Oakland Street Sighting - 1987 Maserati Biturbo i Spyder

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

On the eleventh day of Christmas my archive gave to thee:
A yellow Maserati,
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.

It's the mid-1980s. Ronald Reagan is in his second term as president. The economy is good and it's time to reward yourself with a new convertible. Do you do what your old man recommends and buy American? You could pick up a turbo four-cylinder Dodge 600 or a Chrysler LeBaron, perhaps a Foxbody Mustang? You wouldn't settle for a Cavalier Z24 or Sunbird GT, would you? And dear old Dad didn't survive a tour in the Pacific Theater just so you could buy a Toyota Celica GT-S. How about your European options, then? BMW E30 325i? No, half the board of directors has those. Mercedes 560SL or Jaguar XJS? No, too much gas. Porsche 911 Cabriolet? Too expensive. Corvette? How gauche. No, you need to go Italian. Enter the Maserati Biturbo Spyder.

Danville Street Sighting - 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera

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

On the ninth day of Christmas my archive gave to thee:
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.

Okay, okay. I know what "stancing" is in terms of modern car customization. Stancing refers to making a car sit as low as possible, often either fitting the wheels flush with the arches or tucked under the arches with negative camber. Often this is accomplished through the use of air-ride adjustable suspension, stretched tires and other tricks. This car is not stanced by that definition. I don't care. "Nine-Eleven stancing" more or less rhymes with "Nine ladies dancing", and it is a custom car. Not one of those crazy RAUH-Welt Begriff (RWB) widebody 911s with extreme aero parts but more of a late '80s 911 Carrera that's been dressed up to resemble the classic and very collectible 1973 Carrera RS 2.7.

Danville Street Sighting - 1987 Mitsubishi Starion Turbo

This week we're looking at cars from the 1980s that are uniquely a product of their time. What says '80s more than anything? TURBO.

This is a 1987 Mitsubishi Starion TURBO. It has TURBO SEAT BELTS.

Danville Street Sighting - 1987 Cadillac Cimarron

My local iHeartRadio station has been advertising heavily of late. They're celebrating their one-year anniversary of their broadcast format, 1980s rock and pop music. So this week I'm featuring only cars that are firmly products of their era... the '80s.

First up this week is a car that many still believe should never have been made. It's the Cadillac Cimarron. Or if you go by the sales literature, "the Cimarron, by Cadillac".

Oakland Street Sighting - 1987 Pontiac 6000 STE

The first car I ever rode in was a Pontiac 6000 STE. It was my parents' car, a blue 1985 model that they purchased used in 1987. I grew up in and around that car, and it was my first car when I started driving. So the 6000 STE made a huge impact on my life. I loved its low rumbling growl, space-age digital dashboard, nimble handling and excellent all-around visibility.

Unfortunately the GM A-body FWD platform isn't known for being a stellar car in general. Your average Chevy Celebrity or Olds Cutlass Ciera is a car for poor people and students. A lot of young people today don't even know what a Pontiac 6000 is, let alone Pontiac's Special Touring Edition sport sedan that once tried to compete with BMW. Others I've talked to or read, who are familiar with these cars, also know that they tend to be finicky as they age.

San Jose Street Sighting - 1987 Ford Mustang GT

One of my best friends has a birthday today, so we're going to honor him with a feature of one of his favorite cars. He loves 1979-93 Foxbody Mustangs. Now these cars are still a dime a dozen in California, but there are some problems. Most of them have been ridden hard and/or modified within an inch of their life, and many look like the example seen here. That's not really why I photographed this car. I shot it because Medium Gray Metallic over Titanium with an electric blue accent stripe is my buddy's favorite color combination for these cars, and from what I've seen it's a rather rare paint scheme.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1987 Merkur XR4Ti

