This 1975 Porsche 914 1.8 really caught my eye last week as I drove by in Tonawanda. Hard to miss anything painted Signal Orange on a bright sunny afternoon. The 914 was Porsche’s mid-engine two-seater, which was sold in Europe as a Volkswagen 914 (four-cylinder model) and a Porsche 914/6 (six-cylinders). This car’s 1.8L four put out 73 hp, and it’s wearing a set of optional allo
Some sources report that this 1971 Triumph Stag is one of only 2,871 which were imported into the United States during the car’s eight-year run. The Stag was designed to be something for Triumph drivers to move up to from their Spitfires and TRs (and maybe snag a few Mercedes-Benz SL owners along the way). The British brochure for 1974 told us the Stag “…makes light work of long
Wikipedia reminds us that this 1996 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight is from the nameplate’s 12th generation (it made its debut with the 1941 model). Further research shows that, not only was the 12th generation the final generation, but the 1996 model was the last Ninety-Eight produced. Seeing this car I had to think back, and realized that it was 19 years previous that General Motors downsized its
Just in time for hitting the summer camping camping circuit, here’s a 1999 Volkswagen Rialta camper. Having a much smaller profile than many large camper/RVs on the road these days, the VW was a popular choice as it was advertised as driving like a car, and it fit into most regular parking spaces. It had a few innovative ideas which were used to cram some of the conveniences of home into a s
Some of you may be surprised to find out that there even was such a thing as a 1986 Olds 442. I know I was when I came across this nice example a couple of weeks ago for sale in Tonawanda. I was also surprised to see that somewhere along the way it changed from “4-4-2” to “442.” The dashes were there at its inception in 1963, and stayed until 1973 or so. Bean counters must
There’s something charming about German sedans from the mid-sixties, and this 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230 is no exception. I imagine its owner often feels like he/she is driving on the set of a Sean Connery James Bond film when behind the wheel. Most likely, in a car like this they’d be the Bad Guy, but still, they’d be driving the cool car! Saw this one recently in Tonawanda. Jim Co
Was on my way home from a Tonawanda car show two weeks ago when this 1957 Buick Roadmaster Riviera pulled up to the same intersection. Got the camera out just as it was pulling away. Sixty years ago, Buick was calling the Roadmaster “…the finest travel fine-car money can buy.” Although it sounds like it was written by someone to whom English is a second language, I think I get t
Here’s photographic proof that not every 1989 Ford Crown Victoria was a police car or a taxi cab. Some of them were, and still are, very comfortable family-type cars. Just a year before, Ford was advertising the Crown Vic as “roomier than 99% of the cars on the road today.” You could tell that times were changing when one of the features Ford bragged about in their ’88 broc
This 1953 Buick Roadmaster is in the midst of what looks like a full-on custom treatment at a Tonawanda garage. From here it looks like it’ll be wearing the taillights (and maybe bumper) from a 1956 Packard Clipper — whose ear end features were very popular with customizers in the late 1950s-to-early 1960s. I’m hoping to go back from time-to-time to see how this one’s comin
This 1968 Pontiac GTO is wearing what Pontiac called in its brochure “…the most fantastic bumper since the invention of the bumper.” They went on to point out how it wouldn’t chip, fade, or corrode; it was made of a urethane foam-based material that bore the brand name Endura, and it spelled the beginning of the end of the chrome bumper. Pontiac also touted the GTO’s