Junkyard Find: 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, Rabid 49ers Fan Edition
Like art cars, vehicles that have been turned into team-color-painted, sticker-bedecked sports-team fanmobiles tend to spend their lives just one minor mechanical problem away from that final tow-truck ride. This “whale” Caprice was, we can assume, the life of the tailgate party at freezing-ass Candlestick Park and maybe that new stadium that’s nowhere near San Francisco.
The 1991-96 Caprice is still sufficiently sought-after these days to be a somewhat uncommon sight at self-serve wrecking yards; for every one of these that you see in such a yard, there will be at least 100 Panther Crown Victorias.
It would be galling for this car’s final owner to know that his or her pride and joy ended its life in the East Bay, just a few miles from the home of the Oakland Raiders.
The interior was already gold (well, tan) colored, so the application of some red spray paint gives it a proper 49ers-fan appearance. I wonder how many gallons of beer and barbecue condiments were spilled in here.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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Proving once again that every negative stereotype about sports fans is in fact , correct . -Nate
Regarding the question about BBQ sauce, or condiments... ...or other fluids? (::Shudder!::) Murilee, have you done any GM G-Body write-ups? Cutlass Supreme of some sort just to port of this beast!