QOTD: Where Do You Do Your Carspotting?
I am currently in Napa, California on business and while myself and some other media members rode in a Ford Expedition from the airport to the hotel, we kept spotting some pretty cool rides.
It's not just NorCal -- I sometimes spot some pretty cool iron in my neighborhood, and while the part of Chicago I live in is nice enough, it's not exactly a moneyed part of the downtown or anything. Some people in my 'hood make bank, sure, but others are half-broke 20-somethings working their first post-college job.
In other words, you don't have to be in an exclusive ZIP code to see cool stuff.
So, where do you do your car spotting? Just on the streets of your town? While traveling? At events like Cars and Coffee? Some combination?
Personally, I just keep my eyes peeled. That said, some places I go are better than others when it comes to seeing interesting rides.
What say you? Sound off below.
[Image: Andriy Sharpilo/Shutterstock.com]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Living a short distance from a drag strip in the mid 60s off Route 46 in NJ before Route 80 was built from our front porch as kids we used to count the Camaros , Mustangs , Chevy IIs , etc. on Sunday on their way to and from the drag strip . You would also see rails , gassers , and pretty much anything you could put on a trailer or tow to the strip .
When top fuelers Don Garlits and TV Tommy Ivo would race each other Ivo would put his custom rail on display in a glass display case/trailer in the parking lot of a local ice cream place a few days before the match . At the strip we saw funny cars , The Hurst Hemi Underglass , The Little Red Wagon , Sox and Martin vs Bill "Grumpy" Jenkens and more . It was a fun time and cool cars were everywhere .
Havana, Cuba
Where I live you see a lot of full size crew cab pickups and compact crossovers. Some of the interesting vehicles I have spotted in my neighborhood are a fully restored 56 Ford F-100, an orange 2022 C-8 Corvette, a 55 Pontiac in a garage being restored ( I talked to the owner), a black 49 Mercury 2 door (talked to the owner), a red 63 Thunderbird convertible (know the owner), a cream colored all original compact 79 diesel Mercedes sedan (talked to the owner), and a Model A Ford. When I am riding my bicycle I notice a lot of interesting vehicles and when I can I stop and talk to the owner. I have spotted a number of new Mavericks mostly light gray.
I like Monterey Ca. Car Week is best but any time in the summer and spring time.
I very occasionally go to Cars and Coffee if I happen to wake up early and don't want to mow the yard yet