TONAWANDA, N.Y.– This 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetlewas photographed in our driveway back in the summer of 2002. It was a turning point in the VW’s life, as we had just bought an old (nay, reallyold) house that most realtors would have described as “not a drive-by.” Except that it was. And we bought it anyway. The VW needed some attention, but as the pocketbook couldn’t
TONAWANDA, N.Y.– First introduced for model year 1970 to replace the Rambler American, it was certainly an important car in keeping the company solvent for a few more years. Perhaps not quite as campy (nor as memorable) as the Gremlin, this 1973 AMC Hornetwas nonetheless a solid competitor in the compact car market — especially as gas prices were on the rise. In its literature, AMC tou
TONAWANDA, N.Y.– I’m guessing, from its stance, that this 1958 Ford Fairlane 500was having a bit of engine work done when we spotted it in the parking lot of a local shop last fall. This one’s sporting a set of rims from a 1969 Torino GT (inset).There were certainly other ways to personalize your ’58 Ford back when it was new. Check out a few of them in the brochure illustr
TONAWANDA, N.Y.– It’s not often you come across a 1955 Ford Thunderbirdin a random parking lot.Cruise nights? Yes. Car Shows? Yes. But we saw this one over the summer while bicycling along the Shoreline Trail which parallels the Niagara River. As you can see, it’s wearing a Florida antique license plate. I’m imagining the owner driving it here from down south, and the many
TONAWANDA, N.Y.– I’m kind of surprised, what with the dearth of interesting colors on offer in today’s new car showrooms, that hardly anybody (if anybody at all) offers anything like the paint choice of today’s RealRide, a 1968 Dodge Polarain the very onomatopoeian-soundingBeige— a color which sounds as exciting as it looks. Ford at least made an effort with Pebble Be
TONAWANDA, N.Y. - The 1964 Ford Falcon Futurawas Ford’s compact sporty family car until halfway through the model year. We all know what happened then — the Mustang. Based on the Falcon platform, the Mustang blew everything out of the water and created a whole new genre — the Pony car. Okay, Plymouth’s Barracuda debuted a few weeks before the Mustang, but its sales paled in
Just a few years before this 1979 Chrysler Cordoba Crown Coupewas produced, it seemed unlikely that Chrysler wouldever sell anything smaller than its Newports, New Yorkers, and Town & Country wagons. But a shift in the market, egged-on by rising gas prices, brought forth theirfirst less-than-full-size car — the Cordoba personal luxury coupe. We recently came across this one just down the
A lot of ink has been used over the years writing about Chrysler Corporation’s idea to downsize its big cars for model year 1962, only to make a quick about-face when their sales slumped. Looking ahead to the next decade, I guess they were just ahead of their time. This 1962 Dodge Polara 500is one of those cars. Its styling can be polarizing (Polara-izing?) to some, but I’ve always bee
It’s not all that unusual to see a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skylinerat a car show/cruise night (or its 1958-59 siblings), but it’s not often something you randomly run across in one of the parking lots around town. That’s where we found this one a few weeks ago though. Okay, it was in a car-related business’ parking lot, but still… And seeing one with its top up is als
Seen at the recent Classics on the Niagaracar show in the City of Tonawanda, this 1976 Ford Mustang II, as equipped, is about as rare as they come. Check out the Marti info sheet below, and when you get down to the last line you’ll discover that it was the only one produced that year equipped exactly like this one. Add in what looks like a dealer-installed vinyl half-roof and you’ve go