Peter Behrens's Blog, page 126
May 17, 2022
1951 Plymouth
Love the blue. This was one of a herd of old cars in a collection Reid Cunningham came upon in Mill Spring, NC. More later on those. Meanwhile here's a 1953 Plymouth DeLuxe from Saskatchewan. And a 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook, up in Maine.
May 16, 2022
1941 Ford One-Ton Flatbed
Pretty, but still a hauler. This unit of truckness spent most of its life as a firetruck which explains the low read on the odometer–just a little north of 4000. This truck needs to do some honest work. Maybe you're a carpenter/builder/contractor– one of those people who at the present time can bid/charge whatever they want for a job. This vehicle--humble, honest, straightforward--send just the right message. Heck, it's still the original flathead V8. On the block next week at Hemmings.
Chevrolet S10
From Reid Cunningham: "Mid-1980s. The Green River gorge, somewhere near Ashville NC. These were completely ubiquitous from the late 70's to the early 90's: a mini pickup with an aluminum cap. Given its location at a trailhead for the Green River gorge, I'd like to think the driver has been keeping their fishing gear in back. This S10 is the dressed up Tahoe edition, I like the original sport wheels and extra trim. It also has the optional 2.8 V6. "
May 15, 2022
Danny Shot "Cars" (& 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville)
Danny Shot photo. Cadillac East VillageCARS
New Yorkers will never understand
the power derived from driving
a new car home
in my case a new used car
this time a 2013 Hyundai Sonata
midnight blue whose speedometer climbs
to 160 miles per hour
an arousing number
perhaps beyond my reach.
Before this a green 98 Saturn
a utilitarian vehicle from
the last millennium
more plastic than metal
nevertheless a sturdy companion
who survived her share of bumps
and bruises navigating Hoboken’s
surly stop and go streets.
Previously an 87 Chrysler LeBaron
A car with awful reviews
in Consumer Reports
that provided the smoothest ride
of my working class life
until she got broadsided by a Mack truck
on a Harlem Street on the way to work.
Me thinking as the bulldog smashed into my side
“so this is what it’s like to die,
hope it doesn’t hurt too much,”
a crash I walked away from
unscathed in a state of shock
Which was preceded by a 1982
Buick Regal nothing but trouble
that I should have been wary of
upon purchase from a fortune teller
In the Portuguese section of Newark
a natural low rider without any modifications,
eventually stolen by wayward teens which
wound up being a windfall paying back
in insurance more than the car was
ever worth.
There was the 1980 AMC Eagle
Station wagon with faux wood panels
which took Caroline and I cross country
that had uncontrollable 4 wheel drive
which kicked into gear at the oddest times
and was constantly blowing tires on the
NJ Turnpike for no discernable reason.
Which followed a yellow 70 something Datsun
we named Roadkill
because it was in a constant state
of death throws and rattles
emitting a sulphurous stream of black smoke
every time it accelerated through a toll booth
rusted through its chassis yet refused to die.
There was the 67 Lincoln Continental
a tank disguised as an automobile
with suicide doors that comfortably
carried 8 inebriated teenagers to the
1975 Dumont High School Senior Prom
and once miraculously cruised from Amherst
to New Jersey on a half tank of gas
though it got about 6 miles a gallon.
And the 62 Studebaker that had a stone
instead of a carburetor that I used to deliver
Uncle Franks Pizzas in high school until
it caught fire while driving on Madison Avenue
that the volunteer fire department
had to put out after only 3 months
of care and ownership.
Which was a replacement for my first
love a white 66 Impala that I bought
for 40 dollars because it had been hit
by a garbage truck and was mangled
around the trunk but drove until the transmission
went a few months into my ownership
which I nevertheless drove only
in reverse through the streets
of my hometown oblivious to the cops
or the basic laws of physics.
Which I bought to ease the pain
of the loss of my 64 Rambler
with push button transmission
which was never really mine but my Dad’s
bought only a month before he died
and was totaled by my mother during
an ill advised driving lesson
with my brother in law Leo
who was far from a great driver
and was promised to me in theory
when I came of age and which
I surreptitiously drove out the driveway
late nights after Mom was asleep
to pick up my buddies and the Diaz twins
in stoned teen fuck it all New Jersey abandon
that New Yorkers would never understand.
My Dad’s many clunkers none more memorable
than the red 48 Chevy with the chrome hood ornament
a naked goddess with voluptuous mid-century
All-American breasts that Steve Martorelli and I would kiss
every morning on our way to school between
first and third grades for good luck
and because it was a thing to do
who we named Minerva after the mermaid in Diver Dan
planting the seeds of unconditional love
between this man and my newest, my bluest
my darling set of wheels.
1956 Ford Fairlane; 1968 Ford Thunderbird; 1968 Ford Galaxie 500
A few Fords from the passel of cars Reid Cunningham came upon in Mill Spring, NC. Nice to see there are still stashes of great old cars out there.
May 14, 2022
Beyond the Palace, hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevards...
"...Girls comb their hair in rearview mirror/and the boys try to look so hard"
Bruce Springsteen may have had another hemi-powered drone in mind, not this semi-luxe family cruiser. However the baby blue-and-white DeSoto–recently spotted at Motorland in Arundel, Maine–sure looks like a steal, even if it's not a getaway car. Here's a video of the car.
May 13, 2022
The Polestar
Not bad looking. Not a soulful ride. Kind of anonymous. Made in China. Polestar is connected just up the capital chain with Volvo Cars, also Chinese-owned. Dan Neil. auto writer at the WSJ, whom I admire and deeply envy for his prose style and for all the free rides he gets, is in love with the PS. "As a driving machine the Polestar 1 offers the same rarefied, gizmotronic feel as BMW’s i8 PHEV, only quicker," says Mr Neil. He insists it's beautiful. Anything not Musky is fine with AL.
May 12, 2022
Rod Williams at Maine Classic Car Museum
From Ray Routhier's piece in the Portland Press Herald on Biddeford, Maine artist Rod Williams who worked in Detroit in the 1950s..."when cars were works of art. Which was a good thing for Williams, of Biddeford, since he’s an artist. It was his job to take concepts and ideas from designers and translate them into color illustrations of what the new models might look like....“Rod Williams Retrospective: A Maine Son in Detroit,” opens Saturday at the Maine Classic Car Museum in Arundel and will be up until the end of the year.
The blue wagon's a projected Park Lane, a Mercury wagon that never made it into production. The DeSoto (below) never quite happened either..
May 11, 2022
The Volkswagen Scout
According to the Wall Street Journal, VW is bringing back International Harvester's Scout. It's part of VW's strategy to rebuild itself in the US market, as war and Covid-19 dim sales prospects in Europe and China. You know that AL has always liked those rugged little machines. We first encountered one in the Laurentians--hat's in Québec--in...yikes, was it 1965? We have posted a bunch of Scouts over the years. Here are 2 vintage Scouts we caught in Colorado Springs and a Scout II in Portland, Maine. For more , try our search widget.
