Late Night Saab Sighting – 1990 Saab 900S turbo

Last night it was time to drop off my Mitsubishi at the local garage, so it could get a ball joint replaced and pass the yearly inspection. This handily coupled with a chance to get a breath of fresh air, and when we walked back from the dormant garage forecourt, car keys safely dropped in the mailbox, we happened upon this red Saab turbo.

It was so dark outside at 11PM I had to go get the DSLR; it was no good trying to document it with the phone camera. But with patience and some ham-fisted post-processing, the gleaming red Saab made it onto these pages.

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True Blue – 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

When I was a kid, there was a maroon ’80ish C3 Corvette just around the block from our house. At the time, it was the definition of an American sports car for me: incredibly low and swoopy, straight from the pages of a Chevrolet book I used to leaf through. While those years of the Corvette weren’t the best of the C3 bodystyle, it was still the same iconic shape and undeniably the coolest car in town.

Now that I’m living on the other side of the country, it’s nice to see I can still walk around the block and spot another C3: I saw this deep, deep blue 1973 Corvette just 300 metres from my apartment. It’s a better car and a better design, as it still has chrome even if the front section now has an urethane nose. Like yesterday’s Spitfire, it’s a classic piece of ’70s nostalgia that never really goes out of vogue.

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Back to Nature – Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

A while ago, I posted a very nice 1980 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. After that body style, Cadillac downsized the Eldorado even further, resulting in the smoothed-over 1986-1991 Eldorado generation that we have here. My intention is not to symbolize the Eldorado’s downsizing as a downfall of sorts, but this example I found on a body shop’s yard has gone completely derelict after having been left there some years ago.

Yes, that is a Palm Beach plate, but it was ’round here in Finland that the Eldorado Biarritz had found its semi-final resting place.

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Modern Art Monday – 1965 Fiat 1300

Before it’s time to get this Easter done with, here’s a very pretty eggshell white 1965 Fiat 1300 saloon. You almost never see Fiats like this driving around except for club meetings; most old Fiats are 600:s or other rear-engined little tiddlers. The 1300 is a good-looking, tall-sided family saloon that has a hint of old Renault styling about it. Or do I see a hint of Corvair in the sideline chrome?

Click for more.

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Long Good Friday – Beater Street

During a Good Friday stroll (day off, what can be better than that?) around the old town I snapped a few photos of cars previously pictured in older posts. On a completely silent, somewhat windy sunny day they were strewn across the neighbourhood, comically close to each other like someone had performed an IRL Hooniverse search. There are a couple of new acquaintances as well, but mostly you can see stuff you can recognize, if you’ve been following my posts.

That black 323F, for example, was shot a while ago in striking sodium lighting in freezing cold. Today, it had it a bit easier.

Make the jump to see some more old buildings and a couple of old cars.

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Plastic Predator – 2001 Volvo S60

Yes, it’s a Volvo underneath all that.. work. This 2001 S60 was spotted – and re-spotted – by a photographer friend Joose P, who did an excellent job on the Dacia Duster review photos earlier.

The S60 is not one of the cars one would expect to receive a Predator-style plastic/glassfibre makeover, but with this petrol blue example it has been the case. Make the jump for more photos and video, too.

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Helsinki Snapshots

These random pieces of sheetmetal and plastic, assembled behind a body shop, represent the variety of cars I photographed during a weekend trip way south, to the Finnish capital.

In this post, I show you a few of the down-on-the-Helsinki-street sightings that were kind enough to stay still and be photographed.
Make the jump and scroll down for a complete spectrum of what you can see over the span of two days in Helsinki.

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Vorsprung durch Sauberkeit – 1990 Audi 100

Did you find yesterday’s slammed VW a bit too unholy and modified? To balance it out, here’s an Audi 100 that lives just close by. It’s pretty much flawless and looks like it’s rolled off the assembly line two years ago, not twenty-two.

The C3 Audi 100 has always been a high-riding car, and they simply cannot be lowered. The design is so minimalistic, you can’t actually do anything to it to try to improve it; the modifications will always stand out and look iffy. Best to keep the Audi stock and let it shine.

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Bite My Shiny Metal… Oh, You Already Did.

Trap-Jaw? Is that you?

Some snow drifts are tougher than others, as it seems the owner of this E39 BMW has learned.

Judging by the snow tucked underneath the bumper remains, the 5-series has dug deep into a drift – but it’s come out missing most of its jaw. It’s a handsome piece of damage: anybody can just crack a bumper, but it takes a trooper to rip off roughly half.

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Street Walker – The Cheese Grater Ferrari

It’s been a long while since I’ve found anything interesting parked at my favorite impromptu four-lane car lot, and with recent LA County regulations against such street-side sales, I didn’t think I ever would again. But the rich aren’t like you and me, and laws apparently don’t apply when your asking price is in the upper half of five figures. It must be nice. Speaking of nice, this 1989 Ferrari Testicle Roaster looks to be in pretty sweet shape, if its inherent ’80s-ness doesn’t stifle your interest.

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