Curbside Classic Holiday Concours And Contest: Identify The Eighty Parking Lot Curbside Classics

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

I hate Christmas shopping. So when we walked down to the Holiday Market at the Lane Events Center, I told Stephanie I’d meander around the parking lot while she went inside to grab something. Forty-five minutes later, she had two presents and I had bagged eighty cars. This event runs weekends and a few extra days from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, for exactly twelve days. So this is one short slice of one-twelfth of the potential Curbside Classics at the Holiday Market.

Each car’s identity pops up when the cursor touches the picture. Test yourself, and write down how many cars you got, or didn’t. There was one bike in the lot, and of course, it was a CC too! All eighty after the jump:

Update: I can’t get the identifying caption to not come up below each picture when it is clicked on to enlarge. If you really want to test yourself, put up a Post-It on the screen just below the picture. Sorry.




























Paul Niedermeyer
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  • Nikita Nikita on Dec 29, 2009

    Wow. Ive owned a few of them over the years. '71 C-10 '73 BMW R bike '72 "Bay Window" VW bus '84 Toyota 4x4 pickup '68 VW bug

  • Tech98 Tech98 on Dec 31, 2009

    Wow, a Fiat/Bertone X1/9. Between rust and mechanical failure that has to be a rare bird. I haven't seen one of those in two decades.

  • Dwford I don't think price is the real issue. Plenty of people buy $40-50k gas vehicles every year. It's the functionality. People are worried about range and the ability to easily and quickly recharge. Also, if you want to buy an EV these days, you are mostly limited to midsize 5 passenger crossovers. How about some body style variety??
  • SCE to AUX The nose went from terrible to weird.
  • Chris P Bacon I'm not a fan of either, but if I had to choose, it would be the RAV. It's built for the long run with a NA engine and an 8 speed transmission. The Honda with a turbo and CVT might still last as long, but maintenance is going to cost more to get to 200000 miles for sure. The Honda is built for the first owner to lease and give back in 36 months. The Toyota is built to own and pass down.
  • Dwford Ford's management change their plans like they change their underwear. Where were all the prototypes of the larger EVs that were supposed to come out next year? Or for the next gen EV truck? Nowhere to be seen. Now those vaporware models are on the back burner to pursue cheaper models. Yeah, ok.
  • Wjtinfwb My comment about "missing the mark" was directed at, of the mentioned cars, none created huge demand or excitement once they were introduced. All three had some cool aspects; Thunderbird was pretty good exterior, let down by the Lincoln LS dash and the fairly weak 3.9L V8 at launch. The Prowler was super cool and unique, only the little nerf bumpers spoiled the exterior and of course the V6 was a huge letdown. SSR had the beans, but in my opinion was spoiled by the tonneau cover over the bed. Remove the cover, finish the bed with some teak or walnut and I think it could have been more appealing. All three were targeting a very small market (expensive 2-seaters without a prestige badge) which probably contributed. The PT Cruiser succeeded in this space by being both more practical and cheap. Of the three, I'd still like to have a Thunderbird in my garage in a classic color like the silver/green metallic offered in the later years.
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