Peter Behrens's Blog, page 127

Toyota Land Cruiser Fj40 pickup

  Hard to guess the year. Circa 1975? This truck was in Cambridgeport MA on a beautiful May afternoon. We earn our Spring here in New England. The FJ Company in Miami rebuilds Land Cruisers and sells them.

Studebakers of Maine

  Motorland, in Arundel, is Studebaker Ground Zero in Maine. Packard and Nash, too.

Secrets of the Barn Find Hunter

From Secrets of the Barn Find Hunter: The Art of Finding Lost Collector Cars by Tom Cotter. "If you live in the northern regions of the United States, get in your car and drive to the Southwest. You will forever be thankful that you dragged home a car with good bones instead of paying someone $100 per hour to resurrect them."

Ordering Your Autocratmobile

 

Vladimir Putin's ride used to be a Mercedes-Benz but then he got all nationalist about it and ordered the production of this ungainly beast: the Aurus Senat. He's got the stretch version, above. You can order your own oligarch-ship straight from the factory. Comes armor-plated, and with those funky little side curtains. According to Motor Authority, The Senat was developed by a consortium of Russian automakers led by the Russian Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automobile Engines Institute (NAMI), under the Project Kortezh name. The project will see several models developed for the Aurus brand, including a long-wheelbase Senat Limousine, a minivan to be called the Arsenal, and an SUV to be called the Komendant.

Swift Current Pontiacs

 

From Alex Emond: "These Canadian Pontiacs might be Laurentians or Strato Chiefs. If they were in the States, instead of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, they could have been Catalinas or Star Chiefs. Let's hope somebody makes one restored car out of this pair." 

What's the plural of Mercedes-Benz?

We saw this car at Motorland in Arundel, Maine last week. For the story on a Canadian 190SL, see below.






From Alex Emond: "In 1959 American cars had fins and were trying hard to look like jets or rockets, and were, quite often, massive. Hyperthyroid.  [AL:  there was of course the Corvette] Same year, in Germany, Mercedes created this sleek little car. This specimen (below) is at Heinz O's little backyard garage in Banff, Alberta. He is retired and in his 80's but many old clients still seek him out as a respected master mechanic to keep their wheels happy. Let's say "semi-retired." Heinz specializes in German vehicles but is not above working on the 1960 Jaguar I saw a few weeks ago.

AL: here's a link to the 1962 190SL we caught in Blue Hill, Maine. Or take a ride in this 1954 M-B Cabriolet 220.

1969 Ford F250, Los Angeles

Becky Smith caught the truck in LA. Down to primer, but no rust. Maybe hasn't spent much time west of the 405.

1957 Buick Roadmaster redux.

Yes. we have posted the big Buick before, but it was just too irresistible out there, glistening garishly on a rainy May afternoon up at Fresh Pond, in Cambridge MA. Here's a 1958 Roadmaster 75 we mistakenly called a '57, living rough in Kansa. And a 1953 Buick Roadmaster wagon we saw in a barn in Maine. And a 1951 Buick Roadmaster wagon, also in Maine.




 

Land Rover Series I SWB

 

From Alex Emond: Here's a little British Bulldog . A senior citizen, at least 55 years old. In a driveway in Dunmore, Alberta, which is near Medicine Hat. It is missing the spare tire on the bonnet.  This thing could take you anywhere.

Toyota MR2 Spyder

 

from Reid Cunningham: "Springfield, Virginia, it's been a long time since I have seen a Toyota MR2 in any form. The condition of this 20+ year old car was exceptional, and it was fun to see someone enjoying having the top down when northern New England is still weeks away from regularly engaging in open air driving."