Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1972 Buick Skylark Convertible

We find ourselves once again in the holiday season, a time when stores finally stop stocking Christmas and Halloween products side by side and instead stock Christmas and Valentine's Day. Casual readers may be confused as to why I would do a holiday special series when I haven't posted anything on this blog for most of the year. I can't blame that on COVID either. I admit I've had many other priorities, ranging from an increased work schedule to a rekindled interest in combing junkyards. The latter of which may inspire a new series of features in the future. But in any case, it's Christmastime. And like every Christmas season, there's one song you have likely heard.

All I Want For Christmas Is "U."

I blame the documentary I watched the other day on the history of the PBS TV show "Sesame Street", with episodes 'brought to you by the letter __". Basically my gimmick is that all vehicles featured this month have the letter U in their brand name. First up, BUICK. Enjoy.

Danville Street Sighting - 1970 Cadillac Eldorado

I'll be the first to admit that the post-1967 front-wheel-drive GM luxury coupes aren't on my short list of cars I'd have in my garage. But I do respect them. It takes a particular sort to fall in love with a big, floaty couch on wheels. The personal luxury coupe market segment enjoyed a couple of decades of popularity in America, largely supplanting the muscle car during the 1970s. The king among these was the Cadillac Eldorado, billed as the World's Finest Personal Car. And this one is amazing.

Danville Street Sighting - 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

I wanted to do something special for the holidays this year, but lacking anything Christmas-themed I decided to dig into my archives for a subject I really enjoyed documenting. It's a 1971 Chevy Camaro Z28.

Alamo Street Sighting - 1954 Chevrolet Two-Ten

I've previously said that when I don't know what to post, a Tri-Five (1955-1957) Chevrolet is a good choice. But in this case it's a 1954 Chevy.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1967 Chevrolet Impala Wagon

Here's another old shoot from the archives. It's a 1967 Chevy Impala wagon with some pretty wild patina.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1971 Opel 1900 Rallye Coupe

This one is a really old shoot, from 2014, but I haven't seen one of these since. It's an Opel Manta Rallye.

Palo Alto Street Sighting - 1964 Cadillac Series 62

It's Halloween season as I type this, and I had to think about what to post for the occasion. What did I have in the archives that looked scary, or was trying to be something it's not? This.

It's a 1964 Cadillac Series 62 sedan with the roof cut off into a full-time roadster.

Danville Street Sighting - 1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible

I don't always have access to my DSLR when I find cool vehicles on the street. This was one of those moments when all I had available was a potato iPhone 4. I'm trying to use up some of the older shoots from my archives, so today we have some unfortunately subpar photos of a really cool 1967 Pontiac GTO.

Danville Street Sighting - 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special

These pictures were taken with an old phone camera but this car was cool enough that I still wanted to share. It's a 1962 Cadillac Fleetwood.

Danville Street Sighting - 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

Each year for the 4th of July I like to celebrate America's Independence Day with a special feature. This year we're doing American muscle and sports coupes in red, white and blue. Rounding out our assortment today is a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray coupe finished in beautiful Nassau Blue metallic.

Danville Street Sighting - 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Each year for the 4th of July I like to celebrate America's Independence Day with a special feature. This year we're doing American muscle and sports coupes in red, white and blue. Second today is a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am in its original Cameo White.

Livermore Street Sighting - 1970 Buick GS 455

Each year for the 4th of July I like to celebrate America's Independence Day with a special feature. This year we're doing American muscle and sports coupes in red, white and blue. First up, a 1970 Buick Gran Sport 455 in glorious Fire Red.

Danville Street Sighting - 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

June 7 marks the birthday of a singer-songwriter from Minneapolis you may have heard of. His name is Prince.

In his honor and in his memory, here's a little red Corvette.

Old Sacramento Street Sighting - 1952 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe

I usually like to do something special for my Christmas feature. I visited Old Sacramento with a friend last December when the historic area was all decorated for the holidays. We encountered this lovely gray 1952 Chevy sedan parked in front of a shop. I liked the building's festive decorations so it seemed appropriate for today. Enjoy.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe

As I always like to say, when in doubt, Tri-Five. I've been slow in posting again here, so today we're looking at a 1956 Chevy Bel Air hardtop.

Danville Street Sighting - 1954 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup

These pictures are old but I quite like the subject matter, so let's take a closer look. It's a 1954 Chevy 3100 pickup truck.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Coupe

I don't make it to San Francisco much anymore. I've been out of college for several years, working full time, and now with the coronavirus pandemic going on I've barely gone anywhere for the past few months. These pictures are two years old but they continue a long-held tradition. When I go to the city I always try to see if our friend Fifties Guy has anything new. This visit was after I participated in my first Radwood car show in South San Francisco, where I shined up and displayed my 1999 Buick Regal GS. I'd already paid the bridge toll to be on the peninsula, so I headed up north for a little while. Sure enough, I was greeted by this all-original 1958 Oldsmobile finished in what I believe to be Champagne Mist Poly.

Danville Street Sighting - 1977 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

Many of you are no doubt stuck at home during the now infamous COVID-19 lockdown. I've been out of the loop on blogging for the past months and not producing much content, even though I continue to photograph cars and have a fair number of them archived. So, for your viewing pleasure, let's look at a 1977 Chevy Corvette Stingray. I enjoyed photographing this one during the sunny summer months last year.

Danville Street Sighting - 2009 Pontiac G8 GT

Today is my birthday, and it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. It still bums me out that the Pontiac brand is gone, even ten years later. Especially after a couple of bright spots amid the general decline of GM's Excitement division. The Pontiac G8 was a rebadge of the Australian Holden Commodore, engineered for left hand drive and other compliance with American road laws. It lasted only two years here in the states based on the VE Commodore, then enjoyed an almost equally brief resurgence with a Chevrolet badge as the Chevy SS based on the redesigned VF. Today the Holden factory in south Australia is itself shut down, no longer building the iconic rear-wheel-drive coupes, sedans and ute pickups that carried such monikers as Monaro, Commodore, Maloo, Statesman and Caprice. For decades the Commodore platform was a strong seller in Australia, but rising fuel costs, environmental concerns and the spreading worldwide plague of the SUV ate into Holden car sales. General Motors imported some cars into the US, apparently as an excuse to keep the Australian factory open. Frustratingly, the Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet SS were barely advertised and always remained niche products for enthusiasts in the know.

San Jose Street Sighting - 1930 Chevrolet 3 Window Coupe

If you go to your average car show, you'd think that every car made circa 1930 was a Ford. But that's not true. Ford built a ridiculous number of Model As during this time, but Chevrolet was just as big a player in the market. It's true that Ford built a good half million more cars in 1930 than Chevy, a reversal from two years before when Chevy outsold Ford by half a million. The two rivals seesawed back and forth like this for years, even the now vaunted '32 Ford outsold by 50 percent by Chevrolet. Where the heck did all the Chevys from this era go?

Well, here's one.