1974 Datsun 260Z Custom

If there's one thing about me that drives my friends crazy, it's my tendency to be a purist. I generally prefer a vehicle to be kept visually stock or minimally and tastefully modified. With custom cars, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Rarely have I been more conflicted about a feature car than this 1974 Datsun 260Z.

Danville Street Sighting - 1974 Datsun 610 Coupe

As long as we're looking at a string of 1970s cars, how about the '74 Datsun that was parked behind the '74 Ford Pinto Squire from my last feature? I haven't posted too many older Japanese vehicles and this one has been frustratingly elusive. I had seen it here and there around town for over a decade and this was only the second time I had the chance to get photos.

Danville Street Sighting - 1974 Ford Pinto Squire Wagon

I seem to have a 1970s theme going on with my last couple of posts, so why not carry it on with another earth-toned disco era beastie? This one's the fifth Ford Pinto to appear on California Streets, but it's the first Squire station wagon that wasn't found in a junkyard.

Berkeley Street Sighting - 1974 Mazda B1600 Pickup

I'm on kind of a Japanese truck kick right now, so after the '66 Toyota Stout from Friday let's look at a 1974 Mazda B-Series. No, it's not a REPU (Rotary Engined Pick Up), but it's the next best thing.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Volvo 164E

It's still kind of weird to me hearing the name Volvo tossed around as a luxury manufacturer. They've gone upmarket in recent decades, but living in the San Francisco Bay Area it's very hard to shake the mental image of ratty old 244DLs with colossal black rubber bumpers. One of Volvo's first efforts to break into the luxury field was the 164, an upgraded version of the 144 sedan with a longer wheelbase and bigger engine. The 164 featured 3.0 liter straight-six power, wrapped in a unique front end with round headlamps and a tall, upright grille. Officially sold from 1969 to 1975, a small number were apparently also titled as '76s. This one is a '74, built with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection, a facelifted grille, large rubber bumpers, flush-mounted door handles and the first year without front vent windows. The 1974 164 was also available with heated seats, a perfect luxury item for a car from a Nordic country. Buyers had a choice of four-speed manual transmission with or without overdrive, or a three-speed automatic that hampered acceleration dramatically. Regardless, the automatic was popular in North America. I guess nobody really bought a Volvo sedan for its performance in the pre-turbo days.

San Jose Street Sighting - 1974 Jeep J-10 Pickup

I love old Jeep trucks. They just look like a scaled-up pressed-steel Tonka toy, down to the squared off fenders and creased edges and chunky tailgate lettering. It's all very institutional and deliberately utilitarian, befitting a work truck of the era. My interest in Jeep pickups came from the yellow 1982 Honcho used in the 1996 film Twister, which sadly got destroyed. (Incidentally, the same movie also helped get me interested in Dodge Rams.)

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Triumph TR6 Roadster

What color do you associate with an English sports roadster? British Racing Green, for sure. Red, perhaps. White or black, maybe. But how about purple?
For two years, 1973 and '74, the good folks at Triumph offered the TR6 sports car in this color, called "Magenta", in addition to a range of blues, greens and earth tones worthy of any mid-seventies home refrigerator.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1974 Chevrolet Camaro Type LT

Until recently I had a strict rule for myself regarding pony cars, particularly Mustangs and GM F-Bodies. And that rule basically was that I wouldn't feature, let alone shoot, any of them unless they were sufficiently rare or awesome. Usually a Malaise-era, big-bumper Camaro evokes no emotional response from me whatsoever, but I really like this one.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1974 Volkswagen Type 181 Thing

Thing.

There's something wonderfully silly about naming a car "Thing". What is that thing? Yes. That's what it is. Unless you're in the UK or some other country, in which case your VW Type 181 might be labeled a Trekker or Safari or what have you. Safari? Where I come from, that's a GMC van or a Pontiac wagon, not a Volkswagen. While that name may be just as apropos for an open-topped four-door car based on the WWII-era Kubelwagen that would look at home on the African plains, it doesn't sound nearly as playful as calling the boxy little vehicle the Thing.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Ford Pinto Wagon

People who know me, know that I adore the Ford Pinto. It's an interest that first developed in junior high school, and it grew as I collected my first piece of Pinto memorabilia - a Pinto badge I bought at the Turlock Swap Meet for $4. It became my good luck charm; I literally brought it to school every day in my backpack. Today I do not own a Pinto, but I have some Pinto literature, an owner's manual (did you know the Pinto's optional roof rack has a higher load rating than the roof rack of a first-generation Honda CR-V?), and multiple Motormax Fresh Cherries diecast Pintos. I actually bypassed the Johnny Lightning diecast of the Pinto because the proportions were wrong. In a college book arts class I made a 1:15 scale papercraft model of a '73 Pinto Squire with an opening tailgate and corduroy-lined cargo bay. I told everyone it was a storage box.
I'm sure most of my love for Ford's 1970s compact is due to nostalgia for an era before I was born, and the irony that I 'adopt' vehicles most people detest, such as the Edsel and most AMC products. I'm not a hipster, I just like unconventional stuff. That, and the Pinto is in my opinion a rather good-looking little car.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Kent Cortez motorhome

