San Francisco Street Sighting - 1965 Buick Special

Following the 1964 Olds F-85 Cutlass is a similar car from its sister division, Buick. This is a 1965 Buick Special. I've always found it unusual that Buick would name their lowest-priced model the "Special", since that name would connote something, well, special about it. Perhaps what was special was that the cheapest car offered buyers a modest mid-sized platform which could then be tailored to the buyer's needs and desires after the fact, without charging extra for all the bells and whistles of the fancier Skylark or larger luxury models. Buyers could make the car special on their own.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1964 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass

It's easy to note that throughout American automotive history, most buyers have favored bigger cars. Value used to be determined by how much sheetmetal you got for your dollar. Cars were advertised based on how much longer, wider and heavier they were than the competition. So you got cars like this 1964 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass, an "intermediate" that's the same length as a new, full-size 2011 Ford Taurus. It was bigger than earlier Cutlasses, and more powerful to compete with midsize cars like Ford's Fairlane.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1965 Rambler Classic 770 Cross Country

Rounding out this "Independents Week" grouping is another American Motors product, a 1965 Rambler Classic Cross Country 770 wagon.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1972 AMC Hornet SST

Second in this "Independents Week" grouping is an American Motors product, a 1972 AMC Hornet SST two-door sedan. For the past few years now, I've been a big fan of the Hornet and the various models it spawned since its introduction in 1970. The Gremlin, Spirit, Concord and Eagle can all trace their roots back to the Hornet. The first Hornet I fell in love with was the red 1974 Hornet X hatchback coupe James Bond drove in The Man with the Golden Gun. Since then I came to appreciate later-model cars like the 1977 Hornet AMX and 1980s Eagle Sport 4x4 wagon. Most recently, though, the early Hornets are growing on me. The Sportabout wagons are my favorite body style of this era.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1963 Studebaker Lark Daytona R2

Last year I celebrated the Fourth of July with a feature I called "Independents Day". The subject was a 1964 Rambler American, a car made by the last great American independent automobile manufacturer, American Motors.
This year I have a few more independents to share, so in lieu of fireworks (they're illegal in my county anyway), let's begin.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75

The first thing you'll probably notice about this 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75 is that it doesn't look like the average person's modern concept of a limousine. That's because it isn't a stretch limousine. This is not your pink Hummer with neon party lights and a dozen drunks throwing up inside it. It's a formal limo, made for transporting important people in smooth, refined luxury. Well, at least it used to be.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1971 Ford Ranchero

There are some vehicles I've been hesitant to feature here on California Streets. Some are just not that rare, not particularly photogenic, or maybe I just don't get enough pictures for an exciting feature. I have an informal name for stuff like that: "Quick Takes". It usually applies to cars that are interesting but I have fewer than five pictures of them. In this case, I have six.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1968 Plymouth Valiant Signet

In my last feature I commented that the Coke-bottle shape of the 1967 Plymouth Barracuda made the Valiant look on which it was based look like the box the Barracuda came in. After looking at this 1968 Valiant Signet two-door sedan, see if you don't agree somewhat. Now don't get me wrong, I like a lot of late-sixties Chrysler products including several model years of the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart twins. But any way you slice them, they are pretty straightforward cars. These were marketed as "senior compacts", smaller and cheaper than other Mopar offerings and also generally plainer to look at with square bodies and relatively little chrome ornamentation, but better equipped and more powerful than a basic economy car like a VW Beetle. Note the "fanned-out" effect on the taillights and the defiant dogleg crease on the lower body that dare to add some character to an otherwise conservative, blocky car. All Valiants up until 1964 were built with a slant-six engine, then the 273 ci V8 was offered as an option. Then, in 1968, the now-venerable 318 V8 joined the Valiant lineup for the first time.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1967 Plymouth Barracuda

As you probably know, I'm a sucker for '60s muscle cars. However, like most people I've always been dedicated more to the Fords and Chevys than the Mopar products. It's not that Chryslers, Dodges and Plymouths of this period were bad; far from it. Some of the greatest muscle machines ever made came from the Pentastar. And in 1967, a slow-selling variant of the Plymouth Valiant economy car came into its own.

A Letter to "Fifties Guy"

I received a comment recently from "Anonymous", the San Francisco car collector I have commonly referred to as "Fifties Guy" here on California Streets. Since he's come across this humble blog which has featured over a dozen of his cars, I wanted to address that fact.

Dear Owner:

Thank you for responding. You may have seen me out in front of your house with my camera (probably multiple times) in the past couple of years and I apologize if I have ever made you or your family uneasy or felt that your privacy was being invaded. Your collection of street-parked classics fascinates me and I always like seeing what's parked out there. It's a fairly unique phenomenon for a San Francisco resident to be able to maintain a car collection of that scale. I want you to know that I respect you and will respect your wishes.
For privacy reasons I have held off on featuring cars which were parked in your driveway. The yellow 1954 Hudson which appeared on the post "A Note to My Readers" was photographed way back in June 2009, and unless I have your permission, other photos of it will NOT appear here in the future. When composing shots and prepping pictures to post, I prefer not to show identifiable addresses, street signs or faces of people when possible. When writing posts I usually try not to use exact street names either.

Again, thank you for writing to me and thank you for collecting those awesome '50s cars.

Sincerely,

Jay Wollenweber