Car Lust

Carspotters' Challenge #59--A Lot To Look At

This week we're somewhere in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Note the accessory cat on the Jeep.

See anything interesting?

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

Carspotters' Challenge #58--Beetlemania

This week, we've set the WABAC Machine to March, 1964 and arrived in Elten, West Germany. Elten was one of several towns that were annexed by The Netherlands in 1949 as reparations for World War II. The territory was repurchased for 280 million Marks by West Germany in 1963.

From the presence of the uniformed officer talking to the driver of the Mercedes in the foreground, I'm guessing this photo was taken at one of the border crossings during rush hour.

This being West Germany in the early 1960s, there are of course a lot of VW Beetles. See anything else interesting?

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

(Photo obtained from the Station Wagon Forum's collection of vintage street scenes, contributed by member "OrthmannJ.")

Great Cars of Russia

Alex spent a week in Russia on a school trip and took a lot of pictures, including quite a few of the local four-wheeled fauna. Here's some of what he saw:

Carspotters' Challenge #57--Maybe Diamonds Are Forever, But Police Cars Sure Aren't

There's a great car chase scene in James Bond's "Diamonds Are Forever" that was filmed in downtown Las Vegas. I've seen this whimsical pursuit at least 50 times, and still get a kick out of it every time.

In this chase, our favorite double naught spy, along with the lovely Miss Tiffany Case, are being pursued by Sin City's finest. Among other treats, this chase introduces moviegoers to the right way (and the wrong way) of driving a car on two wheels. There's also some great smash-'em-up scenes, yet nobody gets hurt.

Here's a frame from the 1971 feature during the wild pursuit. The blue & white police car is a bit out of focus, but there's plenty of other vintage sheet metal that can be identified:

Carspotters' Challenge #56--Sunset Strip, 1979

Swimmin' pools, movie stars... and great '70s vintage cars! Why, Cecil B. DeVille himself couldn't have assembled a better cast of Car Lust Delectables for this week's Carspotters' Challenge.

Our occasional contributor Tigerstrypes found this beauty shot. And if I may, I'd like to suggest that we all click here to get the best resolution of the image, sweetheart. That's better than sunglasses; there's no need to squint while you're in Tinsel Town. ("Look, is that John Belushi I see over there? Hey, John!")

Carspotters' Challenge #55--Bird's Eye View

In keeping with our theme this week, we go back to the 1970s again for this Soviet spy satellite photo bird's eye view of an urban parking lot.

See anything interesting?

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

(Photo obtained from the Station Wagon Forum's collection of vintage street scenes, contributed by member "Yellerspirit.")

Car Lust, Tom Clancy Style: the Cars of "The Americans"

Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings and their two children may look like your typical middle-class family from the Washington suburbs, but they're anything but. Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) are Soviet sleeper agents assigned to infiltrate the US government, Russians who were trained and drilled for years to look, sound, and act American. Their true identities kept secret from their own children, they lead a complex and dangerous double life, torn between their loyalty to (and fear of) their employer, their love for their kids and each other, and their growing realization that they might be working for the wrong cause.

My son and I have become hooked on The Americans, a new spy drama series that is set in the year 1981. The newly-installed Reagan administration is taking a confrontational stance toward the USSR, and the KGB is desperate for information on a rumored missile defense system that would render the mighty Soviet nuclear arsenal impotent. Moscow is pushing Phillip and Elizabeth into ever more dangerous situations, while showing no tolerance for failure--and if that wasn't trouble enough, their friendly new neighbor Stan (Noah Emmerich) is an FBI agent assigned to the Counterintelligence Division, working to identify and apprehend deep-cover Soviet agents!

What do I like about the show? There are a lot of things to like--the protagonists are complex and realistic characters, the "tradecraft" they use is very authentic, the show never forgets who the bad guys are--but as one who was there in 1981, I appreciate the attention to period detail--including, most particularly, the very Car Lust selection of vehicles on display.

Carspotters' Challenge #54--Yakima Street

The location is said to be "Yakima Street;" no word on what city. I know it's not Youngstown, where I grew up, but Youngstown has a lot of early 20th century "low rise" office buildings like the ones on the right side of the image. The mix of cars suggests a date in the late 1970s or very early 1980s.

See anything exciting?

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

(Photo obtained from the Station Wagon Forum's collection of vintage street scenes, contributed by member "75t&c.")

Carspotters' Challenge #53--Gridlock in DC

Not "gridlock" in the metaphorical sense, either. 

This looks to be Washington, DC, to judge from the buildings, in the late 1970s or early 1980s, to judge from the cars.

See anything you'd like to write your congressman about?

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

(Photo obtained from the Station Wagon Forum's collection of vintage street scenes, contributed by member "Bsquare.")

Carspotters' Challenge #52--Blue Hawaii

Waikiki in the pre-McGarrett part of the 1960s.

Spot 'em, Danno!

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

(Photo obtained from the SDC Forum, to which it was contributed by member "JRoberts.")