Peter Behrens's Blog, page 54

Plainjane Dodge Dakota (and Ford's Euro-Ranger)

 

From Reid Cunningham: " I was hurrying through a lot in Manchester NH when I spotted this Dakota. I'm not used to seeing 30ish-year-old vehicles in Salt Season up here. I had a similar 1993 Dakota with the longer bed. The Dakota was a midsized truck, at the time. The main benefit versus the mini pickups was that a third person could reasonably be squeezed into the middle postion of the bench seat. Ford has brought the Ranger back to the US; it looks about the size of the Dakota. No regular cab version will be available in the US (available in Europe though–see photos below) and I doubt the manual transmission will be an option either. Sigh."

Honda Acty, N.J.

 

FFrom Jonathan Welsh: This Honda Acty street van turned up at the skate park in Montclair, New Jersey. A few years back transportation officials relaxed the laws governing importation of older tiny Japanese "kei" cars. This allowed the legions of mini-car enthusiasts to bring them to the U.S. more easily. The vans, like this 1990-ish Honda, are especially cool and practical. The right-hand drive is an acquired taste.

We posted a 4WD Acty a few weeks ago, with links to more Japanese imports in that post,

Volkswagen Squareback

 From the files: a couple summers ago, in Maine. Here's another from Carrol Gardens, in the other Brooklyn.

Saag Viggen. Denver

 

From Markus Anstadt: rare sighting of a 1999-2002 Saab Viggen, the high performance Saab 9-3.

Speaking of rare Saabs, we have posted a Saab Sonett. And that '71 Saab wagon, with tail fins, from West Texas.

c.1974 Volvo 144, Denver

 

Caught by Markus Anstadt in Denver. "Swedish daily driver...with a manual transmission." We posted a slightly older Volvo 144 in Blue Hill, Maine a while back. And a c. 1968 Volvo 144 wagon in Marathon, Texas. 

Volkswagen 2nd Generation Type 2, California

  From Michael Moore, in the East Bay: "A nice example of the classic VW bus, 2nd Edition, down on E Street of a Saturday." 

AL: We caught a bus very similar to this one in Blue Hill, Maine. And posted 1st edition Type 2 Westfalia that was on the block at Hemmings last year. Basha Burwell caught a 1st generation Type 2 in Marfa last year.

2 Wheelbarrows. Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Above,  about as a basic a Toyota Tacoma as you will find, and therefore quite rare: a 2WD single cab. Below, an earlier edition 4wd Tacoma, definitely a work truck. Toyota practically owns the wheelbarrow genre, though there are exceptions.

Chevrolet S-10 Wheelbarrow

 

From Matthew Sheehey, in NoVa: "My favorite S-10 in Arlington, Virginia. It's been parked outside a shop for a few months now. My dad had the same model in green with a tan interior.
It was fun to drive, unless you got caught in a snowstorm.
Be safe and enjoy winter!"AL: our notion of the wheelbarrow truck: modest, inexpensive, useful.A very clean S-10 spotted in Maine a while ago.  The S-10 frame is about standard issue size for older pickups, before the genre got supersized. Here's a '34 Ford work truck on an S-10 from. And, just in case you missed it, a '46 Chevy in Santa Cruz, all original and not S-10'd.

Basha Burwell: Far West Texas

 

Over the last sixteen years, Basha Burwell, a Maine native–see her A House in Maine, (Vendôme, 2021)–has developed a very strong attachment to Far-West Texas people, skies, roads, light and shadows. 

1957 Chevrolet Nomad, California

 

From Michael Moore: "Caught this ’57 Nomad in the wild, which I think I sent you sometime back when it first showed up in town;When first sighted the guy had just gotten it running [still a number of things to sort out] after having trailered it back from Fallon, Nevada– the ‘middle of nowhere’ he said though I would characterize Fallon as more likely the edge of nowhere if one was to render ran opinion as to where nowhere was. Anyway, seems well sorted by now, cruising downtown Benicia, California on a grey winter's morn."We posted a Saskatchewan Nomad a while back. You know that most '57 Chevys--except wagons and Nomads-- are not quite our thing, especially Bel Airs with fuzzy dice, but every now and then we come across a sleeper..