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!

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1961 Ford Falcon

It seems like there's something about Ford Falcons and Dodge Darts/Plymouth Valiants that makes them nigh unkillable. It's a testament to the simple, basic economy car of the 1960s, a reliable six-cylinder engine and no-frills packaging based on solid platform engineering. The end result is a car that doesn't look like much and isn't fast but it won't die. Basically this was in 1961 what the Toyota Corolla is now. Except that unlike the current Corolla which still heavily resembles the 2003 model, the Falcon was still fresh in 1961, its second year of production.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1964 Buick Skylark

There is an adage about the proverbial little old lady car. They're the mythical older vehicle that was only driven to the store and to church on Sundays. It's garaged, kept clean and often owned for a long time until the owner cannot drive any longer or passes away. For that reason, such cars are desirable when they come up for sale. Of course, there is a flip side to the little old lady car. Older drivers are not always the most careful, so cosmetic damage can occur.

For Your Consideration

If you like reading California Streets, you may also enjoy a new blog I contribute to called Insomniac Garage. It was founded by Chris Garza and my colleague Colin Stacy and is a car culture site that celebrates old parked cars, general automotive history and calls attention to affordable projects found for sale on the web. It's where I post a lot of what doesn't end up here.

Go check it out. You might like it.

Jay