Mission Mission

[via Madalynn]

Whenever I see a cool car around the neighborhood, I take pictures and send them to my pal Eric up in Portland who runs Other People’s Things, my favorite car blog. He responds with some knowledge and we post the results here and it’s called “Car Beat.” Here’s what Eric has to say about this sporty little Fiat:

You don’t see these every day…then again that is why you took a picture of it I’m guessing.

This is the Fiat 128 (1969-1985), but more importantly this is the Sport Coupe (1971-75).

The Sport Coupe was on a shortened wheelbase and is no doubt the sleekest profile for the 128, and you found one right before they changed the bodystyle and they got really ugly (exhibit A).

Unfortunately the ’70s was a bad time for every imported car, as you can tell by the federally mandated 5 mph. safety bumper stuck on the front of it.

…and I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere about crappy Fiat quality (though this one wasn’t so bad it seems). Hopefully that new 500 in the background will help improve it’s image.

Whoa! I didn’t even realize that was back there! Thanks, Eric!

More pics (including an interior shot) after the jump:

(more…)

Whenever I see a cool car around the neighborhood, I take pictures and send them to my pal Eric up in Portland who runs Other People’s Things, my favorite car blog. He responds with some knowledge and we post the results here and it’s called “Car Beat.” Here’s what Eric has to say about this old Ford:

Though it has seen better days, this was once top of the line Ford sedan.

It’s a third generation Ford Galaxie 500 LTD (1965-68, this one is a ’65). I can’t be certain because the lower fender badge is all messed up but it probably had a massive 6.4 L 390 V8 in it. That’s almost as big as the V10 they put in the ridiculous Ford Excursion SUV.

Crazy Wikipedia fact: no one really knows what LTD stood for. Look it up.

It’s true! Thanks, Eric!

I’m always hearing about this. I’ll be standing on a street corner outside a bar and somebody’s like, “Did you see that? The whole rear window of that car was full of bread!” And I usually miss it and am sort of nonplussed (or whatever it is I mean by nonplussed) by the description, but now that I see it… I’m plussed. Trippy, man.

[via Male Awareness Day]

This is the stuff that awesome neighbors are made of. A local bartender needed the engine fixed on her 1965 Ford Falcon, so her car geek neighbors (possibly capitalizing on the free-beers-for-life potential of the situation) got together and rebuilt it for her.

They even made a time lapse video of the process, paired with Yakety Sax (naturally):

Moral of the story? The next time your car breaks down, walk into Wild Side West and have a loud conversation with your companion to the effect of, “Boy! Too bad I just blew a head gasket and don’t know how to fix it! Guess I’m just out of luck until I can afford to hire a mechanic! Oh well!”

Oh, and do cool stuff for your neighbors.

[via Bernalwood]

From now on, whenever I see a cool car around the neighborhood, I’m gonna take pictures and send them to my pal Eric up in Portland who runs Other People’s Things, my favorite car blog. He’ll respond with some knowledge and we’ll post the results here and it’ll be called “Car Beat.” Here’s what Eric has to say about this Rambler I saw today:

Looks to be a Third Generation (1965-66) Rambler Classic 770 Cross Country Wagon.  This one is probably a ’65 because it only has one mirror…it came standard in ’66.

The Rambler started as a Nash nameplate, but after they merged with Hudson in the ’50s to form American Motors- Wisconsin’s only car manufacturer.

This one is in the “770″ Trim, which is the top of the line V8 version, essentially a muscle car station wagon.

Haven’t seen the wagon around Portland, just the sedan, nice find!

Thanks, Eric! More pics after the jump:

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That’s supposed to be parallel parking there, so this guy must’ve gotten creamed in the intersection and spun ’round like crazy.

[via @flywithsig]

This is one of those things that seems like it’s supposed to answer something, but really it just brings up a lot of questions.

Last Saturday, a car crashed into the bike rack area in front of Zeitgeist, destroying a bunch of bikes and breaking some poor guy’s leg. Uptown Almanac has the scoop and some more bike snuff pictures.

In case you bailed early, dragging your useless pile of spokes and gears home while sobbing uncontrollably, you’re entitled to an insurance claim from the car’s owner. That’s right, bikes are vehicles too, and are covered under standard collision policies. The SF Bike Coalition informs us:

If your bicycle was one of the bikes damaged in the crash, go to the Mission Police Station and provide a description of your bike. You will receive a case number and details to file an insurance claim.

[photo via Uptown Almanac]

What do you do when the same car alarm continues to drive you absolutely bonkers every single night but you just can’t discern the source? Such is the case for a couple of new residents to our fine neighborhood:

My roommate and I just moved to the lovely intersection of 21st and San Carlos. We are both new to this illustrious city and are proud to call ourselves residents of the Mission. We have, however, one single complaint and were hoping you and other residents might provide some assistance into the matter. You see, we are fully aware that living in the city comes with some city noises (we’re from Houston and Chicago respectively) so the odd siren or car alarm is only a temporary nuisance. Yet, there exists a car alarm which is audible from our intersection that goes off approximately every hour or so.

Our assumption is that it’s triggered by pigeon farts, clouds shifting or someone thinking about buying a Brooks saddle. It’s very identifiable, because instead of your typical car alarm it has an odd series of chirps and squeaks. It’s the only alarm of it’s kind I’ve heard. Both my roommate and I work long hours, and any attempts to triangulate its position have been so far fruitless, yet we know it can’t be too far off. We figured others in the area must hear it all the time. Day and night. Beeping. Blaring. Driving us mad. Any who our end goal is to locate it and either place a note for the owner, or submit a noise complaint to the city of SF. Or pay some guy $20 to rip the cable out from under the hood. Whatever works.

Well, at least it’s not a mockingbird car alarm!  And before you give ‘em the old “Durrrrrr, welcome to the Mission motha-fuckas!” comment that I know you’re just dying to submit, perhaps you can come up with something a bit more clever?  Or, God forbid, constructive?  And I’m not talking about employing something that shares its namesake with our friend from the photo above!

Previously:

Mission Mockingbird Car Alarm