Peter Behrens's Blog, page 116

1953 Willys Jeep

AL is very fond of the Willys 'station wagons' of this era. Guess these days they would be sold as SUVs. Somehow, the Wranglers of today...just don't work for us as well. Too fancy, or faux, or something. 

The Willys unit is on the block today at Hemmings.  We've posted on Brooks Stevens who designed these Willys wagons and trucks. And here's a 1959 Willys wagon we caught in Blue Hill, Maine.

1995 Chevrolet S-10

The S-10's of the 1980s were the first compact trucks built in North America, by any manufacturer. This unit–spotted in Brooklin, Maine–looks like the 2nd S-10 generation, 1994-97 and, yikes, does it ever look clean. A plain-jane pickup in a sensible size. Makes the behemoth F-150s, Silverados and Rams of today look...past their shelf life. Also the massive Chevrolet Colorado of today, nominally a "compact" truck. Stuff in America often gets bigger instead of better. The S-10 frame can accommodate an Advanced-Design era GM truck, we're told. A clean S-10 could make a great wheelbarrow truck.

Church St., Burlington, Vermont

Photos for UVM's Landscape Change Program.

 

1976 Cadillac Eldorado

 

The coolest of all Cadillacs? Yes. This one is on the block today at Hemmings. And here's another 1976 Cadillac Eldorado that lives in our neighborhood in Maine.

MG Magnette, MGB, MGA, etc.

From Reid Cunningham: "Visiting my parents in Pittsford NY, I was running some errands and stumbled across this impromptu meet up of some members of a local MG club. The rare 4-door is a 1955. The others a mix of MGA's, MGB's and even a MGB-GT.  Surprisingly, no Midgets. (I recently read an article from Hagerty that Midgets have been steadily rising in price. A quick look shows them listing for more than B's)."

RC: "I know that I am in the minority on this, but I like the rubber bumper MG's.  As a kid of the late 70's and 80's, these were the MG's I remember.  This one is a 77, my dad had a used 80 of the same color, interior and wheels. I could see getting one of these as a summer driver when my modern Fiat 500 convertible is too expensive to keep repairing."

Squarebody Squad

 

From Reid Cunningham: "Near Marlborough NH.  The last time I probably saw this many square bodies in a row was 1987, the last year they were made as pickups.  A mix of GMC's and Chevrolets, seven in all (the red one on the end is also a square body).  My sense is most of these are running and used for plowing.  How they have survived NH winters and salt is near miraculous."  

Mercury M 2 truck, Manitoba

 

From our newest correspondent, Dave Inglis, in Brandon, Manitoba. "I give up. I don't know how you fit into this, but it was a sign. We were in the backyard having coffee. Laurie went back inside the house then called me back in.The photos show what was outside our front door.  I crossed the street to take a picture showing this directly in front of our place..."

AL: the Mercury trucks were sold in Canada until the 1960s. We caight a wonderful Mercury M 3 in Nova Scotia a while back. And a 1950 Mercury M2 in Saskatchewan. A Mercury M1 in Maine.

1967 Dodge A 100 pickup

Matthew Sheehey caught the truck in Keeseville NY. We posted a Dodge van from this era a couple weeks ago. Same profile in a Ford Econoline pickup we saw in. Marfa, Texas. And a Chevrolet Corvair pickup in Austin. Another Rampside Corvair that was on the block at BaT.


 

Trancanada Trucks

Thanks to Dave Inglis who came upon Transcanadatrucks.com in Summerberry, Saskatchewan. The province is like a rest home for elderly trucks.From their website:WE ARE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE VERY BEST IN CLASSIC  TRUCK COLLECTIONS , RESTORATIONS  & CUSTOM BUILDS WE SPECIAL IN “HARD TO FIND” CHEVROLET/GMC/FORD/DODGE  TRUCKS OUR MASSIVE COLLECTION  CONSISTS OF HUNDREDS OF TRUCKS THAT ARE IN BEST OF SHAPE. SASKATCHEWAN BORN AND RAISED TRUCK CLASSICS – WE ISSUE TITLES FOR ALL SALES AT REQUEST, MOST ARE PLATABLE 

1988 Land Rover Series III

 

Last L-R we posted on Autoliterate was a Series II..?  on Vinalhaven Island, Maine. This here unit is on there block at Hemmings. Robert Bateman's Grizzly Torque is maybe our favorite Land Rover.