On my summer vacation, I went to York Beach, Maine. It was very nice, and I saw many interesting cars.
Mercedes-Benz 240D
I didn’t even get out of Nashua, New Hampshire when I followed this sweet Mercedes-Benz 240D into the parking lot of a Target.
It looked to be in really decent condition, and appeared to have recently arrived from Florida, judging by the sticker on the rear bumper. The seats also showed quite a bit of wear, which is a feat in Mercedes-Benzes of this era. Those things were made out of plutonium.
1955 to 1958 Studebaker President
I got super-excited to talk to the guy behind the wheel of this nifty Studebaker President Sedan, until I realized that he and his new bride weren’t the owners, and the car actually belonged to somebody who worked at the Union Bluff Hotel in York, Maine.
He probably drives a Camry, for Christ’s sake. Why would you want your wedding picture with somebody else’s car?
1977 Chevrolet Malibu Classic Landau
As you may or may not know, I think Colonnade-body cars from GM are the cat’s ass. Yet, it was not me, but my wife, Lisa — who has owned two Colonnade-body Cutlassii — who spotted this one 200 yards away from the water. She finds cool cars like Audie Murphy spots a Hun in a foxhole.
Anyhoo, this 1977 Chevrolet Malibu Classic Landau was incredible from the outside. Original paint, original Rusty Jones rustproofing stickers on the glass, a beach sticker from 1979.
The only thing I wasn’t keen on was the aftermarket radio and the aftermarket console on the floor, but both of those looked easily reversible, and it didn’t look like this one was going to change hands very quickly anyway.
Ford Econoline
I don’t know what it is, but I have a thing for Ford Econoline vans, the black primer-eyer, the better. Maybe I’m a serial killer.
1990 to 1992 Cadillac Brougham
I always thought these Cadillac Broughams with the composite headlamps were gorgeous cars. Rather than pushing that giant hunk of iron with a pathetic 4100 V-8, you got either a 305 or a 350, even though the bigger engine was only turning out 185hp. Imagine one of these with the LT1 from my Roadmaster wagon. Now you’re cooking with gas.
Alfa Romeo GTV6
Every time I see an Alfetta GT and/or GTV6 I want to own one badly. I’m taken back to an article I read in European Car in the late 1980s that called it one of the best-handling cars ever built at that time. This one was rough, but a lot less rough than the handful I’ve ever run into in the last 20 years.
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