It's the mid 1980s. You're a moderately successful professional in the market for a new prestige car. You could buy a Cadillac, or a Lincoln, or a nice Chrysler. But you want something a little more European, smaller, and sporty. You could buy a BMW 3 Series, but every yuppie buys a BMW. So you bite your lip and walk onto the lot at the Lincoln-Mercury dealer, past the squishy Grand Marquis and Town Cars, past the formal-roofed Cougar and hump-trunked Mark VII LSC with their thirsty V8s. On one side of the lot there's a shiny two-tone hatchback that looks like nothing else there. "What's a Merkur?" you ask the eager salesman who caught you staring at this strange car that says it was made in Germany. A four-cylinder with a turbocharger? The salesman proudly tells you this car shares its 2.3 liter turbo engine with the Mustang SVO and Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. You didn't even know you could get a Mustang with a turbo! So you test drive this unusual alphanumeric car. It ticks the boxes you're looking for. Alloy wheels, moonroof, rear spoiler, minimal brightwork, rear-wheel-drive, sport-tuned suspension, five-speed manual, and it pulls when you stomp the gas and the turbo spools up. You take a chance, sign on the dotted line and become the only person in your neighborhood with a Merkur XR4Ti.

Foster City Street Sighting - 1987 Yugo GV

This is one of my favorite street sightings. This past week I've featured some famously "bad" cars, so here is the king of them all. It's a 1987 Yugo GV.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1987 Suzuki Samurai JX

While we're on the topic of supposedly unsafe cars whose sales someone went out of their way to destroy, let's take a look at the Suzuki Samurai. I admit, normally I wouldn't write about something like this, but it seems appropriate and these little 4x4s aren't especially common anymore. Consumer Reports pretty much ruined the Samurai. It was a cheap, capable personal SUV that happened to have a high center of gravity and a short wheelbase. And to Consumer Reports, that equals flip hazard. Never mind that video evidence exists of them doing everything they could to force the truck to go up on two wheels. A photo in a print magazine doesn't capture the voices offscreen of staffers cheering when they get the results they wanted, rather than the results the vehicle would give under regular driving input.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1987 Nissan Sentra GXE wagon

Not every rare vehicle is exciting. Many are humble and unassuming, perhaps unpopular variants or editions of mainstream nameplates. Such is the case of this 1987 Nissan Sentra GXE wagon. Of all the cars I've photographed in depth, this is the one that I debated the most (and probably the longest, over two years). Is it notable? The guys who run OldParkedCars would have posted it, for what that's worth. Why feature this while turning up my nose at a lot of older, cooler cars? In a town full of old and unusual cars, an old Beetle or Mustang typically doesn't evoke a reaction from me anymore. For some reason, this relatively straight example of a rarely seen late 1980s Japanese station wagon just spoke to me. What do you think? Milquetoast '80s econobox or interesting automotive footnote?

Best of the Rest 2: Vantastic

1963-67 Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus, Dublin

1965 Chevrolet Sportvan, San Francisco

1969 Dodge A108 Sportsman Family Wagon, San Francisco

1968-70 Chevrolet ChevyVan, San Francisco

1987 Nissan Van, San Ramon

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1987 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint

This is probably the first car I photographed for this blog that left me wondering, "Is it worthy?" It's a 1987 Chevrolet Sprint, a captive import produced by Suzuki for Chevy from 1985 through '88. The Sprint was based on the Suzuki Cultus, arguably one of the most whored-out car platforms in history. The Cultus in its various forms has been sold in several countries on at least four different continents and under a variety of names and brands. After the Sprint was dropped in 1988, the newly redesigned Cultus arrived in the United States once again in 1989, badged as the Suzuki Swift and as the Geo Metro. It was also sold in Canada as the Chevy Sprint (Geo Metro after 1992) and Pontiac Firefly.

San Francisco Street Sighting: 1987 Sterling 825 SL

What looks like a Japanese car, runs like a Japanese car, but feels like a British car and rusts and breaks like a British car? Well, if you live in the US, chances are the car is a Sterling. Europe knows this car as the Rover 800, a car which, under the skin, is basically an Acura Legend. The engineering was done by Honda, with the platform and powertrain built to last. Everything else was done by Austin Rover, a fact which pretty much doomed the Sterling.