Based in Southern California as we are, we are sometimes overwhelmed, rendered fahrklempt, if you will, by the spectrum of feral finds accrued within the space of one day. As an experiment in feral foraging, we collected some examples stalked within the last 24 hours. No big narrative thread this time, just 7 unrelated — OK two are Italian and red — vehicles seen during a one-day period within the confines of a 5 square mile area. Ain’t life grand?
This entry was posted in Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, El Camino, Ford, Ford Econoline, Mercedes Benz, Mercedes Pagoda, Mercury, Rattles + Squeaks, Toyota, Toyota Corolla on 06/14/2014 by feralcars.
Such a face! Does this look like the top half of a ’61 Rambler set down on a parade float to you? Thought so!
Feral Cars fan and Field Scout Kendell Shaffer found this immaculate ’79 Toyota Land Cruiser Series 55 and couldn’t resist sharing. It’s a 4 wheel drive, narrow gauge proto-SUV powered by a reverse engineered facsimile of Chevy’s “Stove Bolt 6” that has an international cult following.
Speaking of International, check out this Travelall-esque look. Roll down tailgate window, too.
We have some far-flug Feral Cars Field Scouts but never one checking in from Peru. That’s where FCFS Andrew Keeler found this ’64 Land Cruiser FJ40 which he was told was assembled there. We think the wooden bumper was an aftermarket-sourced addition. Are you listening SEMA?
The 50 year old Andean runabout was encountered on the way to most mystical Machu Picchu and here’s the guy who keeps this half century old motorized llama on the Inca Trail.
The thing about Toyota Land Cruisers is that they seem to hang in for the long run — a value proposition? Perhaps a value proposition if frill-free utility is a priority for you. Prices for non-trashed examples have been trending upwards so there’s investment potential to consider, as well. How about a later Series 60 Land Cruiser like this ’85 with all ‘mod cons’ including air conditioning and doors and windows and brakes and the like? The buy-in price is only going to go rise so don’t procrastinate.
We think this flame red example would be just the thing for today’s hipster fire chief. Hey, you’d certainly be noticed on your way to extinguish the smoldering embers of an industrial juicer with a short circuit.
We love this early ’60s commercial where the full line of Land Cruisers models are put through their paces. It’s downright enthusiastic, without a trace of irony. That red FJ40 going 85 on the freeway is scary!
Our friends at Bringatrailer are featuring a ’73 Series 55 with a Chevy 350 V8 transplanted and a 4-speed manual transmission. $23,900 gets it.
This entry was posted in Chevrolet, Toyota, Toyota Land Cruiser on 06/12/2014 by feralcars.
It was ten short years ago that the very last Oldsmobile, an Alero sedan, rolled off the assembly line in Lansing, Michigan. It was in Lansing that Ransom E. Olds started building vehicles in 1897; General Motors absorbed the company in 1908 before which Olds had departed and founded REO, building cars and trucks that bore his initials.
In 2000, more than four years before that last Olds was built, GM had announced its plan to phase out the brand, a sharp contrast to the comparatively instant deaths of Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer in the wake of the company’s 2009 bankruptcy.
Olds had been on a downward spiral since the mid-90s, despite some innovative offerings. That decline followed tremendous success: Olds’ domestic market share was over 5% as recently as 1985 — actually higher than Toyota’s that year.
We offer some Oldsmobiles, captured in the wild, as a tribute to what had been American’s longest running marque. That distinction has been ceded to Buick which started up in 1899 and, miraculously, survived the infamous GM brand purge of 2009.
..and here we’d been thinking it’s the name of some kind of flourless chocolate cake.
Olds dabbled with smaller cars over the years. Here’s a brazenly badge-engineered ’73 Nova that masquerades as an Olds Omega. Nobody was fooled at the time but now it’s a nifty left-field leftover from a bygone era.
What about this ’77 Cutlass Supreme? Does it recall a soda fountain treat or a Motown girl group on any level?
If you want to live really large we suggest an ’86 Custom Cruiser wagon. This particular one commutes regularly between Provincetown, MA and Palm Springs, CA. We think this very merry Oldsmobile in the very embodiment of the “Family Truckster” paradigm.
Cutlass was a hit name for Olds, having been launched in 1961 as a bucket seat model of the mid-size F-85. It soon became its own line and, thereafter, branched into Cutlass Supreme and Cutlass Ciera sub-models. Their shared root name was just about the only thing the two had in common with Supreme continuing as a traditional rear wheel drive car with Ciera a front wheel drive mid-size line. Here’s a Cutlass Ciera S with international flair.
Oldsmobile’s 88, introduced in 1949, was the inspiration for one of rock ‘n’ roll’s first hits: Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88.” This ’92 Eighty Eight Royale is one of the last generation of 88s and soldiers on despite some gnarly roof scale.
At the time of its final demise, only Daimler, Peugeot and Tatra had longer runs in the motorized vehicle business than Olds. Daimler is still very much with us through Mercedes-Benz and Peugot was just revitalized with a boatload of yuan from China’s Dongfeng Motors. Tatra made absolutely the hippest behind-the-iron-curtain cars of all time: full Buck Rogers/AstroBoy styling plus a rear-mounted air-cooled V8. We could go on but note that Tatra still makes huge trucks in the Czech Republic to this day. Olds was GM’s first (of many) sacrificial lambs. Let’s hope it’s the last. Did you hear that, Buick?
Check out this Toronado commercial from 1966, the first year for the most innovative model ever offered by Olds in the post war era. The spot stars race driver Bobby Unser and, ironically, Shorty Powers, the voice of NASA’s Project Mercury.
This entry was posted in Buick, Mercedes Benz, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Tatra, Toyota, Uncategorized on 05/01/2014 by feralcars.
Celebrating the extraordinarily ordinary: Toyota thinks inside the box.
We at Feral Cars are, most decidedly, not among the haters. No Sir or Ma’am. We kinda dig this car and found one down the street. We spoke to its proud owner, a Thai national, who uses it to — get this — commute once or twice a month between Fresno and Los Angeles, that’s 220 miles each way!
This unassuming little worker bee was a paragon of both asymmetry and right angularity. Nissan Cube, you’re late to this wild party!
Designed using only a t-square and a protractor; OK, scratch the protractor.
Actor/designer Aslam Husain shot an ersatz period commercial for a car just like this! Watch it here and grok this as art imitating life, a dull life, to be more specific. We can dig the Boxcar Willie-esque appeal of this Lego-tastic conveyance. It’s non-phenomenally sensational!
This entry was posted in Drive By, Toyota on 03/14/2014 by feralcars.