San Francisco Street Sighting - 1967 Ford Falcon

This has to be one of the most visually interesting cars I photographed in 2015. The '67 Ford Falcon never set out to be exciting originally, just a basic economy car that lived in the shadow of the Mustang. Ford produced a car that checked the boxes for a car of the era: Four doors, two doors, station wagon; six or eight cylinders; automatic or manual, done. The body was conservatively styled and the chassis conservatively engineered. The colors it was offered in were generally conservative as well. Nothing about this car really stands out, but for the incredible patina it wears.

Collector's Corner - Maisto 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster

The story of how this model came to me is mildly interesting. It's no accident that I'm writing about toy cars so soon after Christmas, but this Maisto Porsche 911 Speedster was no gift. I was bored around 3:00 in the morning, browsing eBay for anything cheap in 1:18 scale. Someone had listed a black 1989 Speedster in a factory cardboard box and protective foam shell for under $10. Being the amateur speculator I thought I was at the time, I bid on it. I figured an auction ending in the early morning was unlikely to get much attention and I ended up owning the Porsche. My original plan was to turn around and try to sell it at a profit, but after taking a good look at the model I decided to keep it.

Merry Christmas from California Streets!

It's that time of year again! Wishing all my readers and their families a safe, warm and happy holiday season.

See you in 2016!

Danville Street Sighting - 1979 Ford Thunderbird Town Landau

In my previous feature we looked at a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, which debuted a few years after Elvis Presley got into the rock 'n roll scene. Now we look at a 1979 Thunderbird, a car that was built a couple of years after Elvis died. And much like Elvis, the Thunderbird was immensely popular from the start and they both got very fat around the same time. Unlike Elvis, though, the Thunderbird survived for another few decades thanks to a series of total reinventions.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1956 Ford Thunderbird

When I was a kid I had a fairly limited range of interest in cars and one of my favorites was the first-generation Ford Thunderbird. Children aren't the most sophistocated creatures so I guess the most iconic designs make the biggest impression. For me it was the '57 Bel Air, the '59 Cadillac, '70 Chevelle and various bedroom-poster fare such as the Viper RT/10, Ferrari F50 and Lamborghini Diablo. Take a look on eBay sometime at the most common diecast models for sale and you'll see what I mean about what appeals to kids. That said, the early T-Birds are very pretty cars. I always preferred the '57 when I was young but the '55 and '56 have their own merit and my interest in them has grown over the years.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1981 DeLorean DMC-12

Many of my readers are no doubt familiar with the Back To The Future franchise and the significance of October 21, 2015 as the so-called "Back to the Future Day", when Marty McFly traveled to the future. Well, I attended a double feature screening of BTTF I and II in Livermore's Vine Cinema on that night, and what turned up outside the theater but a DeLorean? A fan had driven his car there for the screening. Maybe it's cheating, but I know where at least three other DeLoreans live and none of them are ever parked on the street.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1964 Ford Galaxie 500

I've always been kind of ambivalent toward the 1964 Ford full-size range. I like the '61, '63, '65, '66 and others but the '64 has always looked slightly unusual to me. I can't quite put my finger on it. In recent years I've warmed up to them somewhat.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1962 Plymouth Fury

Ever have those times when somebody needs help parallel parking? I've been there, on both sides. As a suburbanite I don't get a lot of practice parking parallel and certainly not often in the tight spaces in San Francisco. So I cringed when I saw a car put on its turn signal while I was photographing this 1962 Plymouth Fury sedan and start to pull in front of it to park. I stopped taking pictures and helped the lady avoid damaging the classic car with her Jetta. I've seen this Plymouth around the city multiple times but have rarely caught it standing still, so this feature includes photos from two different sightings a year apart in the same neighborhood.

Oakland Street Sighting - 1976 Ford Ranchero 500

Over the past several months, my friends have gotten me into a new pastime: flea markets. Every so often we get together early on a Sunday morning and hit the Laney College Swap Meet in Oakland. It's a fun little place full of bargains and occasionally sellers who think they have something made of gold-plated unobtainium, both of which make for amusing interactions. It has contributed significantly to my diecast collection, and also triggered my interest in customizing small-scale toy cars thanks to the low price of used examples at the swap meet.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1964 Rambler Classic 660

This is the car I always forget about in the AMC model hierarchy. The Classic was a midrange car during the Rambler years that made up the bulk of Rambler sales between 1961 and 1966. The first Classics were cheaply refreshed 1950s cars and the line only received a complete redesign in 1963. All Classics were six-cylinder economy cars until the '63 model year when the V8 from the large Ambassador was offered as an option.