Imagine you want to go into the motor home business. What formula will you use for your vehicle? How will it be constructed? Will you use a donor chassis? What powertrain will you employ? These are all things to consider and they can make or break the resulting camper. Probably for that reason, most RVs are conventional rear-wheel-drive and are often built on an existing truck or bus chassis with a gas or diesel engine powerful enough to propel the big vehicle up a grade with several people and their gear on board.
Now imagine that it's 1963 and you're the Clark Equipment Company. You make forklifts. You want to make a foray into the growing RV market. Where do you start? Well, forklifts are made of steel and have front-wheel drive. The Clark motorhome was designed with an all-steel body from the ground up, and front-wheel drive to maximize interior space with a low, flat floor free of a transmission and driveline hump. Early models were powered by a heavy-duty Dodge slant six hooked up to a manual transmission. The RVs eschewed a truck's ladder frame in favor of unit-body construction and employed four-wheel independent suspension for a smoother ride. What was this new vehicle called? Why, Clark named it after one of the greatest mass murderers, I mean explorers, in history, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Jensen-Healey Mk II convertible

Rounding out this week's group of red convertibles is an English import, a 1974 Jensen-Healey Mark II. Readers of this blog may remember the black 1973 Healey I featured last year. The '72-73 Healey had larger front turn signals than the later cars, but still had giant black bumpers that disfigured what could have been a trim little sports car. In 1974 the bumpers became even larger to satisfy US crash regulations and lost their chrome trim. A two-door "shooting brake" wagon version, called the Jensen GT, was built in limited numbers from 1975 to '76 until the company folded. It was an undignified end for Donald Healey's line of roadsters.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Chevrolet Vega 2300

Rounding out 1970s Economy Cars week is this 1974-75 Chevrolet Vega 2300 hatchback. It was GM's effort to beat the Japanese at their own game, building a practical, affordable domestic compact with a plethora of body configurations and a lightweight aluminum engine block. The engine was the car's main stumbling block, since its lack of steel cylinder wall sleeves (an $8 per car savings) allowed piston motion and heat to ruin the engine. According to GM engineers, the culprits were brittle valve stem seals and an undersized radiator which, if the owner ignored his fluid levels, together could let coolant and oil run low and make the engine overheat, penetrate the head gasket with antifreeze and cause the pistons to scuff the cylinder walls all to crap. The early cars simply weren't tested for owner neglect and the Vega was designed too quickly and too cheaply to correct everything before production time. The subsequent flood of warranty repair claims cost GM millions. The engine problem was rectified later, as were many other problems, but the Vega never lost its tarnished reputation and was later replaced by the nearly-identical Monza in 1978. The attractive miniature-Camaro styling introduced in 1971 was updated in 1974 to make the car more current, compensating both for the fact that the Feds mandated gigantic 5-mph bumpers and the fact that the Camaro had also been restyled. Still available were the Vega 2-door sedan, 2-door hatchback, Kammback 2-door wagon, and a sedan delivery with blank window panels.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV

I've probably been playing too much Grand Theft Auto IV, but I've also been spoiled for choice when browsing my archives trying to pick a car to feature. So I'll take a leaf from Brucie Kibbutz's book and be genetically different, baby. ALPHA. Or Alfa, even.

This week, let's look at some Alfa Romeos.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 BMW 3.0 CS Automatic

Given my affinity for the E9 series BMW "New Six" coupes, I'm more than happy to feature another after the clean silver 1969-71 2800 CS model I posted two years ago. Since most of the CS coupes I see are in good condition, it makes me a little sad to see one sliding downhill. I'll be up-front about it, I first discovered this one while browsing Google Street View. Finding the real car, however, was a challenge as it was in a different location, so I consider it a legitimate street sighting. And besides, a low-resolution image on Google Maps is nothing compared to seeing the real thing up close.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1974 Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce

San Franciscans love funky little Italian cars, and Alfa Romeo is probably the best-represented Italian brand in The City. I see a lot of Spider Veloce roadsters and 164 sedans, with the occasional Milano or Giulia sedan popping up. But my favorite to find is the 105/115 Series coupe, commonly known as the Giulia GTV. These handsome little cars were first introduced in 1963 and produced until 1977, sold under a number of various names. This particular car is a 1974 2000 GT Veloce Iniezione, the final top-level incarnation of the model range. It featured a larger engine than the 1750 GTV it replaced, and US models received fuel injection. The 2000 GTV was produced between 1971 and '76, with 37,459 built.

Sebastopol Street Sighting - 1974 AMC Hornet

Oh snap son, an AMC! Well, that may not seem too special to some (particularly those of you reading this in Wisconsin), but American Motors products are getting pretty scarce in my neck of the woods. In fact, this wasn't spotted in my neck of the woods at all. I nabbed this 1974 AMC Hornet sedan in Sebastopol, California.
It may not look like much, and for all intents and purposes, it isn't much. It's a generic beige color, spiced up only by a chocolate brown vinyl roof which, like the body, has seen much better days. I'd chance a guess that the engine is one of the two straight six options. I'm curious which side's hubcaps are original.