Peter Behrens's Blog, page 120

Definitive Cadillac

Over several tops, and certainly one of the best-looking Cadillacs: a 1976 Eldorado convertible. Here's another, same year, also in Maine.

1993 Volvo 240 Wagon, Hoosick Falls NY

  From Reid Cunningham: "This one caught my attention as I was driving through Hoosick Falls, NY.  A 93, registered up to last year.  It was in front of a junk yard for sale, so hopefully the repairs to get it back on the road aren't too serious." This was the last year for the 240: the front-wheel-drive Volvo 850 was about to arrive. A Volvo 240 wagon, same year same color, sold for $5300 on BaT a few years back...and that was a pre-covid price. You know, by now, that here at AL we really like these stalwart cars.

1972 International Travelall

This Travelall seems so civilized and plainspoken compared to the pumped up large-calibre SUVs of today, with their bombastic names: the Armada, the Escalade, etc. We posted a 1966 C1100 Travelall for sale in Marfa a while back, and a 1968 1200 up at BaT. The truck you see here is coming up for auction at Hemmings.

GMC 100 Advanced Design

Reid Cunningham: "Merrimack NH. Nice condition, looking very stock, right down to its three-on-the-tree. On a hot day the hood vent flows air efficiently through the cab..as long as you are moving! This truck has a regular NH registration, not antique plates, along with an EZPass transponder mounted to the windshield...so it's someone's daily driver.  What a great way to go!"

1996 Buick (Belchfire) Roadmaster Station Wagon

We have posted many a whale wagon. These were the last big--massive!-- American station wagons. Production ended in 1996. The greatest wagons of all time? Not so sure. This unit is on the block at Hemmings. Roadmaster were wagons, like this 1953 Buick Roadmaster we caught in a barn in Maine (and how about this 1951 Buick Roadmaster?) and they were big  sedans, like this 1957 Buick Roadmaster 75 we caught in Kansas a while back. But the 1958 Buick Roadmaster was the real Belchfire of the chrome-crusted late 1950s.

1949/50 Willys Jeep Station Wagon

  Check our post on Brooks Stevens, who designed the 1947-65 Willys Jeep trucks/utility wagons. This-- apparently quite original- unit is on the block today at Hemmings. And how about this 1954 Willys Jeep station wagon we posted a while back?

Another Eggleston. And Rachel Kushner. And Jonathan Purkis. And Garish Youth.

 

William Eggleston Untitled

Did you see Rachel Kushner's short story, "A King Alone" in The New Yorker? We've posted several Eggleston photographs and were able to see his At War With the Obvious show at the Metropolitan Museum a while ago. AL is planning to read Driving with Strangers: What Hitchhiking Tells Us about Humanity by Jonathan Purkis, recently reviewed by Mike Jay in the London Review of Books. AL's notes on a semi-epic 1975 hitchiking trip are in a post, Garish Youth.

1985 Chevrolet Caprice Estate Wagon

Caught the Chevrolet Caprice wagon in Blue Hill, Maine. Here's another of the era we saw a while ago and a couple miles away. Another in Cambridge. These were the GM agains before the whales arrived. 




 

1977 Ford F150 Ranger XLT

On the block today at Hemmings. There was a similar truck a while back at BaT. We ran a 1980 F150 from Saskatchewan. And how about this 1978 F150 Ranger, straight outta Jalisco.

One Morning in Maine, a Jeep...

One Morning In Maine...we caught the Jeep at Buck's Harbor. For sale. The sign claims it's a '58, but I think not. 1968, possibly?  Oh, and by the way, this was morning of July 4th. The crowds were...enormous.